Idaho races to win

MOSCOW, Idaho – Sophomore guard Stephen Madison hit an awkward, off-balance bank-shot 3-pointer on Idaho's first possession, and it was that kind of game for the Vandal men in a 76-67 victory over Montana State on Saturday at Memorial Gym.

Idaho (3-2) shot 52.5 percent from the floor, held Montana State (2-3) to a 38.7 percent clip, opened the game on a 21-6 scoring run and never trailed in winning its 14th game in 15 tries at the team's alternate home arena under head coach Don Verlin.

“I thought we played really well for about 17 minutes, then we played okay the rest of the way,” Verlin said. “If you're going to be a good team, you've got to take care of your home court and I thought our guys came out like they wanted to, at least in the first half.”

The Vandal defense held MSU to just three made shots on its first 16 attempts and forced four turnovers in the first 13 minutes of play, while Idaho's offense connected on five of its first eight shots. After a lull in the middle of the first half, Idaho made eight out of nine attempts over a seven-minute span starting at the 11:12 mark of the first and led by as many as 20 points before the break.

The Bobcats made Verlin and the Vandals sweat over the final minutes when they hit three shots in a row just under the one-minute mark to cut Idaho's lead to seven on two separate occasions, but the Vandals netted eight of their final 10 free throws and got a fast-break dunk by Stephen Madison to ice the win.

Senior guard Deremy Geiger led all players with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting, along with four assists and two rebounds, while fellow senior back-courter Landon Tatum nailed all four of his shots for 11 points and junior center Kyle Barone added 11 points and nine rebounds.

“I thought our two senior guards played very well tonight,” Verlin said of Geiger and Tatum. “They controlled the tempo of the game and had very good defensive pressure, and it didn't show in the stats, but I thought Kyle Barone had a really good game, too.”

MSU guard Rod Singleton led the Bobcats with 17 points and three steals, while center Mohammed Fall added 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks and forward Jamie Stewart added 10 points, three assists and two blocks.

As a team, Idaho hit 24 of its 46 attempts and cracked the 50-percent shooting barrier for the second game in a row. The Vandals converted seven of their 19 3-pointers for a 36.8 percentage, and posted season highs in free throws (21) and free throw attempts (32) for a 65.6 percentage.

Montana State went 24-of-62 (.387) from the floor, 8-of-23 (.348) from 3-point range and 11-of-16 (.688) from the free throw line. They grabbed seven steals and had 33 rebounds, 15 of which came on the offensive end.

Idaho outscored MSU 33-26 in the paint, 16-11 off turnovers and 13-4 on the fast break. The Bobcats held a 16-15 scoring edge on second-chance points and a 19-14 advantage off the bench. Notably for Idaho off the bench were redshirt freshman Matt Borton, who had four points, one assist, one block and six rebounds, and junior guard Mansa Habeeb, who had four points, one assist, one steal and one rebound in the first half.

“We had some guys step off the bench and scrap like crazy,” Verlin said. “I'm starting to figure out who I want to play and how I want to do it, and I like the direction we're going.”

A second-straight Big Sky Conference opponent comes to Memorial Gym on Wednesday, when the Vandals host Eastern Washington, which is 2-2 and is coming off an 89-72 win at Hawai`i on Tuesday. The Eagles will host UC Davis on Sunday.

“I know they've got some good shooters, they have good guards and athletic guys inside,” Verlin said of the Eagles. “We've got to establish a presence right from the start, very similar to what we did tonight.”

Wednesday's game will be the second half of an Idaho basketball doubleheader. The women's team kicks it off at 5:30 p.m. (PT) when they host Washington, and the men's matchup against EWU will tip off at 8:05 p.m. (PT).

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