The Idaho men’s basketball team concluded its roller coaster of a regular season on a positive note, handling San Jose State 70-64 Saturday at The Event Center in San Jose.
Idaho already held at least a No. 3 seed in Thursday’s WAC tournament and almost had the No. 2 seed locked when Fresno State held a 16-point lead over New Mexico State. However, the Aggies managed a late comeback and an overtime win, meaning the No. 3 Vandals will meet No. 6 Hawaii at 12 p.m. Thursday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
In four contests prior to Saturday’s between Idaho and San Jose State, the team leading at halftime wound up losing, but the Vandals’ indecisive one-point advantage going into the locker room was not a precursor of things to come.
“Great ball game, great road trip and (the way) this team played in the months of February and March — oh my goodness. I couldn’t be prouder of this team,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “To sweep this road trip in the circumstances and the pressure our team was under, what a great thing for our basketball program.”
The first half consisted of traded baskets and nine lead changes that never exceeded five points.
Whether it was the opportunity to clinch a No. 2 seed or the motivation to acquire extra momentum heading into this week’s conference tournament, the Vandals busted out of the gates in the second half with an 8-0 run. Idaho never trailed in the second and led by as many as 14. Freshman Connor Hill was a 3-point machine and knocked down four consecutive from downtown, three in less than five minutes.
“I just caught the flame there in the second half and it just seemed like the basket was big and everything I was putting up was dropping. It was a good feeling,” Hill said.
The Post Falls native’s long-range finesse was much-needed, especially after a first half that saw the Vandals go just 1-7 from beyond the arc. Led by Hill, Idaho was 5-7 from 3-point range in the second half.
Idaho’s free throw shooting proved to be its Achilles heel down the stretch, which the Spartans used to cut the Vandal lead to four with four minutes remaining. Four Vandals made 10 of their next 11 from the charity stripe and though the free throw game continued, the Spartan comeback didn’t.
Hill, who came off the bench to log just 13 minutes, became the team’s No. 2 scorer with 12 points, off a 4-5 3-point shooting performance.
Senior Deremy Geiger penetrated the Spartan defense on multiple occasions and learned that he would earn more points driving the lane, rather than posting up at the perimeter. Geiger was just 1-3 from the perimeter but led the Vandals with 16 points.
The Vandals allowed James Kinney a game-high 19 points, but held senior Wil Carter to 6-18 from the field and just 12 points, thanks in large part to Kyle Barone’s dominating defensive presence. Barone posted nine points in the contest but the junior grabbed nine boards, dished out four assists and added three blocks.
“Kyle is playing great right now, especially on the defensive end,” Hill said. “He’s blocking people, he’s rebounding the ball extremely well, he’s scoring it in the post, he’s doing it all right now and he’s a great leader.”
As a team, the Vandals finished with 20 fewer shots than the Spartans but were extremely efficient from the field, shooting 53 percent while San Jose State shot just less than 40 percent.
Verlin hopes the momentum that propelled the team through February will translate to next week’s tournament and match-up against Hawaii.
“Now it’s time to play,” Verlin said. “I’m pretty confident we’ll get to play after the tournament somewhere and like I told our guys, ‘let’s make sure it’s the NCAA Tournament.’ That’s the good thing about our league — there’s an automatic bid up for grabs.”