RENO, Nevada - The same troubles that have plagued the University of Idaho men's basketball team almost all season long continued Thursday night in a 70-44 loss to the Nevada Wolf Pack at Lawlor Events Center: poor shooting. The Vandals shot just 29-percent for the game (16-of-54), the third time this season that Idaho has shot below 30-percent.
"We were running our sets and getting wide open looks," Idaho head coach Leonard Perry said. "We just can't seem to get the ball to go in the basket. We had look after look after look and couldn't hit anything."
Nevada quickly took control in the first half and built a 9-0 lead. Idaho got its first field goal of the game at the 13:15 mark on an Igor Vrzina put back and eventually cut the lead to three at 9-6 with 12:31 remaining. The Wolf Pack responded with a 13-0 run to go up 22-6. Aaron Smith hit a three pointer to cut the lead down to 10, but Nevada came right back with a three pointer on its next possession and eventually took a 13 point lead heading into halftime.
Idaho was 8-of-29 (28 percent) from the floor in the first half while Nevada was 14-of-30 (47 percent).
The Vandals were dealt another blow in the first half when starting guard Keoni Watson was fouled hard while driving to the basket and suffered a back injury. He would try to return later in the game but couldn't go at full speed. His status for Saturday is questionable.
"Keoni is out indefinitely. I don't see him getting better between now and Saturday," Perry said. "It's a big hit for us."
Nevada continued its hot shooting in the second half and used a 7-0 run to build a 20 point lead with 17 minutes left in the game. The Vandals were down by 15 points with 7:42 remaining when things began to unravel. The Wolf Pack hit three three pointers over the next two minutes to increase its lead to 24 and seal the 70-44 win.
"Our kids competed and we were only down by 13 at the half," Perry said. "But you can't hold a potent team when you're not scoring for that long of a time."
Idaho shot 29 percent for the game including a dismal 18 percent (3-of-16) from behind the arc. Nevada hit 29 of its 62 attempts (46 percent) and was also 10-of-24 from the three point line. The Vandals out-rebounded the Wolf Pack, 37 to 36, including 13 offensive rebounds.
"I thought our zone took the life out of them," Perry said. "It was very effective. I was also pleased with our rebounding. To out rebound them on their own floor is great."
Kyle Shiloh led the Wolf Pack with a game high 20 points including six three-pointers. Nick Fazekas added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Nevada.
Tanoris Shepard led Idaho with 15 points and seven rebounds. Mike Kale added seven points for the Vandals while Desmond Nwoke and Igor Vrzina each chipped in seven rebounds.
Idaho (3-10, 0-3 WAC) heads to Utah State on Sat., Jan. 14. The Aggies are 10-4 overall, 2-2 in the WAC after defeating Boise State tonight, 75-69. Game time for Saturday's game is set for 6:05 p.m. (PT).
"We will continue to put our kids in positions to score and they just have to make the shots," Perry said. "We'll be ready for Saturday and hopefully our defense is as good as it was tonight."
