Saturday, March 7th, 10:05 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Cowan Spectrum (7,000) -- Moscow, Idaho. Television: Local. Home Record: FSU 9-8, Idaho 11-3. Away Record: FSU 3-9, Idaho 4-11. Neutral Record: FSU 0-2, Idaho 0-0. Conference Record: FSU 3-12, Idaho 8-7. Series Record: Fresno State leads, 7-3.

GAME NOTES: The Idaho Vandals try to finish the regular season with a flurry tonight as they host fellow Western Athletic Conference member Fresno State at the Cowan Spectrum. On Thursday night the Vandals posted a 66-58 win over Louisiana Tech to move to 8-7 in conference play, assuring the squad of their best finish since joining the WAC just a few years ago. Heading into the weekend Idaho is tied with New Mexico State for fourth place in the standings, having won two straight outings and five of the last six for their best stretch in several years. As for the Bulldogs, they continue to flounder in spite of their win against Nevada just nine days ago. Two nights ago FSU suffered a 79-65 setback versus Boise State at Taco Bell Arena, pushing the Bulldogs further behind the rest of the pack in the WAC at a mere 3-12 with the league tournament just around the corner. Idaho won the first meeting of the season between these teams just a week ago with a 71-68 triumph at the Save Mart Center, which means the all-time series now stands at 7-3 in favor of the Bulldogs as a result.

Dwight O'Neil emerged off the bench for the Bulldogs and delivered a team-best 19 points, adding five rebounds in 27 minutes of work, but even that surprising effort could not keep the team out of the loss column. Paul George tacked on 15 points for the starters, including four assists, four boards and a pair of steals, but his and O'Neil could not offset the performances of Mychal Ladd and Sylvester Seay who combined to shoot only 2-of-16 from the floor. Even though Seay had an awful night shooting the ball on Thursday, he still stands as the top scorer for the program with his 15.5 ppg, stemming from his 37.2 percent from three-point range. George accounts for another 14.7 ppg and O'Neil, who is only now getting back into action, chips in 12.8 ppg. With O'Neil out of the lineup for several games the Bulldogs were dealing without one of their best all-around performers who is responsible for 4.4 rpg and a team-best 108 assists, despite missing nine games this season.

Battling back from a halftime deficit, the Vandals outscored the visitors by nine points in the second half of the meeting against LaTech on Thursday night to move to an impressive 11-3 at home this season. Trevor Morris tallied 14 points off the bench for Idaho, knocking down 3-of-6 shots behind the three- point line, followed by Mac Hopson and Marvin Jefferson with 13 points apiece. Hopson, who has to be considered one of the pleasant surprises in the WAC this season, added six assists, four boards and a pair of steals. Now shooting better behind the three-point line (.467) than he is the field overall (.463) heading into the final game of the regular season, Hopson not only leads the Vandals in scoring (16.5 ppg) and is one of the top rebounders with close to five boards per game, he also paces the group with 169 assists and 52 steals in 29 appearances.

Even though the Bulldogs could use revenge as a motivating factor tonight, it doesn't mean the squad will have what it takes to defeat an upstart Idaho program in Moscow.

Predicted Outcome

Idaho 68, Fresno State 62