The Vandals followed much the same script Saturday night in a win over Seattle U as they did in beating Fresno State: start slow, pick it up before halftime and then really start playing. The result was positive, but there are a few troubling signs for Idaho headed into the postseason.

Read more in my game story from Moscow.

*****

Before I get to the story, it looks like UI will play either Hawaii or San Jose State in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament. Hawaii is losing to Fresno State late as I type this. ... The Vandals' only win in the WAC tournament was in a play-in game in 2007.

By Josh Wright
Correspondent

MOSCOW, Idaho – Midway through the second half Shawn Henderson planted a 3-pointer at the top of the key and started to back-pedal with his shooting pose – right arm high above his shoulders, wrist locked and pointed down – intact as he strode down the court.

Henderson is far from a pure long-distance shooter. But he and other Idaho perimeter players were locked in Saturday night from the 3-point line … at least when the Vandals needed them to be.  
 
UI capped its finest regular season since 1993 by erasing yet another large first-half deficit to dispatch Seattle University 78-69 in a nonconference men’s basketball game at Cowan Spectrum.

With 2,109 on hand, Idaho (18-12) honored its three seniors – Henderson, Jeff Ledbetter and Brandon Wiley – before the game and then promptly slipped into a 12-point hole in the opening minutes.  

It was eerily similar to Thursday, when the Vandals were plagued by a sluggish start and trailed Fresno State by 13 before rousing themselves.

“We’ve been doing that lately,” Ledbetter said. “That’s one thing we’ve got to fix going into the tournament.”

The Vandals earned a first-round bye in the WAC tourney as the fourth seed and will play the winner of the fifth place/eighth place game at noon Thursday on ESPNU. If they prevail in their quarterfinal matchup, they’ll take on top-seeded Utah State on Friday.

UI coach Don Verlin is worried with more than just his team’s slow starts in recent games. He also expressed concern with the the Vandals' deteriorating defense.   

Seattle U often used it quickness to glide past UI defenders for open layups. It shot 53 percent from the field after Fresno State hit 50 percent of its buckets against the Vandals.

“We’ve got to do a better job of defending our basket,” Verlin said. “We just have to.”

UI more than made up for its defensive lapses with a late-arriving 3-point assault against an equally porous Seattle defense. The Vandals hit four straight from 3 to start the second half and knocked down 7 of 10 triples in the final 20 minutes until two late misses.

UI also compiled 23 assists on 25 made baskets. Henderson had five of those assists to go with 13 points while Deremy Geiger had a team-high 15 points, four assists and three steals.

But on senior night, it was true freshman Stephen Madison who was “one of the differences,” as Verlin put it. He scored seven straight points in the first half to help the Vandals get back in the game and knocked down a 3-pointer in transition with 6:43 left to give Idaho its biggest lead to that point, 66-59.
 
Seattle’s Sterling Carter exploded for 18 points in the first half but was held scoreless after that.
 

---

---