Vandals come up a bit short

MOSCOW, Idaho – Rebounding and defense, two principles close to Idaho men’s basketball coach Leonard Perry’s heart, were in short supply for the Vandals.

Idaho swiftly burned up a 13-point first-half lead and couldn’t get a defensive stop for most of the second half, let alone the closing minutes of a 78-71 non-conference loss to Idaho State in front of a quiet gathering of 1,269 at the Cowan Spectrum on Wednesday.

“We broke down defensively and it cost us,” said Perry, whose club fell to 1-5, 1-2 on the current six-game home stand. “We broke down with fouls, we got beat on penetration, we didn’t contest shots and we gave up second shots.”

That about covers it. One telling sequence saw Brett Ledbetter hit a 3-pointer that pulled Idaho within five only to see ISU quickly move the ball down court to Logan Kinghorn, who made an uncontested 3-pointer.

Idaho trailed 72-69 after Igor Vrzina’s layup, but Bengals forward Slim Millien’s follow dunk with 35.4 seconds left sent fans scattering for the exits.

The Bengals (5-1) poured in 49 second-half points on 55.9 percent shooting from the field. Idaho allowed a season-high 17 offensive rebounds and was outboarded for the fifth time in six games.

Rebounding is “part desire and toughness,” said Perry, whose team is 0-2 against Big Sky foes with another, Portland State, set to visit Saturday at 8:05. “I thought our kids gave effort and Desmond (Nwoke) was tremendous rebounding. They had a couple of guys that went after it a little harder.”

Nwoke, who is starting to emerge after missing the first two games with a troublesome knee, had 12 rebounds in a season-high 19 minutes. He was one of the Idaho’s bright spots, along with freshman forward David Dubois’ career-high 14 points and Tanoris Shepard’s 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

“I think it’s a case of us being really young,” said Shepard, the lone senior in Idaho’s rotation. “We’re going to have highs and lows and there are going to be times where we play really well and times where we play not so well.”

Idaho was in command most of the first half, but the Vandals followed a smooth stretch offensively – five different players scored in a 12-3 run that put Idaho on top 33-21 – with a 5:25 dry spell to close the half. That allowed Idaho State to score eight unanswered points and trail just 33-29 at intermission.

“We were frustrated,” Bengals wing Tim Henry said. “We expected them to play hard, but they came out really hitting us.”

Idaho’s scoreless stretch spilled over into the second half. By the time Dubois hit a bank shot with 17:30 remaining the Bengals were already in front.

“When we executed our offense we got the shots we needed,” Perry said. “When we fragmented and settled for 3s, that’s when we’re not very good.”

Idaho State led by as many as 11, finding holes in Idaho’s defense on the perimeter and interior.

Henry scored nine points in the first four minutes of the second half and Millien, after a quiet first half, struck for 11 of his 14 points in the second half.

The Vandals broke a pattern of trading buckets when Shepard scored seven points in a 95-second span, drawing Idaho within 70-67. Nwoke was whistled for a foul away from the ball and Millien hit a pair of free throws with 1:47 left.

Shortly thereafter, Idaho lost track of Henry, who connected on an open 17-footer to hike ISUs lead to 74-69.

“This level is extremely higher than the high school level I came from,” Dubois said. “It’s more physical and quicker. It’s just a matter of time because our guys are trying to put the pieces together so we can move forward.”

Idaho St. 78, Idaho 71

Idaho State (5-1)—Kinghorn 4-6 1-2 10, Henry 7-18 1-1 18, Schroeder 6-17 0-0 14, Winters 3-6 1-4 7, Millien 5-9 4-6 14, Abdul-Ahad 2-4 0-0 5, Baumgartner 1-4 0-0 2, Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Stucki 2-5 0-0 4, Stevens 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 31-70 9-15 78.

Idaho (1-5)—Watson 3-9 0-0 8, Shepard 7-17 1-2 17, Ledbetter 2-7 0-0 6, Vrzina 5-8 2-2 13, Dubois 6-12 2-2 14, Forge 0-0 0-0 0, Jakovljevic 0-0 0-0 0, Bowden-Key 0-1 0-0 0, Nwoke 2-6 2-2 6, Kale 3-8 1-2 7. Totals 28-68 8-10 71.

Halftime—Idaho 33, Idaho State 29. 3-point goals—Idaho State 7-18 (Henry 3-8, Schroeder 2-4, Abdul-Ahad 1-1, Kinghorn 1-2, Stucki 0-1, Baumgartner 0-2), Idaho 7-19 (Shepard 2-4, Watson 2-4, Ledbetter 2-6, Vrzina 1-2, Dubois 0-3). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Idaho State 45 (Winters 7), Idaho 38 (Nwoke 12). Assists—Idaho State 9 (Kinghorn 3), Idaho 16 (Shepard 7). Total fouls—Idaho State 15, Idaho 16. A—1,269.