SPOKANE, Wash. ? The University of Idaho men's basketball team showed it could play with #9 Gonzaga. Unfortunately for the Vandals, by the time the adjustment was made, the damage was done.
Idaho outscored Gonzaga 35-33 in the second half, but a 47-11 halftime deficit was too much to overcome in an 80-46 loss on the road.
The Vandals (1-2) were ice-cold in the first half to the tune of a 19-percent shooting percent. On the other side of the coin, the Bulldogs (2-0) seemingly did everything right, hitting 51-percent from the floor, 47-percent from beyond the 3-point arc, causing 13 turnovers, and outrebounding Idaho 25-13.
“Anytime you come in here you have to be on your game,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We missed way too many shots and did a horrible job blocking out. When you give Gonzaga those looks they are going to bury them and that is exactly what they did in the first half.”
The Vandals missed their first six shots and turned the ball over six times before Luciano de Souza hit a 3-pointer with 11:35 remaining in the half. Meanwhile, Gonzaga hit its first five attempts and built a 17-0 margin before Idaho got on the board. Idaho gained some momentum and used a 9-2 run to pull within 19-9, but Gonzaga's defense clamped down and helped spark a 16-0 run that eventually became 28-2 to end the half.
Idaho seemed to settle in the second half and opened the half with an 8-1 run. Gonzaga slowly pulled away and built its largest lead of the contest at 71-30 with 5:16 remaining. Idaho kept its composure and ended the half outscoring Gonzaga 16-9 for the 80-46 final.
“We came out in the second half and competed. We talked about winning the second half and we did that. (Mac) Hopson played better in the second half and that helped us,” Verlin said.
Hopson scored 17 second-half points to finish with a game-high 19 points while adding eight rebounds. Kashif Watson also did most of his damage late and finished with 12 points. Also contributing offensively was de Souza who finished with nine points on three 3-pointers. He also added two blocks, including a huge effort to stop Gonzaga's Austin Daye on a dunk attempt.
“One thing we can't do is get down on ourselves. We need to take what we can from this game and build on it,” Verlin said.
The Vandals return home to face North Dakota State Saturday (Nov. 22) at 7:05 p.m. at Memorial Gym.
