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Moscow, ID - Connor Hill hit seven straight three-pointers in the second half to spark a come-from-behind Idaho Vandals win over Portland State, 87-76, at Cowan Spectrum.

Hill had only five points at halftime and Idaho trailed by two at 32-30. But the senior sharpshooter sparked the Vandals, scoring 23 of his game-high 28 in the second half. Hill made 9-11 shots for the game, 8-9 from three-point range and 2-2 at the free throw line.

Idaho went on a 12-4 run to open the second half and got back on top 42-36. Then Hill then got hot, hitting four straight three-pointers to help expand Idaho's lead to 60-47 with just under 11 minutes to play. At that point, the Vandals were 11-12 from the field in the half.

Hill hit three more bombs and Idaho led by as many as 20 before settling for an 11-point win. 

It was the second straight road loss for the Vikings who fell to 11-11 on the season, 5-7 in the Big Sky. Idaho passed the Vikings in the standings at 5-6, 10-12 overall.

Gary Winston scored 23 points and passed for five assists to lead the Vikings. Tiegbe Bamba came off the bench to score 18 points and grab seven rebounds.

Portland State misfired early and often, making just 1-17 shots to open the game. The Vikings found themselves down 18-6 with less than 10 minutes played. 

Idaho then hit a cold stretch of its own and the Vikings scraped back into the contest. Zach Gengler made a three-pointer, followed by two threes from Winston. When Braxton Tucker hit a baseline jumper, the Vikings had their first lead at 26-24 with 2:31 left in the half.

Over the last 10 minutes of the first half, the Vikings outscored Idaho 26-12. PSU was 9-16 from the field in that run after the horrific shooting start. Winston hit three three-pointers over that span, and made a conventional three-point play for 12 points. 

PSU led 32-30 at halftime, but the Vandals would outscore the Vikings 57-44 in the second half.

Idaho finished 30-51 from the field for a .588 percentage. Behind Hill's strong shooting, the Vandals made 11-17 from three-point range.

Portland State made only 29-74 from the field for a .392 mark, hitting 8-26 three-pointers (.308).

DaShaun Wiggins scored 13 points for the Vikings. 

Mike Scott added 16 points and nine assists for the Vandals.

GAME NOTES: Despite the loss, the Vikings got some help in Thursday night games as only Idaho won among the teams between fourth and ninth place in the Big Sky Conference. Northern Arizona dropped to 7-4, Northern Colorado went to 7-5, Weber State and Portland State fell to 5-7 and are tied for seventh. North Dakota is 4-8. Idaho is now 5-6 and moves up to sixth place… it was the first time this season that Portland State had lost a game when leading at halftime (11-1)… PSU is now 4-8 on the road… the Vikings beat Idaho, 85-73, in Portland on Jan. 17… Portland State travels to first-place Eastern Washington (10-1) for a Saturday afternoon game. It will be the last of three straight and five of seven on the road. Tip-off is 2:05 p.m. Live video, audio and stats are available at GoViks.com by clicking on the Game Day box.