Second-Half Spurt Carries Idaho To Win

UC Irvine executed well, ran its pattern offense smartly and took away Idaho’s two primary scoring threats - Avery Curry and Gordon Scott.

Idaho shot poorly, particularly from beyond the 3-point arc, and lost two interior players to fouls.

The result? An illogical Idaho basketball victory, 67-62, in front of 3,795 at the Kibbie Dome Saturday night.

The Vandals (7-7 overall, 3-2 Big West) relied on a 10-0 run midway through the second half to defeat the stubborn Anteaters (5-9, 1-3). Answers start coming forward when one dissects the Vandals’ decisive run. Five different players scored as Idaho went from a 54-49 deficit to a 59-54 lead with 5:23 left.

“We just toughened up and got some breaks finally,” UI coach Dave Farrar said. “We did play harder (than earlier in the game), but I don’t know if we ever played better.”

With Curry and Scott combining for 4-of-22 shooting and 15 points - 13 below their average - Idaho turned to Cameron Banks (24 points) and Kaniel Dickens (11) and coaxed enough from the remainder of the supporting cast.

Dickens’ two free throws and Scott’s long-awaited 3-pointer pushed Idaho on top 59-54.

Idaho led 60-58 when the breaks started siding with the Vandals. Dickens missed a short jumper, but Idaho retained possession after two Irvine players fought for the rebound. That led to Banks’ dunk off of a nice backdoor cut.

Irvine had a chance to tie but smooth freshman guard Jerry Green committed his only turnover of the game, losing the ball en route to the bucket with 2:15 left. Scott hit two foul shots to give Idaho a 64-60 lead. The Anteaters turned the ball over again on their next possession as a pass inexplicably bounced off Gabe Cagwin’s shoulder.

Leading 64-62, Banks retrieved an errant 3 by Curry. But a pass intended for Curry was nearly intercepted. Instead, the ball rolled out of bounds off an Irvine player. Dickens hit two foul shots with 17.7 seconds left to seal UI’s third straight win.

“We were confident we were going to win,” Banks said, “but we always seem to wait until the end to get our best stops and play our hardest.”

The free-throw line was especially friendly to Idaho. UI was 30 of 37, with the aggressive Banks hitting 12 of 14. Add in Idaho’s 41-26 rebounding edge - created by Dickens’ 12 boards - and the Vandals were able to overcome a 32.7 percent shooting night.

Curry and Scott are “fine players, but the rest of their team stepped up and made some plays,” UC Irvine coach Pat Douglass said. “There were just some bounces of the ball at the end that we didn’t get.”

Irvine led 35-31 at half and the margin probably should have been wider. Idaho missed its first eight shots and didn’t get a field goal until Banks connected with 6 minutes gone. UI was just 1 of 9 on 3-pointers in the first half.

Farrar inserted four new starters to open the second half - Mao Tosi, Josh Toal, Adam Miller and Dickens - looking for a spark. It worked - sort of. Idaho pulled even at 43 and 47, but failed to stop Green, who finished with 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting.

“Every coach tries to be the miracle man at half and make some kind of adjustment that means something,” Farrar said.

Idaho may not have been fluid, but it was dogged. Its late run was similar in style to last year when UI won numerous games in the final 5 minutes. It proved to be just enough on a night when the Vandals didn’t have their “A game,” Farrar said.

UI entertains Nevada Thursday and Utah State Saturday.

Idaho 67, UC Irvine 62

UC Irvine (5-9) - Ondera 5-7 2-4 12, Stetson 3-13 9-10 16, Jones 1-6 0-1 2, Flowers 0-2 0-0 0, Green 7-8 2-2 16, Cagwin 3-5 0-0 9, Edmond 0-1 0-0 0, Bennem 1-3 1-2 3, Scoggin 1-1 0-0 2, Willard 0-0 0-2 0, Gottschalk 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-47 14-21 62.

Idaho (7-7) - Ford 1-3 4-4 6, Banks 6-14 12-14 24, Byrne 0-1 0- 0, Curry 2-12 2-4 6, Scott 2-10 4-4 9, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Toal 3-4 0-0 8, Dickens 2-6 7-8 11, Tosi 1-2 1-2 3. Totals 17-52 30-37 67.

Halftime-UC Irvine 35, Idaho 31. 3-Point goals-UC Irvine 4-16 (Cagwin 3-5, Stetson 1-5, Jones 0-4, Green 0-1, Bennem 0-1) Idaho 3-14 (Toal 2-2, Scott 1-5, Curry 0-5, Banks 0-2). Fouled out-UC Irvine, Ondera, Edmond; Idaho, Byrne, Tosi. Rebounds-UC Irvine 26 (Stetson 9), Idaho 41 (Dickens 13). Assists-UC Irvine 8 (Green, Cagwin 2), Idaho 10 (Curry, Toal 3). Total fouls-UC Irvine 25, Idaho 20. A-3,795.