Vandals Ease To 70-54 Win Over Bulldogs

Idaho was prudent in the aftermath of Wednesday night’s victory.

The Vandals chose to virtually ignore their 70-54 men’s basketball win over Western Montana at the Kibbie Dome.

Good idea.

“I didn’t talk to our team at all about this game,” UI coach Dave Farrar said. “If I did we’d all be upset. It was the kind of game that didn’t do either team a lot of good …

“What we did talk about after the game was our next three opponents (Gonzaga, Washington State and Southwest Missouri), all of which I have a great deal of respect for and are the kinds of teams we need to be competitive with.”

Only 932 (announced, not actual) showed up for the non-conference game. Not that face-painted throngs were expected to welcome the NAIA Bulldogs from Dillon, but the Dome was virtually absent of atmosphere. Farrar displayed perhaps the most intensity in discussions with his troops during timeouts.

Idaho is 2-1 entering Saturday’s game at Gonzaga.

“We’re kind of at a point where we want to play somebody good,” senior guard Kris Baumann said. “I’m looking forward to playing Gonzaga and a lot of our guys are. They’ve beaten a lot of good teams. That’s a good measuring stick to see where we’re at.”

Some of Wednesday’s measuring sticks weren’t encouraging, in light of the fact that Idaho will eventually be measured by its difficult upcoming non-league and Big West schedules.

There was no doubt about the outcome - Idaho led 41-23 at half and 63-36 with 8 minutes left.

Still, Western Montana (3-4) surrendered 99 points to Lewis-Clark State College and Albertson College and 102 to Northwest Nazarene in its three previous games. Idaho scored 70 and only visited the foul line for eight free throws, compared to the Bulldogs’ 21.

“I’m happy for a 70-54 outcome,” Western Montana coach Mark Durham said. “That’s better than what we’ve been doing against these other Idaho teams, so we’ll take it.”Cameron Banks topped Idaho with 17 points in 23 minutes. Beyond that, it was scoring by committee as eight other Vandals contributed.

“Obviously you want to be pumped up but it’s hard,” Banks admitted. “I’m sure when we go up to play Gonzaga everyone will see a much better team, a lot more enthusiasm and a lot more emotion from the team.”

Part of the problem is mental and physical fatigue, according to players and Farrar. Other than Avery Curry, nobody logged more than 27 minutes, but Idaho continued its habit of sloppy play.

“The second-half blues; we haven’t really got over the hump,” Baumann said.

“Out of our last 13 to 14 possessions, we scored three times,” Farrar pointed out. “And out of their last 13 possessions, they scored 9 times.”

All the more reason to look ahead and not backward.

, DataTimes