MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho men's basketball team could not protect an eight-point halftime lead as it fell 75-57 to Boise State Saturday.
The Vandals (3-17, 1-7) shot just 3-of-19 (.158) from the floor in the second half to score just 20 points. The Broncos (11-8, 5-3) put together a 15-of-30 (.500) second-half shooting performance to score 46 points and hand Idaho its 11th consecutive loss in the series.
"I can't answer the question of why we came out so flat in the second half," Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. "We had some shots at it and we didn't make them and that created some frustration. We started looking for a quick fix and when we do that we are not good. We would get the ball and stare and then the offense would freeze instead of trying to reverse the ball to the other side of the floor."
Keoni Watson led the Vandals with 21 points, hitting 5-of-9 (.556) from beyond the 3-point line. Trevor Morris was the only other Idaho player in double figures as he finished with 11 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. Darin Nagle and David Jackson each grabbed nine rebounds.
Coby Karl led the Broncos with a game-high 24 points and scored 16 points in the second half. Reggie Larry scored 14 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, Seth Robinson added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and Eric Lane chipped in 12 points.
"We had a great crowd, we did some great things in the first half, but in the second half we were just not there. Some of the things we wanted to do defensively in the first half we stuck with, but as the game went on we gave them second shots and the more second shots we gave them the more opportunities we gave them to get into a rhythm. Too much Coby Karl. He made big plays for them in critical situations," Pfeifer said.
The Broncos scored the first points of the game, but Michael Crowell nailed a 3-pointer to give Idaho its first lead at the 17:11 mark. Boise State tied the game for the first time at 3-3 and the score was later tied at 9-9 with 12:57 remaining. The lead changed twice before the score hit its final tie of the contest at 14-14 at the 10:48 mark. At that point, Idaho used an 11-2 run to build a 25-16 lead with 7:42 remaining. The advantage hit nine points twice more before Watson hit a 3-pointer to give Idaho a 34-24 lead with 2:03 remaining. The teams traded baskets before Boise State was able to cut the lead to 34-29 with 24 seconds remaining. With time winding down on the first half, Watson drilled a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to give Idaho a 37-29 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Idaho struggles began immediately as Boise State used a 9-0 run to open the second half and grab a 38-37 lead with 16:56 remaining. The lead changed three times and the score stood 45-44 with 13:13 remaining. The Broncos then put together a 10-0 run to move ahead 55-44 and would never trail by less than eight points over the final 8:48 of the game. The 18-point final margin was the largest lead of the game for Boise State.
Idaho ended the game shooting 17-of-52 (.327) from the floor and 8-of-25 (.320) from the 3-point line. The team did hit 15-of-18 (.833) free throws, but Boise State used a 46-33 rebounding advantage to score 18 second-chance points.
The Vandals remain home for two contests next week and host San Jose State Thursday (Feb. 1) at the Cowan Spectrum.
