Trouble at free-throw line leads to postseason loss, end of season for Idaho men
SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Idaho Vandals men’s basketball season came to an end in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament on Wednesday night in a defensive battle with the Texas State Bobcats.
“It’s always tough when it comes to an end,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said after the 64-55 outcome. “This basketball team has worked extremely hard and they fought extremely hard through adversity with some injuries and different things throughout the year. I just couldn’t be prouder of the group and how hard they fought. … There’s only about 40 teams still and we were one of them.”
After averaging 73.7 points per game throughout the season, Idaho (19-14) was held to 55 against Texas State (22-13), the top-scoring defense in the Sun Belt Conference allowing 63.3 points per game. Free throws were one of the determining factors, as the Vandals shot 7 for 14 while the Bobcats made 14 for 18.
Junior guard Victor Sanders led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 3 for 8 on 3-pointers. Junior forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan added 14 points.
“(Sanders) is a good player,” Verlin said. “If you ask Vic, he’ll tell you he didn’t play up to his standards. He’s an excellent player but if I had one negative thing tonight, we didn’t shoot the ball very well from the foul line. We’re a 74 percent free-throw shooting team. Tonight we shot 50 percent.”
The first half was a back-and-forth contest, with the Bobcats taking a 24-23 lead into halftime. Sophomore Nate Sherwood led the first half scoring with seven points.
Sanders scored seven straight points at the beginning of the second half to regain the lead for the Vandals, at 32-30. A three-point play for Texas State point guard Ojai Black gave the Bobcats the lead again, 33-32, an advantage they didn’t relinquish the rest of the way. Black was one of three Bobcats to reach double figures, finishing with 13 points.
The Bobcats jumped out to a 13-point lead with 5:37 left in the game after Texas State freshman guard Nijal Pearson hit his second of three 3-pointers. Pearson led the Bobcats with 16 points.
Mkrtychyan scored six straight points to spark a 9-1 run by the Vandals, reducing the deficit to 58-53 with 3:20 left in the game. Another 3-pointer by Pearson extended Texas State’s lead back to eight.
With the Bobcats shooting just 65.7 percent from the free-throw line this season, the Vandals started intentionally fouling, forcing the Bobcats to earn it at the line. Texas State guard Bobby Conley made three free throws, extending the Bobcats’ lead and cementing the final score.
As Idaho’s season ends, Texas State moves on to host the St. Peter’s Peacocks (20-13) on Saturday in the third round of the CIT.