Idaho can’t climb out of early hole in 65-63 loss to Sacramento State
MOSCOW – Chad Sherwood feels what Pat Ingram is going through right now.
Ingram watched the first of two potential game-tying free throws clank off the back rim with 0.9 seconds left on the clock. The ensuing miss ricocheted off a Vandal and out of bounds.
Sacramento State escaped the Cowan Spectrum on Thursday night, downing Idaho 65-63 in front of an announced 1,228 fans.
It’s the second straight time Idaho dropped a home contest at the death on the free throw line. Sherwood failed to convert all the free throws which would’ve sent Idaho’s game against Southern Utah into double overtime.
“It hurts right now, there’s nothing really you can say that’s going to help him too much right now,” Sherwood said. “He’s gotta know it’s not on him, it’s a team game. It’s not those two free throws that lost it.”
It’s surprising enough how close the score was with the Vandals taking the floor without their two leading scorers and starting backcourt of Victor Sanders and Perrion Callandret. Sacramento State came out aggressive on defense, clobbering Idaho early for a 26-8 lead and eventually a 37-21 halftime lead.
The first-half futility is summed up by Idaho guards having a combined five points and the Hornets hitting six of their first 12 shots from beyond the arc.
Idaho (12-9, 4-4 Big Sky Conference) started the second half on a 7-0 run and cut the lead to single digits with a Sherwood 3-pointer with just over five minutes remaining.
The adjustments at halftime? Well, none, Idaho coach Don Verlin says.
“We didn’t make one adjustment at halftime, not one,” Verlin said. “ … What we did is do what we were supposed to do, do what we were coached to do … They fought, they fought and they fought and they found a way to have a chance to win this game and that’s all you can hope to do.”
Sherwood drained back-to-back treys with defenders in his face under the two-minute mark to cut the lead to 61-60 with 70 seconds remaining.
The sophomore walk-on hit a career-high and game-high 22 points by dealing with face-guarding and coming off screens more effectively than he has earlier in the season.
“It’s very similar to when we had Connor Hill we have to screen with him. When you’re getting face-guarded we have to screen for him first and we were able to do that in the second half to get him some wide open looks,” Verlin said.
Sac State’s Eric Stuteville streaked out uncovered on an inbounds pass, earning a pair of free throws with three seconds left and Sac State leading 65-63. He missed both and the ball found its way to Ingram’s hands, who drew a blocking foul with under a minute left before he missed his free throws.