Vandals Follow Plan To Perfection, Give Seniors A Victory To Remember

Idaho’s pregame checklist: Work the shot clock, don’t shoot unless you’re close enough to see scratches on the rim and contain Long Beach State wings James Cotton and Brandon Titus.

Postgame review: Well-done on all accounts.

The Vandals took their game plan from the chalkboard to the Kibbie Dome floor Thursday night and sent three seniors out as winners in their home finale with a 53-51 decision over athletic Long Beach State before a crowd of 3,249.

Fittingly, Long Beach failed on three game-tying field goal attempts in the final 20 seconds. Cotton, the Big West’s second-leading scorer, was tied up by Kevin Byrne before getting a shot released. The possession arrow favored the 49ers. Cotton then misfired in the lane.

An Idaho player batted the rebound out of bounds, but Titus missed a mid-range jumper. UI senior Jason Jackman grabbed the rebound as the clock hit 0:00.

“We beat a good team,” said Vandals’ coach Kermit Davis, whose club improved to 5-10 in conference, 13-16 overall heading into the season-ender at Boise State on Sunday. “We were just trying to keep those two wings off balance as much as possible.”

Cotton finished with 20 points, but he had a 13-minute dryspell in the second half. He broke out by making back-to-back buckets to bring Long Beach (8-7, 12-13) within 52-49.

“After I hit that 3, I came back down and they made an adjustment real fast,” Cotton said.

Titus scored 10, but was just 4 of 16 from the field. Long Beach, held to its lowest point total of the season, shot only 36 percent.

Idaho, meanwhile, consistently broke down the 49ers’ defense. The Vandals, who had been in a perimeter shooting slump, had nine layups in the first half, and three free throws were set up by inside opportunities. Davis stopped just shy of banning 3-point attempts.

UI’s Derrick Elliott, suspended for a couple of weeks in January for a detrimental attitude, provided the point-guard play that Idaho had been expecting all season. He had eight assists and no turnovers in 37 minutes.

“Now I’m understanding what I have to do in league,” Elliott said. “I’m fortunate to be back (on the team). I’m not looking back.”

Idaho attempted only four 3s, and one of those was forced by an expiring shot clock.

Byrne had a season-high 13 points and six rebounds. Jackman scored 13 points and grabbed seven boards. Senior Eddie Turner added 11 points before fouling out. The third senior, Reggie Rose, watched from the bench with a knee injury.

Jackman, Turner, Robert Scott and Troy Thompson did much of their damage from close range, spurring UI’s 51-percent shooting.

And Scott, Turner, Elliott and Kris Baumann turned in quality defensive minutes on Cotton and Titus.

“I thought everything started with Derrick’s composure,” Davis said. “He played against traps on the wing and full-court pressure. He didn’t make a turnover and got us into an offensive flow.”

Idaho trailed 29-28 at half as Cotton started strong with 12 points. Scott’s layup off an Elliott dish 3 minutes into the second half gave Idaho the lead for good at 34-32.

Idaho stretched it to 49-42 on Jackman’s layup with 6:50 remaining before the 49ers’ responded. Elliott made 2 of 4 foul shots in the final 3 minutes as Idaho held on.

Idaho 53, Long Beach State 51

Long Beach St. (12-13) - Yankelevitz 1-5 3-4 5, Davis 0-2 0-0 0, Nwankwo 5-10 0-0 10, Titus 4-16 1-2 10, Cotton 8-17 1-2 20, Nuckles 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 2-6 0-2 4, Bruant 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 5-10 51.

Idaho (13-16) - Scott 4-5 0-0 8, Byrne 6-11 1-2 13, Jackman 4-9 5-6 13, Elliott 0-2 2-4 2, Turner 5-7 1-2 11, Baumann 1-3 0-0 2, Harris 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 22-43 9-14 53.

Halftime-Long Beach St. 29, Idaho 28. 3-Point goals

Long Beach St. 4-14 (Davis 0-2, Titus 1-3, Cotton 3-7, Nuckles 0-1, Bryant 0-1), Idaho 0-4 (Elliott 0-2, Baumann 0-1, Harris 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Long Beach St. 36 (Yankelevitz 9), Idaho 32 (Jackman 7). Assists-Long Beach St. 10 (Yaknelevitz, Davis 4), Idaho 14 (Elliott 8). Total fouls-Long Beach St. 15, Idaho 16. A-3,249.

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