Vandals unleash offense

MOSCOW, Idaho – A week ago, Idaho performed in front of nearly 15,000 fans at seventh-ranked Michigan State. Two days later, the Vandals took the court with 6,000 rocking Gonzaga supporters on hand in Spokane.

Then Saturday, the Vandals came home to what must have been a jarring scene. Inside Memorial Gym was a gathering of 508 bodies.

The huge discrepancy in crowd size, however, wasn’t the only difference Don Verlin noticed as the UI men’s basketball club disposed of North Dakota State 78-69.

“For the first time since I’ve been here, I thought we executed offensively similar to the way I want us to execute,” the first-year coach said. “And I thought we had a lot of good looks throughout the game.”

Unlike the two lopsided losses in a three-day span to prestigious programs, the Vandals (2-2) flashed plenty of offensive promise in the entertaining non-conference victory over a NDSU squad picked to finish second in the Summit League.

The spark was furnished by junior guard Kashif Watson, who had 19 points, six steals and four assists. Mac Hopson did his part with eight assists and 11 points. The Washington State transfer had just one turnover.

Trailing 62-57 with 91/2 minutes remaining, the Vandals clamped down and finished the game on a 21-6 outburst. It was a stunning defensive turnaround considering the Bison of Fargo (1-1) shot a blistering 62.1 percent in the first half and led by five.

“We had to adjust at halftime because they were knocking the shots down,” junior center Marvin Jefferson said. “… We had to play good, hard Vandal basketball. And that’s what we did. We played together.”

Jefferson was the go-to man in the paint. The wiry 6-10 junior college transfer, making his first start of the season, finished with 16 points and five rebounds.

Idaho seemed on the verge of letting the game slip away midway through the first half before a momentum-shifting spurt. Down 24-16 after stretches of sloppy play, UI unleashed an 11-2 flurry keyed by Watson.

He sank a 19-foot jumper and set up a pretty three-point play with a bounce pass to a trailing Brandon Wiley on a fast break. Watson also held NDSU’s leading scorer, Ben Woodside, to nine points.