Vandals no match for WAC leaders

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Idaho men’s basketball team was overmatched by New Mexico State in a 78-54 loss in Las Cruces, N.M., in Western Athletic Conference play on Saturday night.

The Aggies drained six of their first seven 3-pointers and used a 16-0 run to open up a 20-point, 24-4, lead early and never allowed Idaho back within 10 points en route to their seventh straight victory. New Mexico State improved to 14-5 overall and 3-0 in WAC play; the Vandals fell to 7-11 and 1-3.

“You’ve got to learn from this, this is the best team in our league,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said.

“Our game-plan kind of backfired on us, they started out 6 for 7 from three, get the lead and it was never really a basketball game after that. I told our guys, this is what the best team in our league looks like. The thing that disappointed me is they were getting to the loose balls, the 50-50 balls.”

The Vandals shot just 34.6 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range. Idaho also gave the ball away 17 times.

Mike Scott led Idaho with 12 points. Junior Bira Seck had nine points and nine rebounds for Idaho, coming up just shy of his third double-double of the season. Senior Stephen Madison failed to score in double figures for the first time in a month, finishing with nine points.