Vandals Let Victory Slip Away

Big Sky

Senior guard Darnell Woods scored 15 points and forwards J.D. Huleen and Sherman Morris led a second-half surge as Boise State downed Idaho 68-64 in Big Sky Conference men’s basketball Friday night in Boise.

Idaho (3-5 Big Sky, 9-11 overall) led 36-24 at the half on the scoring of guard Mark Leslie, who finished with 21 points. UI guard Shawn Dirden scored 16, and Ben Johnson added 15.

Morris and Huleen finished with 10 points each for BSU (5-3, 15-5).

Huleen hit a free throw, a field goal and a 3-pointer to bring the Broncos within 56-52 with 6:10 left in the game. Morris and guard Bernard Walker added field goals to make it 56-56 with 4:40 left. Woods hit two buckets as the Broncos pulled away.

Boise State shot only 29 percent from the field in the first half, but hit 53 percent in the second.

The Vandals, meanwhile, could convert on only 5 of 17 free throws.

“You can’t win when you shoot 30 percent from the free-throw line,” Idaho coach Joe Cravens said. “You look at several key plays and that’s the difference in the game.”

Boise State 68, Idaho 64

IDAHO (9-11)

Johnson 7-10 1-3 15, Dirden 7-16 0-0 16, Leslie 8-17 2-8 21, Gardner 1-2 0-0 2, Harrison 3-3 1-4 7, Coates 1-1 1-2 3, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Baumann 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 5-17 64.

BOISE (15-5)

Archibald 5-9 3-4 13, Woods 4-10 7-10 15, Huleen 4-8 1-2 10, Morris 4-11 2-4 10, Walker 6-12 2-3 14, Rodman 1-3 2-3 4, Tharp 1-4 0-0 2, Folsom 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 17-26 68.

Halftime-Idaho 36, Boise St. 24. 3-Point goals-UI 5-17 (Leslie 3-8, Dirden 2-5, Johnson 0-3, Baumann 0-1.), BSU 1-9 (Huleen 1-2, Morris 0-3, Archibald 0-2, Woods Walker 0-1). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-UI 35 (Gardner 10), BSU 33 (Huleen 8). Assists-UI 12 (Johnson, Leslie 4), BSU 13 (Morris 5). Total fouls- UI 17, BSU 16. Technicals-UI Bench, Dirden. A10,613.

Idaho State 93, E. Washington 71

In Pocatello, Idaho, the Bengals rolled over the Eagles behind the outside shooting of Lorenzo Watkins.

The win was Idaho State’s (6-2, 15-4) 13th straight at home. For Eastern Washington (0-8, 3-16), it was the 29th consecutive Big Sky Conference loss and 44th straight road defeat.

Watkins led all players with 19 points, hitting 5 of 7 from 3-point range. Jim Potter added 15 points for ISU, while Donell Morgan scored 13.

EWU center Melvin Lewis had 16 points and five rebounds before fouling out with 13:24 to play. Off-guard Curtis Porter added 14 points.

After falling behind 15-6 against the ISU starters, the Eagles pulled within 29-22 with 4:51 left in the first half against the Bengals reserves.

Two free throws and a three-point play stretched ISU’s lead to 34-22 with 3:12 remaining. That’s when Bengals coach Herb Williams sent his starters back into action.

Morgan quickly scored inside, Watkins hit a 3 and a layup for a 41-22 cushion 60 seconds before halftime. EWU called timeout, then let Morgan get free inside, capping a 14-0 Bengals surge.

Unable to match up with Potter and Morgan inside, Eastern’s Craig Stinnett, Melvin Lewis and Josh Lewis each had three fouls in the first half.

E. WASHINGTON (3-16)

Groves 0-1 8-8 8, Stinnett 1-2 0-0 2, M. Lewis 8-11 0-0 16, Rideout 3-7 0-0 7, Thompson 0-0 0-1 0, Richardson 0-1 4-6 4, Eagan 0-0 0-0 0, Crider 1-2 3-3 5, Dean 1-3 2-2 4, Porter 6-9 2-3 14, J. Lewis 4-9 3-4 11. Totals 24-45 22-27 71.

IDAHO ST. (15-4)

Morgan 4-8 5-6 13, Potter 4-7 6-8 15, Daniels 1-1 3-4 5, Lands 2-6 8-10 12, Watkins 7-11 0-0 19, Cotton 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 2-2 2, Lee 2-7 0-1 4, Harwell 1-1 6-12 8, Arave 0-1 0-0 0, Barthelome 1-1 0-0 2, Preston 2-3 0-0 4, Green 2-3 3-5 7, Maxwell 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-53 33-48 93.

Halftime-ISU 43, EWU 24. 3-Point goals-EWU 1-3 (Rideout 1-1, J. Lewis 0-2), ISU 6-14 (Watkins 5-7, Potter 1-1, Lands 0-2, Lee 0-2, Cotton 0-1, Morgan 0-1). Fouled out-EWU, M. Lewis. Rebounds-EWU 28 (M. Lewis, Stinnett 5), ISU 33 (Potter 5). Assists-EWU 15 (Stinnett, Thompson 3), ISU 14 (Lands 5). Total fouls-EWU 33, ISU 22. A-5,130.

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