Vandals shock Utah State
MOSCOW, Idaho – University of Idaho men’s basketball coach Leonard Perry wanted a cozy atmosphere when he lobbied his boss to move Thursday’s game from the roomy Cowan Spectrum to stately old Memorial Gym.
He got that – and much, much more. He got 3-pointers, voracious rebounding, a monster rebound dunk and a composed performance in the closing minutes as Idaho pulled off a 69-62 upset over Big West Conference bully Utah State.
It marked the Vandals’ first win over a Division I opponent this season and they’ll go into the holiday break in first place in the Big West with no one else playing conference games until Tuesday. Idaho (2-8) had lost six straight Big West openers and Utah State (7-3) had won five in a row.
Perry and his players celebrated at midcourt by singing the school fight song, but the coach provided most of the entertainment. He went into a fist-pumping frenzy during the portion in which they spell out “I-D-A-H-O” that would have made Tiger Woods blush.
“I take losses harder than anyone in America,” Perry said of his emotional postgame release. “I know we’re doing the right things in practice. For our kids to stay with it. … Nobody’s quitting, nobody’s trying to transfer. All these kids have done is work harder in practice and eventually it’s going to pay off, and I thought it did tonight.”
Who would have thought it, especially after the Aggies sprinted to a 9-0 lead just more than two minutes into the game?
“Coach called timeout and said, ‘Don’t put your heads down, it’s a long game,’ ” said Dandrick Jones, who scored a team-high 17 points and had two huge hoops in the final 3:30. “We’re known for sluggish starts, but once we got everybody calmed down we came out and played great.”
Idaho, which has lost four games by four points or less, held a 61-60 lead when Tanoris Shepard dropped in a short bank shot with 5:20 remaining. Nearly two minutes later, Jones soared in from the wing to gather up a Shepard miss with his left hand and throw down a dunk in one fluid motion.
“Coach has been on me all week, saying I wasn’t getting enough offensive rebounds,” Jones said. “So I tried to go to the boards real hard. I timed it good. It was just an amazing play, I guess.”
He followed that with another key basket. Leading 65-62, Idaho worked the shot clock down and put the ball in Shepard’s hands. He drove down the left side of the lane and drew a defender that left Jones open from the wing for a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left that cemented the victory.
“Far too often all you do is look at the things you didn’t do rather than look at the opponent,” Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. “Their guys were alive, they were confident and they thought they could win. They deserved it, as hard as they played and as well as they played.”
Utah State shot 52.3 percent from the field to Idaho’s 44.1, but the Vandals made up the difference by grabbing 19 offensive rebounds. The Aggies had won 32 straight games when outshooting their opponent.
Jones had nine rebounds, Anton Lyons eight and Mike Kale six. Shepard had 15 points and Armend Kahrimanovic scored 11 in the first half, helping Idaho rally from a slow start.
“We just got tired of losing,” said Lyons, who added 14 points.
It wasn’t an ideal start for a 1-8 team. Idaho was down 18-8 at the 13:35 mark.
Kahrimanovic and some timely offensive rebounds brought back the Vandals. The senior forward came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers, the last trimming Utah State’s lead to 22-21. Jones’ hanging layup gave Idaho its first lead and dialed up the decibel level from the 1,350 in attendance.
UI’s zone slowed the Aggies’ offense and created several turnovers in the process. Kahrimanovic and Jones converted steals into layups as Idaho led by as many as four. The Aggies pulled within 35-34 on Spencer Nelson’s putback just before the buzzer.
The Aggies, led by Nelson’s and Jaycee Carroll’s 17 points, poked in front 41-39, but Shepard immediately answered with three 3-pointers to stake Idaho to a 52-46 lead.
Idaho visits Portland on Thursday.
Idaho 69, Utah State 62
UTAH ST. (7-3) – Pak 3-7 0-0 8, Harris 6-9 0-1 12, Carroll 6-9 2-3 17, Neil 1-1 0-0 2, Nelson 6-11 5-6 17, Crane 0-1 0-0 0, Matheus 1-1 2-2 4,rown 0-0 0-0 0, Huber 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 0-3 2-2 2, McVey 0-0 0-0. Totals 23-44 11-14 62.
IDAHO (2-8) – Jones 8-20 0-1 17, Haynes 3-7 0-0 7, Shepard 6-16 0-0 15, Lyons 7-13 0-0 14, Davis 1-2 1-2 3, Higdon 1-3 0-0 2, Kahrimanovic 4-6 0-0 11, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Kale 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-68 1-3 69.
Halftime—Idaho 35, Utah St. 34. 3-point goals—Utah St. 5-18 (Carroll 3-6, Pak 2-4, Harris 0-1, Crane 0-1, Williams 0-1, Huber 0-2, Nelson 0-3), Idaho 8-22 (Kahrimanovic 3-3, Shepard 3-9, Haynes 1-3, Jones 1-4, Higdon 0-1, Lyons 0-2). Rebounds—Utah St. 26 (Nelson 12), Idaho 37 (Jones 9). Assists—Utah St. 11 (Nelson 3), Idaho 12 (Jones 4). Total fouls—Utah St. 12, Idaho 12. A—1,350.