Lyons comes out of the background to spark Idaho
MOSCOW — If Anton Lyons hadn’t gotten the message from his coaches, then his teammates were going to make sure the point got across.
On the bus back from the airport after playing Southern Utah in late December, the Vandals ganged up on the 6-foot-6 senior, pushing him to the back row to clarify just how important his efforts would be.
“They pretty much jammed me up in the back of the bus,” Lyons said. “I’m more focused than I ever was. My teammates have been looking for me.”
And on Saturday night, Lyons showed just how well he understood. Trolling the baseline against UC Santa Barbara’s 1-3-1 zone, the forward tallied a career-high 22 points as the Vandals topped the Gauchos 61-50 before 1,723 at Cowan Spectrum.
The Gauchos, competing with just seven players because of injury and ineligibility, had Idaho in a nip-and-tuck game for much of the second half. But with the score tied at 47 and just more than 5 minutes to play, Idaho’s patience paid off in the form of a 13-0 run that guaranteed a win and a 3-0 start in Big West conference play.
“I told our kids before the game started, ‘Don’t you ever underestimate this team,’ ” said Vandal coach Leonard Perry, whose team is now 5-9 on the year. “Things didn’t go our way but I thought the kids hung in there and stayed with it. I thought they did a tremendous job and I’m proud of them.”
Lyons’ contribution on the offensive end was especially important as the team’s hot shooting from two nights earlier against Cal Poly suddenly vanished. Idaho hit better than 58 percent of its shots on Thursday, but against the Gauchos (4-8, 2-3) they were off from the very beginning.
That included a 2-of-16 team effort from 3-point range, a problem that forced the Vandals to attack from the gut of the zone defense instead of the perimeter.
“Our kids have decided amongst themselves — with a little urging — that we’re not going to win games from that stripe,” Perry said. “It’s fool’s gold. Eventually you’re going to start to miss.
“The way that Santa Barbara was playing, they were very equipped for this game tonight.”
Dandrick Jones was the second-best scorer in the game, putting 16 points on the board for Idaho. Jones added 10 rebounds as well for the second double-double of his collegiate career.
“Dandrick has done such a tremendous job of incorporating his basketball I.Q. into this team,” Perry said. “He truly is the central intelligence of this team.”
As such, Jones and teammates like fellow guard Tanoris Shepard (seven assists) knew that job No. 1 on Saturday was to get the ball to Lyons by driving to the hoop and dishing for a layup or a dunk. Lyons made his good night even better by going 6 for 7 from the free-throw line as well, pleasing Perry to no end.
“If he doesn’t (play well), we’re going to struggle,” Perry said. “When he struggled early in the year on both ends of the floor we struggled as a team. His presence is sorely needed.”
Not long ago, the Vandals appeared dead in the water after an 0-7 start, the worst for Idaho in more than 60 years. But at 3-0 in the conference, UI is alone in second place and prepping for their first conference road trip which will include a matchup against first-place Pacific.
“We need it because we struggled at the beginning,” Lyons said, still smiling after his career night. “It’s mind-boggling, I’ll tell you that.”
Idaho 61, UC Santa Barbara 50
UC Santa Barbara (4-8, 2-3)–J.Davis 2-8 1-2 6, Rasp 4-9 0-0 11, Harris 1-4 2-2 4, Chrismen 5-12 0-0 12, Turner 0-1 4-4 4, See 2-9 0-0 6, Chambers 3-5 0-1 7. Totals 17-48 7-9 50.
Idaho (5-9, 3-0)–Jones 5-16 5-5 16, Haynes 2-8 2-2 7, Shepard 4-6 0-0 8, Lyons 8-14 6-7 22, L.Davis 2-5 2-3 6, Higdon 0-2 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Kahrimanovic 1-7 0-2 2, Kale 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 15-19 61.
Halftime–Idaho 23, UC Santa Barbara 20. 3-point goals–UC Santa Barbara 9-24 (Rasp 3-8, Chrismen 2-2, See 2-8, Chambers 1-2, J.Davis 1-3, Harris 0-1), Idaho 2-16 (Jones 1-4, Haynes 1-4, Shepard 0-1, L.Davis 0-1, Kahrimanovic 0-5). Fouled out–None. Rebounds–UC Santa Barbara 29 (Rasp, Turner 6), Idaho 42 (Jones, L.Davis 10). Assists–UC Santa Barbara 10 (Chrismen, See 3), Idaho 14 (Shepard 7). Total fouls–UC Santa Barbara 22, Idaho 13. A–1,723.