NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The Idaho men's basketball team's quest to go 3-0 against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams fell short on Thursday, as the Vandals fell to Cal State Northridge by a 95-93 score at the Matadome.
With the loss, Idaho slips to 4-2 on the year and sees its three-game winning streak end, while Cal State Northridge moves to 4-3 and with its third straight victory.
Idaho streaked out to a 63-49 lead on a 14-6 run to open the second half and it appeared that the Vandals were ready to take the game over. Instead, Idaho hit a wall at the 14:03 mark and Cal State Northridge went on to outscore Idaho 29-9 over the next nine minutes. During that span, Idaho missed 10 shots and committed eight fouls and four turnovers, while the Matadors hit 10 of their 14 shots and turned it over just twice.
"We just didn't get it done, and that's the bottom line," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "We didn't get the stops we needed to in the second half of this ball game.
"We score 93 points and lose - that's a tough one to swallow."
Senior guard Kashif Watson tied a 28-year-old school record by going 15-of-15 from the free throw line, while his 15 made free throws are the most by a Vandal in 45 years and are tied for second-most in school history. It was also the second-best free throw performance in the NCAA this season, behind only Cory Higgins of Colorado, who hit 16-of-16 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 13.
Kenny Daniels of Cal State Northridge went wild, as he hit 12-of-17 from the floor and 13-of-15 from the free throw line to finish with 39 points. As a team, the Matadors went 32-of-61 (.525) from the field and hit 25 of their 32 free throw attempts for a .781 average, despite entering the game shooting .446 from the field and .595 from the stripe.
Idaho hit a solid 46.2 percent of its total shots and 11-of-25 (.440) on its 3-pointers, while hitting 22-of-27 from the free throw line, and even out-rebounded CSUN by a 38-35 margin, but Idaho couldn't slow down the Matadors' transition game and couldn't keep them off the free throw line.
"We just weren't able to make that last one run to get ahead of this thing," Verlin said. "It was a fast-paced, high-scoring affair, and I told the guys afterward, you can't expect to win on the road if you give them 95 points."
Watson led Idaho with a career-high 21 points to lead five Vandals in double-digit points. Mac Hopson dropped in 19, with six assists and four rebounds, while Steffan Johnson contributed 16 on 6-of-14 shooting. Luciano de Souza was 3-of-4 from 3-point range and had 11 points, while Marvin Jefferson scored 10, grabbed six rebounds and blocked a career-high-tying four shots.
Cal State Northridge got off to a quick start by scoring the game's first seven points, but Idaho rattled off the next eight. The first half would feature 10 more lead changes, but it was Idaho that broke free late in the period. Trailing 21-24 at the 9:49 mark of the first, the Vandals went on an 8-0 run over the next 2:12, all of which came off Watson free throws, to go up 29-24 at the 7:37 mark.
Idaho kept the pressure on and extended its lead as far as 13 at 49-36 with 1:37 remaining, but the Matadors scored the half's final seven points to go into the break with Idaho ahead, 49-43.
"I thought we did a good job of getting it slowed down there in the first half and building our lead, but then we took a couple questionable shots and let them get out in transition before the half," Verlin said. "That run, right there, was probably the difference in the game."
Idaho used a 10-2 run early in the second half to give itself a 63-49 lead at the 15:43 mark, but a 6-0 run a few minutes later brought the Matadors within six at 68-62, then a 9-3 run a few more minutes later tied things up at 73-73 with 7:46 to play.
After a media timeout with 7:31 remaining and teams still tied up at 73-73, the Matadors kicked off a 12-4 run to take an 85-77 lead with 3:24 left to go. Idaho managed to steadily battle back and make it a one-possession game. Idaho's last chance came when Luciano de Souza earned three free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining and Idaho down 95-91. He made his first two to get Idaho within a score at 95-93, but the Matadors rebounded his purposeful miss on the third free throw to end the game.
"This would have been a good game to win," Verlin said. "It was our third road game against an NCAA (Tournament) team and we could have beaten three NCAA teams from last year on the road in their buildings and that would have been a pretty good achievement for any team out there right now."
Idaho will return home to face No. 25 Portland on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. at Memorial Gym.
