(File photo – Former Idaho guard Deremy Geiger drives to the basket the last time Boise State played in Moscow in 2011)
If you’re a Vandal alumni or fan in the Spokane or Treasure Valley area on Thursday you’re in luck, because the Vandals are in your neck of the woods.
Off a weekend loss to Washington the Idaho women head to Spokane to take on Gonzaga, while the men will be in Boise for a ‘neutral site’ match-up against Boise State at CenturyLink Arena.
For both it’s a final out-of-conference tune-up before Western Athletic Conference play begins — The men at Seattle on Dec. 29, the women at the Cowan Spectrum against the Redhawks the same day.
Neither are in for an easy test Thursday.
The ladies of the hardwood face a 9-3 Gonzaga team whose losses have come against Ohio State, Louisville and national powerhouse Stanford. This is also the same Gonzaga team which won this one 91-42 at Memorial Gym last November.
The Idaho women are coming off a 62-48 loss to Washington over the weekend, but have still won two of their last three and three of their last six after starting the season on a four-game losing streak. This game could be a good measuring stick for Idaho heading in to WAC play considering the conference season will basically be a second season for the girls. The conference seems open for the taking considering the top-five pre-season picks in the WAC all have losing records.
Idaho’s men of the hardwood are going for a .500 record and all of the momentum in the World heading in to conference play. That would be due to the fact this appears to be the best Boise State team since its 2007-08 version that went dancing. The Broncos sit at 7-2 with a road win against Creighton, a home win over LSU and a four-point loss to Michigan State in East Lansing.
They’re a very good basketball team first and foremost and they can really score their ball,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “They play with a lot of confidence and it shows with their pre-season schedule. If you go in to Creighton and win you’re not a good team, you’re a great team.”
Defensively the Vandals will have to find a way to deal with Derrick Marks, Boise State’s star guard averaging 19.2 points-per-game while shooting 47-percent from the field. Next to him is Anthony Drmic, dropping 16.4 points-per-game, 50-percent from the field and 43-percent from 3-point range.
Perimeter defense has been challenging at times for Idaho this season. Defense in general is why Verlin substituted five-players at a time five times within the first five minutes of the second half against Walla Walla University, each time the Wolves scored.
The challenge for Verlin has been finding a set rotation and starting line-up considering both the loss of Antwan Scott (more on that below) and the shuffling at point guard.
Mike McChristian has moved off the point guard spot and will be playing 2-guard and small forward now with Robert Harris and Denzel Douglas mainly manning the point. The change allowed Stephen Madison to move around more without the ball and become more of an offensive threat from the perimeter. Madison had been one of Idaho’s primary ball handlers prior to the position shuffle with McChristian.
How that all will continue to play out remains to be seen.
“We’ve adjusted some things and no question about it. We’ll see when we get to Boise (but) we’ve had a lot of things going on,” Verlin said. “What we saw in pre-season has changed us throughout this non-conference season, barring injury come league time we’ll know what we’re doing.”
This is the second season in a row in which Idaho has played Boise State on a “neutral” court, playing the Broncos in Nampa last season. Boise State has declined to do a home-and-home series with Idaho since leaving the WAC.
“It’s really important and the reason why we play that game so the people in the (Treasure) valley and all of Southern Idaho so those fans can come watch us play,” Verlin said. “It’s worked out well last year and hopefully this year. In the past they’ve been loud and boisterous and we really appreciate their support.”
Quick notes
– G Antwan Scott has been released from his scholarship to attend to family matters back home. Verlin has said he’d leave the door open for a return but said it’s likely Scott chooses to stay in Texas should he choose to continue playing.
Boise State has won three in a row against Idaho. The Vandals last won on Feb. 6, 2010 at Boise.
Tip-off for the women will be at 6 p.m. and available on the Vandal Radio Network (840 AM KMAX we believe)
The men will also tip-off at 6 p.m. with the game also on the Vandal Radio Network and on ROOT Sports Northwest.