Box Score MOSCOW, Idaho – If defense wins championships then this Vandal squad has as good a shot as any. Idaho (19-13) dominated on the defensive side of the ball to take down Stephen F. Austin (18-15), 73-50, in the opening round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Wednesday night in Memorial Gym.
THE GAME
Idaho jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but SFA stayed close overall, cutting the deficit to a single bucket on multiple occasions. But the Vandals closed the half strong and took a 37-30 advantage into the break behind eight points apiece from
Nate Sherwood and
Chad Sherwood.
Neither team shot particularly well in the second half, but Idaho made the most of its opportunities by knocking down six 3's in the frame.
Chad Sherwood had three of his own, including back-to-back 3's early in the half to expand Idaho's lead to double-digits. Yet again the pesky 'Jacks stayed close for the first 10 minutes of the half, but then the Vandals turned up the defense.
Stephen F. Austin's Samuli Nieminen knocked down a pair of free throws with 13:31 to play to cut Idaho's lead to 49-42. After a series of misses on both end,
Pat Ingram sank his first triple of the night to give Idaho 52 points with about 11 minutes to play. That would be enough.
The Idaho defense was red-hot in the final 13:31, holding SFA to just three field goals and eight total points. Idaho forced seven of SFA's 18 turnovers during that stretch, while the offense expanded the lead to the 20's.
Chad Sherwood led the way on the night, scoring a game-high 17.
Nate Sherwood added 10.
Victor Sanders had a quiet night by his standards, scoring 10 points in the win, but he also chipped in in a number of other ways. Sanders finished the night with three boards, five dimes, two steals and a block, playing just 25 minutes.
Idaho's defense was exceptional all night, holding SFA to 37.3 percent (19-of-51) shooting from the floor and 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from beyond the arc. Idaho won the rebound battle, 34-30. Both teams were perfect at the line, with SFA going 8-of-8 and Idaho finishing 15-of-15.
THE NAME
Nate Sherwood. The younger Sherwood brother was 5-of-6 from the floor and grabbed a game-high seven boards in just 27 minutes. He did the majority of his offensive work in the first half, scoring eight, but stayed ferocious on the glass throughout.
THE QUOTES
"Obviously I'm very pleased with our effort tonight," said head coach
Don Verlin. "I thought our guys came out right from the get-go and established how we were going to play. I thought we were excellent defensively tonight and I was really proud of the way we took care of our ball, especially in the second half. That's what Stephen F. Austin likes to do, they try to get you to turn it over, but I thought once we settled in we did a great job of taking care of our basketball. I'm proud of our guys, I thought we gave one heck of an effort tonight."
"What I would tell you is, if he (
Victor Sanders) played like he did tonight we'll win a lot of games. I thought he did a lot of really good things. He didn't shoot it quite as well, but I thought he adjusted to how they were guarding him. I thought he made a number of the right plays. Getting Chad open, passing it into the post, I thought he did a good job of facilitating our offense and an excellent job on defense."
THE NOTES
- Idaho awaits the conclusion of the remaining CIT games before finding out its next opponent or location of game.
- Idaho is now 15-3 in games that Chad Sherwood scores in double-figures in his career.
- The 50 points allowed is the second lowest of the season. Idaho defeated NAU, 65-49, in late January.
Keep checking back with GoVandals.com for announcements on the next opponent in the CIT.
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.
