MOSCOW, Idaho -- The Idaho basketball team opened its 2021-22 schedule with a heartbreaking 95-89 loss to Long Beach State on Wednesday night at ICCU Arena.
The Vandals knocked down 15 shots from behind the 3-point line, marking the most in a game since Idaho made 17 against Western Michigan back in December of 2017.
"Anytime you can shoot it that well from three, it's a bonus," third-year head coach Zac Claus said. "It feels like a waste when you knock down that many and don't come out victorious though. We definitely have guys that are capable to shoot like that. As many as we made, I am still convinced that three or four of them were so close to just going down. Just one more of those would have been the difference. We have guys that can knock down shots, we have guys that are sharing the ball incredibly well and we hope we can continue to shoot at a great rate."
Junior Trevante Anderson made his Idaho debut by dropping a career-high 26 points and a team-best eight assists. Guard Mikey Dixon tallied 16 points on the night while Rashad Smith scored 12.
"I felt like we had a great atmosphere," guard Trevante Anderson said. "It was lovely to see that many people come out. The energy was amazing and we definitely fed off of it. We are hoping that throughout the whole year we can get that same consistency. It was a great environment and great energy."
A slow start to begin action had Idaho down 9-2 before Smith drilled a three in the corner to get the Vandals off and running from behind the arc. The Vandals grabbed their first lead of the night after an Ethan Kilgore offensive rebound putback that made the score 11-10.
The Vandal offense started to find their stride with a 10-1 run with just over 12 minutes left to play in the half, giving Idaho a 21-13 lead. LBSU was able to quiet the crowd with a run of their own to find themselves down 26-25 with seven minutes left in the half.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Gabe Quinnett had ICCU Arena on their feet heading into the timeout by Long Beach State. The triples would push the score to 36-27.
Idaho hit eight 3-pointers and tallied eight second-chance points in the opening 20 minutes to go into the locker room with a 45-43 lead.
Each side traded baskets for the first seven minutes of action to open the second half. Senior
Nolan Bertain found the bottom of the net from three to set up the first of three straight shots made from three-point range, giving the Vandals the nine-point lead, 67-58.
The Beach answered again with a 13-1 run to take the 83-81 advantage. Anderson continued to make big-time shots down the stretch, hitting a jump shot to even the game at 85-85. Idaho played tough defensively to get a much-needed stop to push the game to overtime.
LBSU made timely plays during the extra period to go home with the victory, 95-89.
Idaho will be back at home on Friday to face George Fox at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
