Vandals men open season with win over San Jose State

SAN JOSE, Calif. – A 15-0 run in the first half gave the Vandals an early lead that they would not relinquish, as Idaho (1-0) took down San Jose State (0-1), 74-54, to open the 2015-16 season on Saturday night. Junior Perrion Callandret led the way for Idaho with 18 points and six assists.

“I really liked the mindset of our guys tonight,” said head coach Don Verlin. “I thought they were focused, I thought they played extremely hard. I have a lot of optimism for this team. We have a lot of new faces, but we returned a lot of guys that are ready to play.”

The teams traded buckets to start the game, then Idaho went on a 15-0 run to take a commanding lead. The Vandals would go on to lead by as many as 22 points in the first half, but a late run by the Spartans cut the advantage to 34-18 at the break.

The Spartans cut into the lead with a 9-0 run of their own, stretching over the halftime break, but Idaho bounced back relatively quickly to reclaim its 20-point advantage and cruise to the win.

Idaho shot 46 percent (23-of-50) from the floor and 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from beyond the arc. The Spartans struggled against the Vandal defense, finishing 18-of-62 (29.0 %) from the field and 4-of-29 (13.8 %) from range.

Victor Sanders had a solid game, ending the night with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Nate Sherwood also finished in double-figures, scoring 15 points. Ty Egbert struggled from the field, but more than made up for it on the defensive end with five blocks.

“I told you before the game that whoever wins the rebound battle will win the game,” Verlin said. “I thought Ty Egbert maybe played his best game as a Vandal. I couldn’t be happier with the way Ty Egbert played tonight.”

Next up, the Vandals take on CSU-Bakersfield on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.