Vandals’ opening weekend a real doozy

MOSCOW, Idaho – The troubling trend began just before Thanksgiving. Playing at Eastern Washington, Idaho got off to a horrendous start and never regrouped.

Then came road trips to Portland and South Carolina State, which were marred by a pile of turnovers, poor shooting from the 3-point stripe … and two more losses.

Finally, at Idaho State on Monday, the Vandals folded after building a double-digit lead late in the second half. Ill-timed turnovers and perhaps some questionable officiating were the culprits this time.

If it weren’t for miscues sprinkled here and there, the Vandals may have bagged a few extra wins in the first six weeks of the season. As it turned out, it was an unsatisfying non-conference slate.

“I was pleased with how much progress our team made,” said Don Verlin, UI’s rookie coach. “I wasn’t pleased with our record. I thought we should have finished some more games. I thought we should have done a little bit better. I think we could have very easily been 8-5 instead of 6-7.”

Center Marvin Jefferson took it a step further.

“If we get a couple possessions better each game, we’d probably be like 9-4 (or) something like that,” he said. “It’s all about taking the next step, and we’re real close, I think. Once league starts, that’s when we’ll all step it up and get to the next level, like we’ve been trying to do.”

The Vandals (6-7) get that opportunity tonight when they open Western Athletic Conference action at Nevada (7-6). The 7:05 game at Reno is followed by a game Monday at Utah State, which caps UI’s most demanding road swing of the conference season.

“It’s the two toughest places to play in the WAC,” said Verlin, who spent the last 10 years as an assistant at USU in Logan.

Even though they’re two wins shy of matching last year’s win total, the Vandals are 1-6 on the road. Regardless of the venue, it doesn’t help that UI is last in the conference in defensive field-goal percentage and seventh in rebounding margin.

Part of the issue has been a lack of bodies. UI has been without two key pieces, guard Brandon Brown (thumb) and post Luis Augusto (ankle), for several weeks. Brown will play against the WolfPack, but Augusto is still day-to-day.

Without the two seniors, the Vandals have been using a seven-player rotation. They’ve been especially lean in the paint with Augusto (6-foot-8, 245 pounds) not around to relieve the 6-10 Jefferson, who has been prone to foul trouble.

“When I’m not in the game, one of the (smaller) guys are in there, having to guard a 7-footer (or) a guy who’s 6-10,” Jefferson said. “That just doesn’t work out well. It just throws everything off.”

Idaho will get an up-close look over the next few days at two of the WAC’s most talented teams. Nevada, which lost Wednesday to No. 1 North Carolina 84-61, was the preseason favorite to win the league. It’s started slowly but has highly skilled freshman post Luke Babbitt, who’s averaging 15.5 points per game.

Utah State (12-1) is unbeaten in eight games at home and has four players averaging double figures in scoring.