The winning streak in one of college basketball’s oldest rivalries has reached double digits with Washington State’s 64-55 victory in the Battle of the Palouse being its 10th consecutive.
Despite going in to the half by 10 Idaho was able to buck its recent trend of final 10-minute collapses, instead cutting the Cougar lead to as little as two points. Frustratingly enough it was Idaho’s bugaboo of defending the 3-point shot that ultimately did the Vandals in.
Trailing 51-38 with 7:48 remaining the game the Vandals spent the better part of the next four minutes using a 13-2 run spurred by tenaciously defending the paint, converting looks in the paint on the other end and good 3-point shooting to cut the lead to 53-51.
At that point Washington State had done much of its damage inside the paint, mostly with its probably-going-to-be All-Pac-12 Australian forward in Brock Motum. From beyond the arc the Cougars had shot a paltry 2-14. That was until D.J. Shelton hit his second of the night with a hand in his face to extend the Cougar lead to five with just over three minutes remaining.
For the the remaining three minutes after that the Vandal defense became a no-show. Washington State made its final three field goal attempts after that, also earning two trips to the free throw line.
“I didn’t think DJ Shelton could beat us from three (point range), but he did tonight and that was a big shot,” Idaho coach Verlin said. “…you have to give him credit. I don’t think we got the stops we needed to in the second half, especially down the stretch. We had a pretty good defensive effort, really good until the last five minutes of the game and then they made the plays.”
The 37-minutes of game action prior to Shelton’s dagger a Cougar 3-point sight was a welcome sight for the Vandal defense. Defending the perimeter was something Idaho came in to this game consciously wanting to improve, coach Don Verlin said, and it paid dividends in that department. Though what it led to was Washington State working patient offense, spreading Idaho out and working open driving lanes to the basket. With Motum being isolated without double-teams the Cougars quote often took what the Vandals gave them.
“I feared them shooting the ball, if you look at our stats on the year we haven’t defended the three point shot very well, tonight I thought we did that,” Verlin said. “So we gave a little something up and we tried to pressure out a little bit and guard the ball screens a little different to take away the three point shot, and they were able to drive to the basket and get easy baskets.”
Idaho not buckling down in the second half as it had its three games prior can be attributed to tenacious and opportunistic defense, going on its 13-2 with the help of three forced turnovers and a Cougar offensive foul.
The Vandals were opportunistic on offense after the Cougars would cough it up. Matt Borton, Connor Hill and Mike McChristian each nailed a 3-point shots down the stretch.
“We got good shooters,” Verlin said. “I thought we did a better job of executing our offense in the second half. We shot it and executed a little bit better in the second half.”
Motum’s domination in the paint was helped by Idaho getting in to early foul trouble. Idaho forward Wendell Faines started the game, and contributed four early points even, but left the game at the 16:00 mark in the first half with two fouls. For the majority of the game Idaho defended him one-on-one, allowing him to work post move after post move inside.
“All the guards and D.J. (Shelton) have also have proven they’re threats, so it’s hard to double off that,” Motum said. “I think I was confortable playing like that and if they did double team I was confortable like that too, if there’s two guys on one player there’s another guy open.”
Washington State spent a lot of time on offense spreading out the Idaho defense and isolating Motum, allowing open driving lanes to the basket most of the night.
“They do a great job of getting you spread out and they do a great job of isolating different parts of the floor. Motum’s tough, we decided to guard him one way by jamming the ball screens,” Verlin said. “We know knew we were going to get driven a little bit, we were hoping our help side would rotate a little faster than it did tonight.”
Notes and quotes
First some quotes from the Washington State coach and players on D.J. Shelton’s shot, which ultimately put the game away for Washington State
Shelton on the thought process of taking the shot in that situation – “As a team we were just being patient and found a new look, and I just shot it with confidence. It was just time and situation and I just happened to have the ball so I made the play. It was mainly just be aggressive if possible, stay under control and just make the smart play.”
Washington State coach Ken Bone on what he was thinking when Shelton took the shot – “Well that clock was getting down there and the way he’s been shooting and the way he played tonight I was fine with him taking that shot. We don’t have a lot of great shooters out there as a team…the way he was playing this evening I was fine with him looking for his shot, I like the fact he was confident enough to shoot it.”
On the status of G Antwan Scott
Scott wasn’t suited up and didn’t play tonight, nor will he play Saturday at home v. UC Davis, Verlin said. Scott is currently in Moscow with the team but is still working through his family situation which kept him away from the team for the three weeks prior.
Point guard Robert Harris is still dealing with a hamstring issue, so much so he had to be taken to the hospital thursday because of what Verlin described as severe cramping. A redshirt may be on the table if he won’t be able to play in the next couple of games.
On to the Cowan Spectrum
Idaho’s first game at the Cowan Spectrum inside the Kibbie Dome will be Saturday against UC Davis at 7:00 p.m.
Keep an eye on
Starting 2-guard Connor Hill. Without much depth behind him Hill played 33 minutes today. Although the 3-point specialist only slotted in two treys today, one of them was from near NBA range during the 13-2 run which helped cut the lead, and the guard also led the Vandals in assists today with four.
Also keep an eye on
Marcus Bell. The incredibly athletic 6-8 big man only played nine minutes today, committing more fouls and turnovers (5) than rebounds, blocked shots and points (4). Bell has the potential to be Idaho’s best rebounder and shot blocker, but it seems to be the mental aspect of his game which could keep him from seeing many minutes.