Vandals absolutely crushed

MOSCOW, Idaho – In a season with numerous low points, the University of Idaho men’s basketball team went subterranean Wednesday night.

The Vandals were outscored 37-0 over roughly a 14-minute stretch. They missed 24 shots in a row. They went 16 minutes between field goals and suffered a humbling 80-42 setback to Utah State in front of a quiet gathering of 1,152 at the Cowan Spectrum.

It equaled Idaho’s worst home loss since it fell to UC Irvine 92-54 in 2002, coach Leonard Perry’s first season. The two 38-point losses are the most lopsided at home since at least the 1962-63 season. Prior to that, the media guide didn’t differentiate between home and away games.

“If felt like about 50-0,” Perry said of Utah State’s 37-0 run that spanned the last 7:49 of the first half and the first 6:04 of the second.

And there’s this bit of unsettling news: There’s a pretty good chance Idaho (4-18, 1-10 WAC) will have to face Utah State (17-6, 8-4) in the opening round of the WAC Tournament next month. If the Aggies win out – they have three of their last four conference games at home – they’ll be the No. 1 seed. Idaho appears destined for the eighth (last) seed.

“I thought they were good and we didn’t play very good at all,” Perry said. “I thought it was very reminiscent of the Fresno State game (an 89-54 loss) at Fresno.”

Midway through the first half, Utah State had made 9 of 13 shots and turned three of those misses into putback baskets. The Vandals stayed somewhat close by making 7 of 12 attempts, including a 3-pointer by Nebojsa Jakovljevic to pull within 25-17.

The Aggies kept right on scoring. The Vandals didn’t score again until freshman David Dubois hit the second of two free throws with 13:56 left in the second half, drawing a sarcastic cheer from the crowd. At that point, Idaho trailed 62-18.

“You could tell how tough it was for them,” said Aggies coach Stew Morrill, whose team is closing in on a seventh straight 20-win season. “That run somebody mentioned whatever it was, they were missing layups and putbacks and all that. It was just one of those nights where nothing was going their way. Like I said, I’ve been in enough of those to know how tough that is.”

The Vandals trailed by 50 with 5:11 to go.

“Once the fire started it was difficult to put out,” Perry said. “It was a combination of both (offense and defense). One affected the other. We got to 17 points, it’s a ballgame, we get some looks and we don’t answer the bell.”

Utah St. 80, Idaho 42

Utah St. (17-6, 8-4) – Pak 5-6 0-0 15, Matheus 6-8 0-0 12, Harris 4-5 3-4 11, Carroll 3-4 0-0 9, Peterson 4-8 1-2 12, Session 4-6 1-1 9, Huber 0-4 0-0 0, Hammer 0-5 0-0 0, Spicer 2-5 3-4 7, Bendall 2-2 1-1 5. Totals 30-53 9-12 80.

Idaho (4-18, 1-10) – Watson 5-10 0-0 13, Shepard 5-12 0-0 12, Dubois 1-3 1-2 4, Nwoke 0-2 0-0 0, Kale 1-6 0-2 2, Forge 0-2 0-0 0, Jakovljevic 2-3 2-2 7, Ledbetter 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 0-4 0-0 0, Bowden-Key 0-1 0-0 0, Vrzina 1-7 2-2 4. Totals 15-51 5-8 42.

Halftime–Utah State 44-17. 3-Point Goals–Utah St. 11-24 (Pak 5-6, Carroll 3-4, Peterson 3-7, Hammer 0-3, Huber 0-4), Idaho 7-23 (Watson 3-5, Shepard 2-7, Dubois 1-1, Jakovljevic 1-2, Bowden-Key 0-1, Ledbetter 0-1, Vrzina 0-1, Forge 0-2, Smith 0-3). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Utah St. 37 (Matheus 9), Idaho 24 (Kale, Vrzina 5). Assists–Utah St. 20 (Pak, Peterson 6), Idaho 6 (Shepard 2). Total Fouls–Utah St. 14, Idaho 14. A–1,152.