MOSCOW, Idaho ? In a season of big wins, this may be the biggest yet for Vandal nation.
The University of Idaho men's basketball team treated the 4,731 Vandal faithful in attendance to a 63-59 win over Boise State ? it's first over the in-state rival in 15 tries.
“It was good to get a win tonight,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “Our guys played extremely hard. Our team defense was unbelievable tonight to hold them to 37-percent shooting and hold the score down to 59 points. The key to the game was our defensive intensity and our defensive effort.”
Idaho evened its record at 10-10 and moved to 4-3 in the Western Athletic Conference. Boise State fell to 14-6 and 5-3.
The Vandals led by as many as 12 points on three occasions in the second half, but timely baskets were needed to hold off a late Bronco charge. Boise State cut the lead to three with 16 seconds remaining, but Idaho hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 12 seconds and a large chunk of the Cowan Spectrum's third-largest crowd joined the Vandals on the court for the celebration.
“Unbelievable,” Verlin quipped regarding the crowd. “I never thought, early in the season as we were getting this thing going, we would see a crowd like that. It was awesome in the Spectrum tonight.”
Mac Hopson led all scorers with 20 points and added eight assists and three steals while knocking down 3-of-4 3-pointers. Brandon Wiley added 12 points and nine rebounds and Kashif Watson earned his first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Idaho hit 24-of-51 (.471) shots from the floor ? a higher percentage than an 11-of-25 (.440) performance from the free throw line.
“Maybe a little nervous,” Verlin said of the free throw woes. “That is definitely something we need to work on because if we get in that situation in another big game, we need to make those.”
Boise State got 18 points and 14 rebounds from Mark Sanchez, but shot just 21-of-57 (.368) from the floor and 7-of-24 (.292) from behind the arc.
“Our game plan wasn't to play a lot of zone tonight, but it worked and we went with it. We were very fortunate they missed some shots, but our guys did a great job getting to their shooters and extending out. Our length on the perimeter really disturbed their shots from 3,” Verlin said.
The lead changed four times in the first four minutes before Boise State grabbed an 11-10 advantage at the 15:51 mark. The Broncos extended the lead to six on three occasions, including a 26-20 margin with 3:46 remaining in the half. Idaho closed out the half on a 9-0 run, thanks in large part to Boise State's 0-5 shooting over the stretch, to claim a 29-26 lead at the half.
Idaho extended the lead with a basket to open the second half and steadily built a 44-32 advantage by the 12:39 mark. The lead stayed in double digits until a Boise State 3-pointer cut the margin to 48-39 and then the Vandals went cold. A four minute gap between field goals allowed Boise State to pull within 50-44 with 4:34 remaining, but a timely 3-pointer from Hopson ended the drought. Hopson then scored Idaho's next three points, but Boise State chipped the lead to 56-52 on back-to-back 3-pointers. Terrence Simmons connected on a jumper with his toe on the 3-point line to put the Vandals ahead six with 1:43 remaining and again hit a long two pointer 40 seconds later to push Idaho up by eight. Five straight points from Boise State cut the advantage to 60-57 with 16 seconds remaining, but timely free throws, including two from Trevor Morris with 12 seconds remaining to put Idaho up by two possessions, helped Idaho gain the 63-59 victory.
Idaho had not beaten Boise State since Feb. 17, 2001.
Idaho remains at home to host Nevada Saturday (Jan. 31) at the Cowan Spectrum at 7:05 p.m.
