Vandals trounce Hornets
Balanced scoring lifts Idaho at home
MOSCOW, Idaho – Balance was key again for the University of Idaho men’s basketball team, as four Vandals scored in double digits in a 75-61 home opener win over Sacramento State on Tuesday.
Sophomore Luiz Toledo led Idaho with 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting, while seniors Kashif Watson and Marvin Jefferson added 12 each and Luciano de Souza hit 3 of 4 from long range and scored 11. Surprisingly, none of Idaho’s double-digit scorers in the game were Mac Hopson or Steffan Johnson, a duo that combined to average 31.0 points entering the game.
“I think that’s one thing you’ll see with this team,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “This basketball team is deep – we’ve got a number of weapons and a number of guys who can score the basketball for us.”
Hopson dished out eight assists, grabbed seven rebounds and scored six points. Johnson scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds and had four assists.
Idaho even saw great balance on the boards. The Vandals out-rebounded the Hornets by a 42-38 margin and six Idaho players had five or more rebounds, led by Hopson and Watson with seven apiece.
The telling statistic came from the free-throw line, where Idaho made 31 trips and converted them into 20 points, compared to just eight points on eight trips for Sacramento State.
“I thought we did a good job of attacking the basket and making them foul us,” Verlin said. “Maybe we weren’t quite as aggressive as we should have been defensively, but we did do a good job of not fouling them. They are a very good free-throw shooting team, so obviously that contributed to the win tonight.”
Idaho 75, Sacramento State 61
Sacramento (3-3)—Dickson 4-9 0-0 10, Marcial 0-1 0-0 0, Toles-Bey 6-18 4-4 16, Flaggs 1-1 0-0 3, Selling 7-14 0-0 15, Norris 0-3 0-0 0, Malloy 0-1 0-0 0, Stigall 0-2 0-0 0, Lopez 0-0 0-0 0, Daniel 2-5 0-0 4, Bjegovic 3-6 2-2 9, Eller 1-7 2-2 4. Totals 24-67 8-8 61.
Idaho (3-1)—Hopson 2-6 2-3 6, Johnson 3-8 1-2 9, Toledo 4-5 7-8 15, Watson 3-7 6-11 12, Jefferson 5-8 2-5 12, Stern 0-1 0-0 0, Ledbetter 1-3 0-0 3, Henderson 0-6 0-0 0, de Souza 4-6 0-0 11, Lawrence 1-3 0-0 3, Barone 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 24-54 20-31 75. Halftime—Idaho 45-34. 3-Point Goals—Sacramento St. 5-19 (Dickson 2-5, Flaggs 1-1, Bjegovic 1-2, Selling 1-3, Malloy 0-1, Daniel 0-1, Norris 0-1, Stigall 0-1, Toles-Bey 0-4), Idaho 7-19 (de Souza 3-4, Johnson 2-7, Lawrence 1-2, Ledbetter 1-3, Hopson 0-3). Fouled Out—Selling. Rebounds—Sacramento St. 38 (Bjegovic, Eller 6), Idaho 42 (Hopson, Watson 7). Assists—Sacramento St. 9 (Toles-Bey 5), Idaho 17 (Hopson 8). Total Fouls—Sacramento St. 24, Idaho 12. A—740.