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FINAL SCORE 

Idaho Vandals – 47

Houston Cougars – 78

SEASON RECORDS

Idaho – 21-15, 9-9 Big Sky

Houston – 29-6, 14-4 Big XII

VANDAL LEADERS

PTS – Kolton Mitchell (14)

AST – Johnson, Brickner (2)

REB – Biko Johnson (6)

BLK – Kolton Mitchell (2) 

STL – Kolton Mitchell (2)

NOTABLES


Idaho ends the 2026 season with 21 wins, the most overall of any team in the Big Sky Conference



UI finished the campaign setting the school record for made threes in a season, ending with 355.





Biko Johnson ended his collegiate career by eclipsing the 1,000 point threshold, becoming the second Vandal this season to do so (Brody Rowbury).



Every Vandal that suited up saw the court vs. Houston.


 

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Idaho Basketball punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 36 years, advancing from the #7 seed in the Big Sky Conference bracket to the fifth title in program history, knocking off three of the top four seeds in the process. Earning the #15 seed in the South portion of the March Madness tourney, a massive challenge lay ahead with the second-seeded Houston Cougars, the #5 NET team in the country, awaiting in Oklahoma City.   

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The Vandals and Cougars traded blows early in the contest with the #15 seed jumping out to a 10-7 advantage at the first media timeout, bolstered by a pair of early triples from Kolton Mitchell and Biko Johnson. From there, Houston nearly couldn’t miss, going 9-12 from the field on a  26-5 run to march out to a 33-15 lead before the next Vandal bucket fell. Both teams traded buckets with the lead swinging more towards Houston by the break. Idaho couldn’t get into an offensive rhythm after the media teamout, finishing with 21% shooting at halftime.

From there, both teams settled in defensively, but Houston’s defense, among the best in the nation, held the Vandals to scoring droughts of at least two minutes in each half. With under five minutes to play, Isaiah Brickner crossed the court and fed the ball to Biko Johnson just outside the elbow, where the senior put up a triple to eclipse the 1,000 point threshold for his storied career.

Ultimately, Houston’s defense was difficult to surmount, and the buzzer would sound with the score in favor of the #2 seed, bringing the 2025-26 season to an end for Idaho Basketball. 

In three years under Coach Pribble, Idaho has risen from a one-win team in 2021 to 11, 14, and 21 wins on top of the fifth March Madness berth in school history. The exciting brand of offense has brought upon back-to-back school records for most made team threes in a season, draining 308 last year and 355 to wrap up the 2026 campaign.   

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