Mighty Pacific rolls

The best men’s basketball team in the Big West Conference lived up to its billing Thursday night.

Pacific, which crashed the national rankings earlier this week for the first time in nearly 40 years, handled Idaho in every phase of the game and cruised to a 78-56 victory in front of 2,530 at the Cowan Spectrum.

The 24th-ranked Tigers (19-2, 13-0) ran their Big West winning streak to 25 games. Idaho (8-15, 6-6) remains in fifth place as it awaits a visit from third-place Cal State Northridge (12-10, 9-4) on Saturday night. The top four seeds earn a first-round bye in the Big West Tournament.

The only surprise Thursday was the ease of Pacific’s win. Twelve of the last 13 games in this series had been decided by single digits. It was Idaho’s worst home loss since UC Irvine’s 92-54 runaway in the 2001-02 season.

“In my wildest dreams I wouldn’t have thought they’re 20 points better than us in our place,” Vandals coach Leonard Perry said. “But I give them credit. I thought every time we struggled offensively it affected the way we defended and that’s not a usual characteristic of what we do.”

Pacific shot 53.6 percent from the field, made 9 of 18 3-pointers, won the boards by 19 and generally did whatever it wanted against the Vandals at both ends of the court.

“I just don’t think we can play much better than we did tonight,” said Pacific coach Bob Thomason, whose club faces its sternest test of the conference season Saturday against red-hot Utah State in Logan.

This one was interesting until late in the first half. Idaho fell behind by nine, but rallied within four on Dandrick Jones’ follow dunk and Dillon Higdon’s 3-pointer. Pacific answered immediately as Guillaume Yango, one of a handful of talented interior players, got loose for a dunk.

Jones responded with a midrange jumper with 2:22 remaining, but the Tigers ruled the rest of the half by pouncing on UI mistakes. Pacific’s Tyler Newton missed the second of two free throws, but Idaho fumbled away the rebound. Seconds later, David Doubley hit a 3-pointer.

Just before the buzzer, Christian Maraker’s putback basket gave Pacific a 39-31 lead at half.

“Coach (Perry) stressed all week that any mistakes you make with this team they’re going to make you pay on the other end,” said Jones, Idaho’s lone offensive threat with 20 points. “It showed up on the court.”

The Tigers settled the issue by opening the second half with a 21-5 run. Doubley, who finished 5 of 5 from long range, bagged two 3-pointers in that stretch and reserve forward Matt Kemper added another.

Pacific converted consecutive UI turnovers into points to build a 60-38 lead.

“Those are backbreakers for a team with a minimal margin for error,” Perry said.

The Tigers’ Big Three of Doubley, Yango and Maraker combined to make 18 of 28 shots and score 49 points.

Idaho shot nearly 45 percent in the first half, but cooled considerably to 27 percent in the second half. Pacific was equally effective playing zone, often with a power forward at the point, or man defense.

“Their zone is real tough,” Jones said. “They have a big front line – 6-9, 6-9, 6-7. We worked on it all week, getting into seams and kicking it out, but we struggled with it in the game.

“Their (man defense) surprised us a little bit. We expected more zone than man. They’re a big team and once you get to the paint and beat a 6-7 guy, you have to shoot over a 6-9 guy.”

Still, Idaho’s biggest problems came on defense.

“When we got solid and stopped making bad passes and just played solid basketball, it’s frustrating for teams,” Thomason said.

“We have so many guys that can score. We can score inside, we can score outside and have guys on the bench that can score.”

(24) Pacific 78, Idaho 56

Pacific (19-2, 13-0)–Mihailovic 1-2 0-2 3, Korajkic 2-8 0-0 4, Maraker 5-9 4-4 14, Doubley 7-9 2-2 21, Yango 6-10 2-2 14, Gray 2-4 0-0 4, Webb 1-2 0-0 3, Purnell 1-1 0-0 2, Flores 0-0 0-0 0, Kemper 3-6 0-0 8, Newton 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 30-56 9-12 78.

Idaho (8-15, 6-6)–Jones 8-18 3-4 20, Shepard 3-9 0-0 8, Lyons 3-7 0-0 6, Kahrimanovic 1-4 0-0 3, Davis 2-3 4-5 8, Haynes 0-3 2-2 2, Higdon 2-6 0-0 6, Johnson 1-2 0-0 3, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Kale 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 9-11 56.

Halftime—Pacific 39, Idaho 31. 3-point goals—Pacific 9-18 (Doubley 5-5, Kemper 2-4, Mihailovic 1-2, Webb 1-2, Gray 0-1, Korajkic 0-2, Maraker 0-2), Idaho 7-22 (Shepard 2-5, Higdon 2-6, Johnson 1-1, Jones 1-4, Kahrimanovic 1-4, Haynes 0-2). Rebounds—Pacific 42 (Yango 12), Idaho 23 (Lyons 6). Assists—Pacific 19 (Korajkic 5), Idaho 12 (Lyons 5). Total fouls—Pacific 14, Idaho 11. A—2,530.