HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A second half comeback came up just short on Friday night as Idaho (3-2) lost at Sam Houston State (4-2), 69-62.
 
"The bottom line is they played harder than us," said head coach Don Verlin.  "When you look at the stats after the game, we shoot 37 percent from the field and only get five offensive rebounds.  That's not what Vandal basketball is.  What we've built this team on is good, solid defense, which I thought we played pretty good defense tonight, but I thought we didn't rebound our basketball tonight.  We gave up way too many offensive rebounds.
 
"And on the other side of that we didn't get any offensive rebounds.  I was disappointed in our effort tonight.  We're a better basketball team that from an effort and a competitive stand point.  And that falls on me, at the end of the day I've got to get them ready and I've got to get them prepared and I didn't have them in the right mindset going into this game."
 
Idaho took a 57-55 lead on a pair of free throws by Pat Ingram with under six minutes to play, but then the Vandals went cold.  Sam Houston State would go on an 8-0 run to take the lead and iced the game at the line.
 
The Vandals had responded well out of the locker room, taking their first lead of the game five minutes into the second half.  The teams went back-and-forth for much of the second half, before the Bearkats took control in the closing minutes.
 
Trevon Allen had a career-high 10 points on the night, hitting 2-of-4 3-pointers.  Victor Sanders led the Vandals with 14 points, while Brayon Blake finished with 12 points and eight boards.
 
Idaho shot 37.2 percent (16-of-43) from the floor and 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from range.  The Vandals struggled from deep in the second half, however, connecting on just 1-of-9 3-point attempts.  Idaho also lost the rebound battle, 33-25.
 
Both teams got out to slow starts, with Idaho tying the game at five just under two and a half minutes into the game on an Allen 3-ball.  The Vandals would go cold from there, going seven minutes without a point and more than 10 minutes without a field goal before Allen drained another 3-pointer to end the drought.
 
Sam Houston State would build its lead over that stretch, going up by as many as 12 points.  Idaho would respond with a number of 3-pointers from Chad Sherwood, Blake and Sanders and closed the half on an 11-3 run to trail just 32-30 at the break.
 
Idaho did most of its work from beyond the arc in the first half, connecting on 7-of-16 from range.  Idaho was just 1-of-4 on 2-point field goals in the first half.
 
Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho men's basketball by following the team on twitter, @VandalHoops.

For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com.  Fans can also find Idaho on Twitter and Instagram, @Idaho_Vandals, or on Facebook by searching Idaho Vandals.