RENO, Nev.—The Vandals wore their hearts on their sleeves Friday night in Idaho's 81-72 loss to Montana in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament from the Reno Events Center. The Vandals trailed the entire second half, but never backed down to the Grizzlies, fighting to the final horn.
“I'm proud of this team,” said head coach Don Verlin. “This team has fought like crazy. When you start off the year picked eighth, have a good preseason, then you go through some injuries. These guys just fought and fought and fought. They put together one heck of a season, the best one since '92-'93 in Vandal history, and I have 12 of them coming back.”
Montana led by as many as 11 points in the final five minutes of the game. Idaho was able to cut the Griz lead to two on four separate occasions, but were never able to get over the hump. Montana shot over 70 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes to hold off the Vandals.
Perrion Callandret led Idaho with a game-high 25 points, going with his team-best five rebounds and three assists. Victor Sanders totaled 18 points, hitting 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. Arkadiy Mkrtychyan ended the night with a nine-point effort.
“First of all, I thought Montana played very well tonight,” said Verlin. “I thought they were on their game. They miss 15 shots, get eight of them back. The bottom line is, they were able to take advantage of our defense tonight.”
The Vandals got out to an early 15-9 lead, but went cold for a long stretch. Idaho's defense kept them in it, but the Grizzlies were able to build a double-digit lead late in the half. Sanders drained a pair of 3's late in the period to cut the deficit, but Idaho trailed by eight at the break.
“Foul trouble is tough to handle, but it's something we've had to handle all season long,” Verlin said. “I thought their pressure early in the game bothered us, we turned it over a few too many times. But we battled right back. It was a two-point game in the second half, but then they went on another run.”
Idaho lost the battle of the boards, 24-20. The Vandals shot well, at 46.3 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from beyond the arc.
“I'm happy with the program, I'm happy with the effort,” Verlin said. “I'm never happy with the loss, but we're going to get a chance to play some more basketball.”
The Vandals now wait to see what plays out across the country. Idaho expects to be offered an opportunity to play another game this year.
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
