UI Beginning To Draw Attention

The Idaho men’s basketball team is winning games and, it seems, winning back fans.

Some Vandals supporters undoubtedly were irked when coach Kermit Davis bolted after only one season for an assistant’s job at Louisiana State.

But under new coach Dave Farrar, the Vandals are the surprise of the Big West at 8-4 overall, 2-0 in conference. Attendance hasn’t been dazzling, but Idaho usually has played when students weren’t in session and/ or when the weather was frightful.

Idaho’s 102-71 win over Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo on Saturday night drew a respectable 2,976 to the Kibbie Dome.

“That’s gone real well,” said Farrar, whose club plays at Cal State Fullerton tonight and UC Irvine on Saturday.

“There’s no question there was some general apathy at the start of the season toward men’s basketball. But the kids have won over the people considerably. They work very hard, so it’s enjoyable watching it.”

Idaho’s best crowd was 3,506 against Southwest Missouri State in mid-December.

Power poll

Utah State’s No. 1. Idaho’s seventh. That’s according to a Big West power poll conducted by The Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise and voted on by five sportswriters.

USU, coached by former Idaho coach Larry Eustachy, was listed No. 1 on all five ballots. Western Division favorite Pacific, despite an 0-2 league start, was second, followed by the Eastern Division’s Nevada, New Mexico State and Boise State.

The poll reflects the conference’s power base in the Eastern Division. Eastern teams went 10-2 against the West last week. All 12 games were on Eastern courts.

Streaking

The unthinkable occurred last week when visiting UC Irvine upset New Mexico State. The Anteaters, who were 1-25 last season, had lost 22 consecutive road games.

“I watched the tape over and over,” Farrar said. “I didn’t see anything that appeared to be glaring weaknesses in either of those teams.”

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: AREA LEADERS Scoring Player, school FG-FGA FT-FTA 3pt Avg. Karim Scott, EWU 105-185 38-57 8 18.3 Bakari Hendrix, GU 108-195 69-95 2 17.9 Avery Curry, Idaho 78-169 47-67 12 17.9 Modesto Spencer, CCS 105-216 43-55 26 17.4 Johnny Goodman, NIC 97-187 23-31 39 17.2 Matt Santangelo, GU 98-207 48-59 35 16.4 Carlos Daniel, WSU 88-177 67-101 1 17.4 JoVann Johnson, NIC 25-52 32-47 0 16.4 Shannon Taylor, EWU 68-169 36-55 35 14.8 Jeff Mix, Whtwth 56-116 30-45 1 14.3 Chris Crosby, WSU 74-142 21-33 29 14.1 Nathaniel Bailey, NIC 77-181 38-58 16 13.9 Deon Williams, EWU 60-145 46-68 10 12.6 Greg Jones, Whtwth 42-83 24-33 10 11.8 Tyler Jordan, Whtwth 42-73 11-16 21 11.6

Rebounding Daniel, WSU, 9.6 (134); Mix, Whtwth, 7.4 (74); Cedrick Day, CCS, 7.4 (119); Scott, EWU, 6.4 (90); Spencer, CCS, 6.1 (97).

Assists Williams, EWU, 6.1 (85); Bailey, NIC, 4.7 (71); Blake Pengelly, WSU, 4.2 (59); Spencer, CCS, 3.8 (60); Jordan, Whtwth, 3.8 (38). Steals Bailey, NIC, 4.3 (64), Goodman, NIC, 2.4 (36), Scott, EWU, 2.4 (34); Curry, Idaho, 2.3 (27); Quentin Hall, GU, 1.8 (31); Spencer, CCS, 1.8 (29).

Schedule Today: San Diego at Gonzaga, 7 p.m.; EWU at Montana State, 7 p.m.; WSU at Oregon State, 7:05 p.m.; Idaho at Cal State Fullerton, 7:05 p.m. Friday: NIC at College of Southern Idaho, 6:30 p.m.; Whitworth at PLU, 8 p.m. Saturday: EWU at Montana, 1:05 p.m.; WSU at Oregon, 3:05 p.m. (Fox Sports); NIC at Treasure Valley, 6:30 p.m.; Saint Mary’s at Gonzaga, 7 p.m.; Idaho at UC Irvine, 7:05 p.m.; CCS at Wenatchee Valley, 8 p.m.; Whitworth at Lewis and Clark, 8 p.m. Wednesday: Yakima Valley at CCS, 8 p.m.