For 59 minutes and 56 seconds, Idaho had the better of their rivals from Missoula, Mont. Leading by as many as 15 in the game and as many as 12 in the second half, Idaho was well on its way toward a signature victory to put a wrap on its out-of-conference schedule.
Kareem Jamar had other plans for the Grizzlies. With Idaho leading 71-70 and 10 seconds on the clock, Montana grabbed the steal from Mike Scott’s errant in-bounds pass, Jamar went hard to the basket and drew the foul. Two made free throws later the Grizzlies completed the home-and-away sweep of the Vandals, dropping Idaho to 6-8 with a 72-71 result Saturday afternoon at the Cowan Spectrum.
Montana led all of four seconds on Saturday afternoon but it was the only four seconds that mattered – the final four seconds of the game.
“By far our highest turnover rate,” coach Don Verlin said. “We were real casual with the ball. Game is on the line I got guys acting like it’s Saturday afternoon at the park out here.”
Seventeen Idaho turnovers on Saturday took away from the exceptional performances of Stephen Madison and Bira Seck. The senior Madison finished with a career-high 35 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, using only one 3-point shot to get that point total. Seck finished with his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, adding two steals and two assists.
But both contributed to the free throw woes that sent Idaho out of the Spectrum with yet another rivalry loss. The two were a combined 12-of-21 from the charity stripe, while the team as a whole went 18-of-33 from the free throw line.
“You can second guess all the stuff we did all you want, but the bottom line is, if you’re a Division I college player you got to make your free throws,” Verlin said.
Leading 68-64 with 49 seconds remaining in the game, Idaho went 3-of-6 from the free throw line.
Including Idaho’s bout with Idaho State last week, the Vandals finish the out-of-conference schedule 1-4 against their rivals with losses to Washington State and Boise State to go along with the sweep at the hands of Montana.
The losses are especially disappointing considering that Montana will be a conference opponent of the Vandals next season in the Big Sky.
The 6-8 Vandals will begin their final conference go-around in the Western Athletic Conference on Jan. 2 when Missouri-Kansas City visits the Cowan Spectrum ahead of the Jan. 4 game against Chicago State.
“We’ll get back and get to work tomorrow and do the best we can of getting our basketball team ready to play,” Verlin said.