Vandals set school record
54-point win largest against a D-I foe
MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho men’s basketball team celebrated Thanksgiving Friday night in the Cowan Spectrum with a 101-47 win over UC Irvine.
The 54-point margin set a record for the Vandals as the largest margin of victory against a Division I opponent. The previous record was a 53-point margin over University of the Pacific.
After Monday’s loss to Eastern Washington, Idaho coach Don Verlin said he was disappointed in his team’s performance and said the Vandals simply must play faster.
That’s exactly what the they did against the Anteaters, starting the game with 15 unanswered points and setting the pace for the remainder of the game.
“You always like to get a start like that. I thought we played hard from start to finish and that’s what we needed to do,” Verlin said. “They made a mistake tonight because now they raised the bar up and that’s the kind of effort we need every night.”
Five Vandals scored in double figures and the team combined for 23 assists.
That’s exactly the kind of play Verlin said he’s looking for.
“We’ve got to have balanced scoring on this basketball team,” Verlin said. “We have to be an unselfish basketball team, and we were tonight.”
Among the five was senior guard Terrence Simmons who scored 18 points and was 8 of 9 shooting from the field.
Simmons said everyone was on the same page and everyone wanted to play.
“We practice hard every day,” he said. “We just stayed on top of it all week in practice and it showed tonight.”
Simmons said he spent Thanksgiving break practicing for Friday night’s game.
“Thanksgiving is a good day,” he said. “But what’s better than basketball?”
Also among the five in double figures was junior guard Mac Hopson, who scored 16 points, shooting 6 of 7 from the field.
Hopson said after the loss to EWU, the team was hungry to play again.
“We were just excited to get back out here. We lost to Eastern Washington and we thought we shouldn’t have lost,” he said. “I think tonight was the first time everybody came out with fire. Coach is really challenging everyone to come every day.”
Hopson said if they can keep up this kind of play, they’ll be able to compete all season.
“If everybody plays hard we’re going to be in every game and win like that,” he said. “We’re not the best team (and) not the most talented team, but we have a lot of talent so we’ve got to use that and everyone has to play hard.”
The Vandals not only dominated on the scoreboard, but managed to pull in 50 rebounds compared to 26 by the Anteaters, and picking up 23 assists while their opponents passed for just seven.
“We just went out there and played hard. That’s really what it was. That’s what it came down to,” Hopson said. “It’s a good day to be a Vandal today.”