Vandals Can’t Hang Montana State Trounces UI To Reach Big Sky Title Game

In Idaho’s final basketball game as a Big Sky Conference team, Montana State lassoed a 91-66 spanking on the Big West-bound Vandals before a near-capacity crowd of 7,357 Friday night at MSU’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

For Idaho, the question now is whether head coach Joe Cravens will be in the saddle as Idaho mosies into new frontier.

Conference champion MSU (20-8) meets second-seeded Weber State (20-9), a 77-70 winner over Boise State in the earlier semifinal, in the Big Sky tournament final. Tipoff tonight is at 7:07 PST and will be broadcast tape-delayed on ESPN at 9:30. The winner receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Whether Friday’s game was Cravens’ last or not, the embattled coach said he plans to keep his head up.

“Obviously, tonight the way the game went diminishes the last two wins,” Cravens said. “I came in with my head up and whatever happens, I’ll go out with my head up. The last month hasn’t gone the way we’d like it to. I’ve said all that before and I’m a little tired of defending myself.”

The game was decided in the first half, perhaps as early as 5 minutes into the contest.

Idaho (12-16) was never able to cut the lead to fewer than 16 points in the second half.

The Bobcats came out smoking before a boisterous crowd, making their first four shots - two 3-pointers and an alley-oop slam by Nico Harrison, and a 3-pointer by Scott Hatler.

Harrison accounted for 11 points in the opening 5 minutes on 5-for-5 shooting, and his basket in the key at the 15:05 mark widened the Bobcats’ lead to 17-6.

Idaho fought back, trimming the deficit to five points twice at 17- 12 and 21-16.

But MSU owned the final 10 minutes of the half, romping to a 48- 31 lead at intermission. The Bobcats twice owned 21-point leads before UI’s Eddie Turner scored the final two baskets of the half.

MSU made 18 of 28 shots from the field in the first half (64 percent) as eight Bobcats scored. They also dominated on the boards (18-8).

“They grabbed the momentum early,” Cravens said. “And once they get away from you they’re gone.”

Harrison finished with a game-high 23 points, making 9 of 10 shots. Quadre Lollis added 16.

Harry Harrison led Idaho with 16 points. “I thought maybe we’d catch them a little tight, so we could get the tempo the way we did in the first couple of games against them,” Cravens said. “They didn’t do anything unexpectedly. They really did a nice job of shooting the ball early on.”

UI guard Kris Baumann took part of the blame for the loss.

“I threw the first two passes away,” Baumann said. “I didn’t take care of the ball, and made some bad decisions. But their team has a way of doing that to you.

“We ran into a very good ball club with the crowd behind them.”

MSU played flawlessly from start to finish, scoring nearly at will inside and outside.

“I thought our team came ready to play,” said Bobcats coach Mick Durham. “It’s nice to get big leads early, but you often see a mental lapse and the other team comes back. It’s tough for any team, but especially one on the road, to come back from that far down.

“Our crowd was a big factor early in the game.”

Montana State 91, Idaho 66

Idaho (12-16) - Turner 3-9 0-0 6, Harrison 6-11 4-4 16, Gardner 1-3 0-0 2, Baumann 3-9 0-0 7, Dirden 3-5 4-5 12, Thomas 5-7 1-2 12, Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Jackman 2-8 5-8 9, Sturing 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 14-19 66.

Montana State (20-8) - Harrison 9-10 3-3 23, Leachman 2-10 0-0 5, Lollis 6-7 4-7 16, Hatler 1-6 1-2 4, Sprinkle 4-6 2-3 12, Elliott 3-6 3-4 9, Henry 1-1 0-0 2, Fay 2-5 3-4 7, Sullivan 2-3 2-2 7, Holmstadt 1-5 4-4 6. Totals 31-60 22-29 91.

Halftime-Montana St. 48, Idaho 31. 3-point goals-Idaho 4-12 (Dirden 2-4, Thomas 1-2, Baumann 1-4, Turner 0-2), Montana St. 7-12 (Harrison 2-2, Sullivan 1-2, Leachman 1-3, Sprinkle 2-4, Hatler 1-5, Harry 0-1), Fouled out-Gardner, Holmstadt. Rebounds-Idaho 27 (Harrison 7), Montana St. 39 (Lollis 11). Assists-Idaho 6 (Turner 3), Montana St. 20 (Hatler 5). Total fouls-Idaho 23, Montana St. 17. Technicals-Gardner. A-7,357.

Weber St. 77, Boise St. 70

The Wildcats never trailed, but didn’t exact control until 5 minutes remained.

Jimmy DeGraffenried made two free throws to give Weber State its biggest advantage at 63-50 with 3:24 remaining.

BSU (14-13) pulled within three 71-68 when Joe Wyatt buried a 3-pointer with 37 seconds left. But the Wildcats made 5 of 7 free throws from that point to build a cushion in the final margin.

DeGraffenried led four Wildcats in double figures with 21 points. Shane Flanagan was tops for BSU with 16.

Boise State (14-13) - Tolman 4-9 0-0 10, Rodman 6-8 2-3 14, Huleen 1-6 2-2 4, Washington 2-5 0-0 4, Wyatt 4-11 0-1 12, Flanagan 5-10 4-4 16, Sherrill 1-3 1-1 3, Tharp 2-2 0-0 5, Van Kirk 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 25-57 11-15 70.

Weber State (20-9) - Tebbs 5-12 4-4 16, DeGraffenried 6-12 9-12 21, Smith 5-7 3-4 13, Emery 1-2 6-8 9, Cuff 5-9 3-4 16, Ketcham 1-1 0-0 2, Baskerville 0-0 0-0 0, Hicks 0-1 0-0 0, Fisher 0-1 0-0 0, McIntire 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-45 25-32 77.

Halftime-Weber St. 34, Boise St. 29.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo