Vandals find their shooting touch at home

MOSCOW – The University of Idaho’s basketball team discovered the easy way to win games Thursday night. Take shot, make shot.

The Vandals – who had surpassed 50 percent from the floor in one game all season – buried better than 68 percent of their looks in the first half and more than 58 percent for the game, coasting to an 84-67 win over Cal Poly.

Idaho (4-9, 2-0 Big West) sprinted to an 11-0 lead less than 3 minutes in, and never led by less than eight points thereafter as shot after shot continued to fall.

“Offensively I thought this was our best night,” said Vandals coach Leonard Perry, whose team broke 80 for the first time this season. “When you’re playing with a lead like that – that’s brand new for the Vandals, trust me. And probably very short-lived. I thought the focus was there, and the unselfishness that the kids are playing with right now.

“The kids are starting to listen and get what we’re teaching in our scouting reports coming into the game.”

Idaho picked apart the zone defense played by the Mustangs (3-8, 1-3), as Armend Kahrimanovic drilled 5 of 7 3-pointers in the first half for his 15 points, and the Vandals as a team hit 7 of 11 3-pointers before the break.

“I hit my first shot and I was really confident,” Kahrimanovic said. “I was thankful because my teammates were finding me the whole game. Those were easy shots.”

Those wide-open looks in the early minutes quickly opened up things for guard Dandrick Jones, who sliced through open lanes to score a game-high 25 points. Idaho extended the lead to as many as 24 points on two occasions in the second half. The halftime lead was 43-26.

Kahrimanovic didn’t shoot in the final 20 minutes as Jones and the Idaho low post players were able to put points on the board with ease. Forward Anton Lyons ended up with 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Both conference games thus far – the first coming against Utah State in December – have evolved in similar fashion, with Kahrimanovic’s hot shooting opening up looks for teammates as the game progressed.

“It’s helped us out a lot. It stretches the zone out a lot for me to penetrate,” Jones said. “We probably won’t see as much if he keeps knocking shots down like that.

“We were kind of nervous going into halftime because we’ve given up leads all the time. But it helped us a lot to have a lead, feel more comfortable. It felt good to be in that situation.”

The lone thing that displeased Perry was his team’s 20 turnovers, but many of those seemed excusable given his team’s otherwise strong offensive effort. Idaho also had 20 assists on 28 buckets.

“Our guys started and executed well,” Perry said. “This team is just starting to find a little bit of chemistry and how good it can be.”

Notes

Redshirt freshman center Zach Proett of Mt. Spokane High made his collegiate debut near game’s end, tallying an assist and a block. … With 1,375 in attendance at Cowan Spectrum, Perry reiterated his desire to move all games during Winter Break into the cozier Memorial Gym to try and amplify his team’s home-court edge. … The Vandals went 17 for 23 from the free-throw line.

Idaho 84, Cal Poly 67

Cal Poly (3-7, 1-3) – Enzweiler 2-6 2-2 8, Whiten 1-7 0-2 2, Sampson 2-4 0-0 5, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Haskins 6-16 0-2 13, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Lisinac 5-13 4-6 14, Henry 1-1 3-4 6, Socci 0-0 0-0 0, Finnegan 1-6 0-0 2, McGinn 0-4 1-2 1, Titchenal 5-10 4-4 16, Thurow 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-70 14-22 67.

Idaho (4-9, 2-0) – Jones 8-15 8-10 25, Haynes 2-6 0-0 5, Shepard 3-6 0-0 8, Lyons 5-6 6-8 16, Davis 3-3 1-1 7, Proett 0-1 0-0 0, Higdon 1-2 1-2 4, Rose 0-0 0-0 0, Bowden-Key 1-1 0-0 3, Kahrimanovic 5-7 0-0 15, Anderson 0-0 1-2 1, Kale 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-48 17-23 84.

Halftime – Idaho 43, Cal Poly 26. 3-point goals – Cal Poly 7-23 (Titchenal 2-4, Enzweiler 2-5, Henry 1-1, Sampson 1-2, Haskins 1-5, McGinn 0-1 , Whiten 0-5), Idaho 11-19 (Kahrimanovic 5-7, Shepard 2-4, Bowden-Key 1-1, Jones 1-2, Higdon 1-2, Haynes 1-3). Rebounds – Cal Poly 33 (Lisinac 7), Idaho 41 (Lyons 8). Assists – Cal Poly 8 (Finnegan 2), Idaho 20 (Shepard 7). Total fouls – Cal Poly 17, Idaho 16. A – 1,375.