Wolf Pack line up win over Idaho

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho men’s basketball team had enough fire power to stick with visiting Nevada for much of Saturday’s game at Cowan Spectrum.

But the Vandals could find no way to keep Nevada scorers off the free-throw line in the second half and dropped the Western Athletic Conference meeting 85-72.

The stat of the night was free-throw differential. Idaho (6-18, 3-10 WAC) went 8 of 16 from the line and Nevada (17-9, 9-4) posted 35 free-throw attempts, making 32.

Idaho coach George Pfeifer chose his words carefully, to avoid criticizing the officials, but was plenty clear in explaining how Idaho lost its ninth in a row to the Wolf Pack.

“All I’m telling you is that that was a really tough situation for us,” Pfeifer said. “They beat us at the free-throw line tonight.”

The Wolf Pack made an 18-7 run after Idaho’s Jordan Brooks hit a tough inside shot with 12:08 remaining to give Idaho its final lead of the night at 52-51. Seven of Nevada’s points during the run came from the line and the spurt gave the Wolf Pack their first 10-point lead at 69-59 with just more than 5 minutes to play.

WAC champions in each of the past four seasons, Nevada struggled with the Vandals for much of the night. The team made only 3 of 10 3-pointers and 11 of 27 field-goal attempts before the break, taking a two-point lead into the locker room.

The teams traded baskets after halftime and Idaho continued its hot 3-point shooting, opening the game 8 of 14. It was an effort to be proud of for Pfeifer.

“We scored more fields goals than they did, we made more 3-pointers than they did (and) we scored more points in the paint than they did,” Pfeifer said. “We got beat at the free-throw line tonight.”

The stripe turned into Nevada’s best option in the second half.

“They were just getting penetration,” said Idaho’s Clyde Johnson, who had 10 points. “We had emphasis on not letting them get there – squaring them off and not letting them get to the bucket – but it was still happening.”

Nevada senior Marcelus Kemp was a load, finishing with 32 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He shot 15 for 16 at the free-throw line. Three of his teammates, led by Brandon Fields’ 21-point night, also scored in double figures.

Idaho’s scoring load was also balanced. Brooks finished with 14 points, Mike Hall scored 13 and Darin Nagle added 12.