Miller’S Treys Save Face For Vandals Guard’S Long-Range Shooting Rallies Idaho To Win Over Division Ii Saints

St. Martin’s College put a scare into the University of Idaho Tuesday night before Adam Miller unleashed a 3-point barrage that helped lead the Vandals to a 73-61 non-conference men’s basketball victory at the Kibbie Dome.

The Division II Saints (1-4) of Lacey, Wash., used a tough 2-3 zone defense to force Idaho to shoot from the perimeter while at the same time keeping the Vandals off the boards. The plan worked well enough that St.

Martin’s led for most of the first half and well into the second.

It was Miller who turned things around for Idaho. A senior from Moscow, Miller took charge from 3-point range. He connected on 5 of 7 from long range for a career-high 17 points and gave the Vandals the momentum.

Miller’s run midway through the second half provided the spark for the Vandals to rally from a 53-52 deficit to a 66-55 lead 5 minutes later.

“If Adam Miller doesn’t shoot the ball as well as he did, especially from 3-point range at the critical time, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here with the same thoughts,” Farrar said.

Idaho coach David Farrar wasn’t discouraged by the narrow victory that improved the Vandals’ record to 2-4 and gave them their sixth victory without a defeat in the series.

“The problem you have in these games is that the fans, and maybe the players, think that it’s not a success unless you beat the team by 20 or 30 points,” said Farrar. “On the other hand, I think that playing in a close game against a team that is well-coached and had some purpose has more meaning to us than some other kinds of games.”

Idaho’s scoring was evenly distributed. In addition to Miller’s 17 points, Marquis Holmes had 13 and three players - Chris Monroe, Eric Collier and Matt Gerschefske - had 10 each.

UI is home again Saturday night at 7 when it plays Long Beach State in the Big West Conference opener for both teams.