Idaho couldn’t buck the trend against Texas State, losing 78-73 Thursday — yet another second-half collapse. 
Sitting at 3-4 in conference play the Vandals had an opportunity to make a run with two of the bottom three teams in the conference visiting this weekend and the next four games at home.
That opportunity took a hit Thursday night with a 78-73 loss to Texas State at the Cowan Spectrum.
The Vandals jumped off to as good of a start as the team has seen in conference play, leading 8-1 and then 30-13.
It was all downhill from there.
The inability to protect the ball bit Idaho once again. As they have in each of their conference games the Vandals lost the turnover battle (18-8) and gave the Bobcats more shot opportunities (60-50).
“We got up 17 points (and then) we mess around with the ball, we let them get back in and away they go,” said Idaho coach Don Verlin on the post-game radio show. “The bottom line is we’re just giving teams too many shots, (we have) unforced turnovers for whatever reason.”
Spurred by forward Joel Wright, the Bobcats start to chip at the lead the last six minutes of the first half before pulling through against Idaho late in the first half. Wright accounted for 16 of Texas State’s final 23 points down the stretch in the first half to overcome Idaho.
“I knew coming in, he’s one of the best players in the WAC. We tried
to double him down there and (Idaho forward) Stephen (Madison) gets in to foul trouble,” Verlin said. “He single handedly won the game. I’m frustrated. At some point this team has got to learn to fight together.”
Idaho’s Kyle Barone did his best to stave off the Bobcat onslaught finishing the night with 27 points, including two free throws with 1:40 remaining in the game to draw the teams even at 69-69.
It was all Wright and Texas State from there — Wright single handedly gave the Bobcats the final lead would need with 1:30 remaining in the game with a 3-point shot, a steal and a slam dunk on the other end.
Wright ended with a game-high 35 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field.
This is the fourth conference loss in which Idaho has relinquished a double-digit lead to its opponents, a trend the team started in out-of-conference play in games against Montana and New Mexico.
“I’m frustrated. At some point this team has got to learn to fight together,” Verlin
said. “…we’ve got to learn to win. This team hasn’t been able to do that on a consistent basis this year.”
The loss is Idaho’s fifth in its last six games, after starting conference play 2-0. Idaho will face Texas-San Antonio on Saturday. The roadrunners collected their first WAC win Thursday night beating Seattle 78-75.
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]