Idaho’s offense never materializes against PSU

MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho, which couldn’t get a defensive stop in a loss to Idaho State on Wednesday, couldn’t get its offense started Saturday night.

The Vandals aren’t getting much of anything done against Big Sky Conference opponents.

Idaho stumbled along at a point-per-minute pace until midway through the second half, perked up a little bit but couldn’t catch Portland State, falling 61-59 in a sloppy non-conference men’s basketball game viewed by 1,521 at the Cowan Spectrum.

Idaho slipped to 1-6 and has lost three home games to Big Sky opponents. Portland State, which will entertain Idaho on Dec. 30, hiked its record to 3-6.

Effort wasn’t a problem, but offensive execution and interior defense were sticking points throughout.

“You’re sorely mistaken if you think I’m disappointed in this team’s effort,” UI head coach Leonard Perry said. “I thought the kids battled. We shoot 29 percent in the first half and we come in down (29-23), but we come out in the second half and take this thing down to the wire and give ourselves an opportunity to win, despite struggling offensively a little bit.”

Idaho struggled a lot, especially early. The Vandals were painful on offense for most of the first half, opening the game with three misses from point-blank range and three turnovers in the first 4 minutes.

Brett Ledbetter hit a 3 to get Idaho on the scoreboard with 14:16 left, but the baskets didn’t exactly start stacking up. After PSU’s Juma Kamara rattled in a 3-pointer, the Vikings led 21-9 with 5:35 remaining.

Idaho managed to pull within six on Matt Forge’s 3-pointer, but the Vandals were slow to rotate at the other end and Tyler Hollist made them pay with a 3-pointer.

Late in the half, Idaho had made 3 of 19 shots. However, PSU was unable to pull away, despite getting a handful of easy post-up buckets.

The Vandals made a game of it despite more offensive woes in the second half. Tanoris Shepard scored Idaho’s first transition points of the game with 15:30 left and a David Dubois bucket brought Idaho within seven points at 39-32.

PSU scored the next four points and led by 11 as Idaho was sitting at 32 points through 31 minutes of playing time.

Idaho finally started scoring with some regularity and Shepard’s 3-pointer narrowed PSU’s lead to 50-47. Keoni Watson’s putback of a Shepard miss left Idaho down 52-51 with 1:35 left, but the Vandals’ next two possessions ended with Forge getting an offensive foul and Shepard missing badly on a 3-pointer.

The Vikings endured a 2-of-6 stretch at the foul line and closed out Idaho with 7 of 8 free throws in the final 25.3 seconds.

Shepard led Idaho with 24 points, with 18 in the second half. Watson added 10 points.

Idaho shot just 36.8 percent, 25 percent from 3-point range.

“I think we’re making progress,” Perry said. “I’ve never been more sure of having the right kids in the program. We’re young. At one point, we had two or three freshmen on the floor. I’m really encouraged.”

Perry revamped his starting lineup, inserting Desmond Nwoke, but the 6-8 forward lost track of PSU’s 6-11 Scott Morrison several times in the paint. Morrison finished with 15 points and Josh Neeley, who came in averaging 5.4 points, chipped in 12.

Portland State 61, Idaho 59

Portland State (3-6)—Sommer 0-5 3-4 3, Neeley 6-9 0-0 12, Hollist 1-4 0-0 3, Schroeder 0-5 7-8 7, Sconiers 1-3 0-2 2, Kamara 3-7 2-4 9, Washington 3-10 2-3 8, Mara 1-1 0-0 2, Morrison 6-9 3-6 15. Totals 21-53 17-27 61.

Idaho (1-6)—Watson 5-9 0-0 10, Shepard 8-14 6-8 24, Vrzina 0-3 2-2 2, Dubois 4-11 0-0 8, Nwoke 0-0 3-4 3, Forge 3-7 0-0 8, Jakovljevic 0-2 0-0 0, Ledbetter 1-4 0-0 3, Smith 0-5 1-2 1, Kale 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-57 12-16 59.

Halftime—Portland State 29, Idaho 23. 3-point goals—Portland State 2-12 (Kamara 1-2, Hollist 1-3, Neeley 0-2, Sommer 0-2, Schroeder 0-3), Idaho 5-20 (Shepard 2-5, Forge 2-5, Ledbetter 1-3, Smith 0-1, Jakovljevic 0-1, Watson 0-2, Dubois 0-3). Fouled out—Kale, Ledbetter, Watson. Rebounds—Portland State 37 (Neeley 8), Idaho 37 (Dubois 12). Assists—Portland State 13 (Hollist, Kamara, Sommer 3), Idaho 9 (Shepard 3). Total fouls—Portland State 20, Idaho 27. A—1,521.