LAS VEGAS - Idaho overcame an 11-point first-half deficit in its Western Athletic Conference quarterfinal round against Hawaii, but an unlucky bounce and a few key plays late led to a 72-70 Vandal loss at Orleans Arena on Thursday.

"We were able to get a lead, then missed a couple free throws, had a couple tough possessions and Hawaii made the plays had to," Idaho coach Don Verlin said. "I really don't think there's a whole lot more to this game than that."

Idaho still has yet to win a WAC tourney game.

Despite trailing by double figures in the first half, third-seeded Idaho (18-13) took a 62-55 lead with 7:46 to play. Two minutes later, a Shaquille Stokes free throw started a 7-0 run for sixth-seeded Hawaii (16-15) that tied the game at 64 with three minutes to play.

"I thought we'd seized control of the game, no question about it," Verlin said. "We had definitely climbed the hill and I thought Hawaii made some great plays down the stretch and we made a couple tough decisions, but that's basketball."

Hawaii went up by three after a pair of Hauns Brereton free throws at 1:43, but Idaho's Deremy Geiger converted a fast-break layup plus a foul to tie it at 68 with 50.8 seconds to play. Barone blocked a Stokes layup on the other end, but the Rainbow Warriors got a putback by Vander Joaquim to go up 70-68.

After a Kyle Barone layup brought it back square at 70, the Warriors made the key play of the game. Stokes drove the lane and Geiger stripped away the ball, which bounced off one player and directly into the hands of Brereton, who knocked down a 10-foot baseline jumper with 3.8 seconds left. Idaho's desperation heave was knocked away as time expired.

“In that stretch, we might have had two or three possessions where we just tried to throw a shot up at the end of the shot clock so we got a shot up and not a turnover,” Idaho senior guard Landon Tatum said of the final minutes. “We just weren’t getting the shots we needed to get.”

Barone finished with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Madison added 15 points and Djim Bandoumel grabbed 16 rebounds. Former Post Falls High standout Connor Hill added six points off the bench for the Vandals, who had won seven of eight coming into the tournament and were the only WAC team to defeat regular-season champion Nevada.

Joaquim led Hawaii with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Brereton added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Stokes, a freshman, finished with 17 points.

To make sure his team had their legs for the WAC tournament, Hawaii coach Gib Arnold practiced a total of 75 minutes between Saturday’s loss to Utah State and Thursday’s conference tournament opener.

Turned it to be the perfect approach.

Hawaii won despite playing without second-leading scorer Zane Johnson and a week after losing by 19 at home to Idaho. It was Hawaii’s first victory since Feb. 14 against New Orleans and its first WAC tournament win since 2005.

“We were a little wounded, a little down, but these guys rallied together,” Arnold said. “They earned it. We struggled for three weeks. It wasn’t easy; it never should be easy.”

Moments after Hawaii took a 46-45 lead, the Warriors’ Joston Thomas was called for his fourth foul and given a technical foul for his reaction, giving him his fifth foul.

While the team’s WAC tournament is over, Verlin said he’s sure Idaho’s season is still alive. A third postseason bid in four seasons is a possibility for the team.

“Hopefully we’ll continue to play next week,” Verlin said. “We’ll find out pretty soon, I’m sure.”

Hawaii will play New Mexico State in the semifinals tonight.

“Both teams played extremely hard, both teams played with a lot of heart,” Verlin said. “I thought we both competed our tails off and it came down to one possession and they made it tonight.”

HAWAII (16-15)

Thomas 4-9 1-2 9, Brereton 6-8 5-6 17, Joaquim 9-17 2-5 20, Stokes 5-14 5-9 17, Ostrowski 1-5 4-4 6, Jefferson 0-0 1-4 1, Rozitis 1-3 0-0 2, Minns 0-0 0-0 0, Wiseman 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 18-30 72.

IDAHO (18-13)

Bandoumel 2-9 2-4 6, Barone 8-14 3-5 19, Tatum 4-6 3-4 12, Madison 4-11 5-6 15, Geiger 2-5 3-3 8, Hill 2-6 0-0 6, McChristian 1-1 0-0 2, Faines 0-0 2-3 2. Totals 23-52 18-25 70.

Halftime_Hawaii 35-28. 3-Point Goals_Hawaii 2-10 (Stokes 2-7, Brereton 0-1, Ostrowski 0-2), Idaho 6-16 (Madison 2-5, Hill 2-6, Tatum 1-2, Geiger 1-3). Fouled Out_Thomas. Rebounds_Hawaii 41 (Joaquim 13), Idaho 33 (Bandoumel 16). Assists_Hawaii 15 (Ostrowski 9), Idaho 16 (Tatum 4). Total Fouls_Hawaii 21, Idaho 21. Technical_Thomas. A_NA.

New Mexico State 65, Fresno State 49: At Las Vegas, Wendell McKines scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Tyrone Watson added 13 points and New Mexico State relied on its defense to pull away for a victory over Fresno State (13-20) in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

The Aggies (24-9) will face sixth-seeded Hawaii in the semifinals tonight. The teams split their matchups in the regular season, with New Mexico State winning by 42 at home Feb. 23.

Nevada 54, San Jose State 44: At Las Vegas, conference player of the year Deonte Burton woke up after taking an elbow to the jaw, scoring 15 of his 16 in the second half, and top-seeded Nevada (26-5) overcame a horrid first half offensively for a win over San Jose State (9-22) in the Western Athletic Conference quarterfinals.

Nevada plays Louisiana Tech in the semifinals tonight.

Louisiana Tech 72, Utah State 70: At Las Vegas, Trevor Gaskins and Romarlo Souza scored 16 points apiece and Louisiana Tech (17-15) beat Utah State (17-15) in the WAC quarterfinals.