Vandals Get Big Win; Suffer Loss UI’s Bjorn Magnussen Suspended Indefinitely By Coach Cravens

New looks are becoming old hat for the Idaho men’s basketball team.

The Vandals’ roster seems to change by the day, and Friday was no exception, but it mattered little as Idaho overwhelmed Rocky Mountain College 100-68 at the Kibbie Dome.

UI leading scorer Shawn Dirden served a one-game suspension due to a preseason conflict with a neighbor. That disciplinary action was announced earlier this week.

On Friday, it was revealed that reserve center Bjorn Magnussen has been suspended indefinitely for violating team policy, according to coach Joe Cravens. Sources close to the team said Magnussen violated his probation, stemming from an incident last year. Given the State Board of Education’s recent intense scrutiny of athletes who run afoul of the law, Magnussen’s status on the team is tenuous at best.

That forced Cravens into pulling the redshirt off 7-foot freshman center David Sturing’s back. He played 20 minutes and scored seven points.

“What it boils down to is Bjorn’s future is up in the air,” said Cravens, who has also had two players quit - forward Chad Coates during preseason workouts and guard Jared Mercer early in the season. “So we’re going to have to have him (Sturing).”

Keep that eraser close by the roster sheet.

Friday’s game was low on drama and almost sound free. About the loudest ovation from the 1,353 in attendance came when free pizzas were being distributed to the rowdiest fans.

The easy win went just as scripted. Idaho had just concluded finals week and the NAIA visitors from Billings, Mont., allowed the Vandals (4-3) to comfortably tune up for Wednesday’s game against Old Dominion in the Sacramento State Tournament.

“I think we were just a little out of our league,” Rocky Mountain coach Garry Matlock said.

“We wanted to still play hard,” said Idaho senior forward James Jones, who had a career-high 16 points. “We had a lot of things we wanted to accomplish. We had a lot of turnovers against Washington State and we improved on that.”

Amazingly, Idaho trailed by 58 points late in the game. Sound unbelievable? It was, of course. Since the Kibbie Dome scoreboard doesn’t account for triple digits, a zero was posted when Idaho hit the century mark in the final 70 seconds.

The 32-point margin was UI’s largest since 1989 and a 100-49 blistering of Nevada.

Jason Jackman came off the bench to score 13 points - 11 in the first half - as UI led 55-32 at intermission. Harry Harrison had 17 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes. Guard Kris Baumann hit 5 of 7 3-pointers and had 15 points. Six Vandals were in double figures.

Former North Idaho College standout Teddy Russinov scored 20 points and had six assists for Rocky (3-12).

Idaho 100, Rocky Mountain 68

IDAHO (100) - Jones 8-13 0-0 16, Harrison 8-9 1-1 17, Gardner 2-8 2-2 6, Baumann 5-7 0-0 15, Rose 4-10 2-3 10, Thomas 2-3 0-1 4, Turner 5-8 0-0 10, Jackman 5-6 3-5 13, Sturing 3-9 1-2 7, Largent 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 42-73 11-16 100.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN (68) - Big Back 6-13 0-0 13, Russinov 7-10 4-4 20, Anderson 4-8 0-0 8, Costello 1-5 2-2 4, Wasson 2-9 0-0 5, James 1-4 0-0 3, Peterson 1-3 0-0 3, Meccage 6-13 0-0 12, Bouslaugh 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 6-6 68.

Halftime-Idaho 55, Rocky Mountain 32. 3-Point goals-Idaho 5-10 (Baumann 5-7, Jones 0-1, Turner 0-1, Sturing 0-1), Rocky Mountain 6-21 (Russinov 2-3, James 1-2, Peterson 1-2, Big Back 1-4, Wasson 1-6, Costello 0-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds- Idaho 39 (Harrison 9), Rocky Mountain 35 (Anderson, Wasson 6). Assists-Idaho 15 (Rose 4), Rocky Mountain 21 (Russinov 6). Total fouls-Idaho 10, Rocky Mountain 20. Technicals-None. A-1,353.

, DataTimes