Hopson keys Idaho upset
Mac Hopson scored eight of his 16 points in the last 6 minutes Friday as Idaho beat Utah 94-87 in Salt Lake City, bringing the Vandals their first win over the Utes in 71 years.
Plagued by foul trouble, Hopson re-entered the game with the score tied and engineered a 13-6 run to end the game.
“A lot of adversity went on in that game – we had our best player, Mac Hopson, in foul trouble and we had Marvin Jefferson in foul trouble,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We never would have been able to win this game last year, because we didn’t have enough depth.”
Steffan Johnson scored 19 points and Jeff Ledbetter added 16 as the Vandals won for the first time in Salt Lake City after losing 11 straight on the road.
The teams have played 15 times over the years and the last Idaho victory was in 1938, a 44-38 decision in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The Utes trailed much of the game but made their comeback behind freshman center Jason Washburn. After falling behind by eight, Washburn scored six points – including two follow shots off teammates’ missed free throws – in a 10-2 run that tied the game at 81 with 5:39 remaining.
But Hopson, playing with four fouls, promptly hit an outside jumper and a leaner in the lane to spark the clinching surge for Idaho in the season opener for both teams.
Idaho’s 94 points were the most Utah has allowed in a game since Jim Boylen became head coach three years ago.
In a herky-jerky game that featured 48 fouls, the Vandals made 10 of 21 from 3-point range and outrebounded the taller Utes 40-34.
Idaho led by as many as 10 points in the first half when Ledbetter made two free throws after a technical foul on Marshall Henderson to make it 43-33. Matt Read’s 3-pointer just before halftime trimmed the deficit to 47-41.
•Isaiah Thomas immediately answered Washington’s call for more scoring this season with a career-high 30 points, and the No. 14 Huskies held on for a 74-69 victory over Wright State in Seattle.
Thomas was 7 of 14 from the field and 14 of 18 from the line for the defending Pac-10 champions, who nearly frittered away an 18-point lead and their highest preseason ranking since 1985 on the opening night of the round-robin Athletes In Action Classic.
Thomas had 18 points in the highest-scoring first half of his college career
Todd Brown scored 21 points and N’Gai Evans added 17 for the Raiders, who are picked to finish second this season in the Horizon League.
•Michael Hale III and Renado Parker led North Idaho College as three players finished in double figures in an 81-59 rout of Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyo.
Hale scored 17 and Parker added 15 as the Cardinals (4-0) shot 52 percent from the floor to remain undefeated in the young season. Leading by 12 at the half, the Cardinals separated in the second, shooting 19 of 32 from the floor and holding CWC (0-1) to 36 percent shooting throughout the game.
Doing most of the damage in the paint, NIC outscored the Rustlers 42-24 beneath the basket as Hale and Parker chose to drive to hole, attempting just two shots from beyond the arc.