Men's Basketball 12/08/2011

Late shot stifles comeback

MOSCOW, Idaho – In the 107-year history of the Idaho-Washington State men's rivalry, few games could match the ending of Wednesday's battle of the Palouse, but unfortunately it was the Vandals who fell victim to a last-second shot in a 66-64 loss at the Cowan Spectrum.

Washington State's (5-4) Reggie Moore sank a heavily contested mid-range jumper with 0.9 seconds remaining in the game after Idaho (4-4) had rallied back from a double-digit halftime deficit to tie the game at 64-64 on a Landon Tatum runner with 25 seconds left.

“I thought we played hard enough to win this basketball game, no question about it,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “You've got to give WSU credit, when it came time to make the winning plays, they did it. It comes down to a one-possession game and it comes down to Reggie Moore – he's an all-Pac 12 kind of guy and he made a shot for them to win this basketball game.”

The Cougars controlled the first half, knocked down five 3-pointers and limited Idaho to just 31 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes en route to a 35-25 halftime edge, but the Vandals reversed roles in the second stanza.

Idaho shot 60 percent from the field, knocked down three of seven 3-point attempts and outscored WSU 39-31 after the break, but despite two strong rallies in the final 10 minutes, couldn't break through.

Junior guard Mansa Habeeb, who got his first taste of the Cowan Spectrum and a raucous crowd of 3,351, provided a huge energy boost for Idaho off the bench with seven points, three assists, three steals and one blocked shot. He also drew a charge and converted a three-point play in the game.

“It was different for me coming from a junior college last year,” Habeeb said of the Spectrum crowd. “I loved it out there – next time we just need to come up with the win.”

Sophomore Stephen Madison proved that his breakout last Saturday at UC Davis was no fluke with an 18-point, five-rebound effort on 7-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.

As a team, Idaho hit a 44.4 percent clip from the field and 30.8 percent from 3-point range. They knocked down 12 of 15 free throw attempts for a season-high 80 percent rate. WSU hit 47.1 percent of its shots and 33.3 percent of its 3-pointers. The Cougars went 11-of-15 (.733) from the free throw line.

The specialty stats were an overwhelming Idaho advantage, as the Vandals outscored the Cougars 34-22 in the paint, 14-6 off turnovers, 15-12 on the second chance and 8-2 on the fast break. Bench points were all square at 26-26.

WSU outrebounded Idaho, 31-25 overall, and had 12 offensive rebounds, including a crucial three in the final four minutes to eat up clock and slow down Idaho's final charge.

“I didn't feel like our defense was bad the last possession of the game – I felt like we had that shot pretty guarded, he just made a good shot,” Verlin said. “I think where we fell short tonight was we just didn't get the rebounds when we needed to.”

Wednesday's game kicks off a challenging stretch for the Vandal men. They'll immediately hit the road for a Friday matchup at Oregon State (6-1), followed by a road game against Seattle U (2-4) at KeyArena. Idaho will come back to the Cowan Spectrum on Saturday, Dec. 17, for a matchup against CSU Bakersfield, then heads back on the road for games at Wright State (Dec. 20) and Wisconsin Green Bay (Dec. 22) before a New Year's Eve showdown with Boise State at the Idaho Center.

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