The Idaho men’s basketball team is 5-8 in the WAC going into its last three games of the regular season.
A team with a record like that usually has no shot of getting a top four seed in a conference tournament. But this is the WAC — anything is possible.
With three games remaining, the Vandals are still in position to get the No. 3 seed.
Grand Canyon, currently third in the conference, is not eligible for the WAC Tournament since it is in a transition year into Division I and cannot participate.
Even with that working in favor of the Vandals though, they still have a few things that they need to do to get a No. 3 seed. What’s most important for Idaho, and puts it in the best position to get it, is that they need to win out the rest of the regular season.
That is easier said than done.
The last three teams that face the Vandals all have wins over them on the season. But with all of their first meetings earlier in the season, there comes a trend.
The Vandal’s first of the three games pits them against WAC rival Seattle U. In their last meeting, the Vandals lead the whole game until the final few minutes. The Vandals let them back in the game and the Redhawks ended up winning on a buzzer beater. The final score was 58-57.
The second game takes the team to Chicago to face WAC newcomer Chicago State. In the last game between the teams, the Vandals had to come back from a 14-point deficit to tie it up in the final 30 seconds. With three seconds left on the clock, Chicago State’s Matt Ross got a put back shot to go in to win the game for the Cougars.
In their season finale, the Vandals take on Missouri-Kansas City. In their Jan. 2 meeting, the Vandals lead the game late when the ‘Roos were able to go on two separate runs to seal the 80-74 victory.
With all these earlier games, the Vandals were in reach of the victory. They had it in their grasp and they let it slip each time. Each of those games ended with the Vandals giving up the lead late and not closing it out.
If the Vandals want to get the No. 3 seed for the tournament, they have two things that they need to do.
First, they need to close out late in the last three games. Preventing the comeback and playing consistent basketball is key for the Vandals if they want to get a high seed in the tournament.
Secondly, and probably more importantly, the Vandals need to get used to winning away from home. In all of the team’s remaining games (including the WAC Tournament), they are playing on the road.
In WAC play so far, Idaho has a 1-4 record on the road. Certainly, the numbers are against the Vandals.
If they can translate the way that they played the opponents at home though, they certainly have a chance to go into the tournament as the three seed.
With the three seed, the Vandals won’t have to see New Mexico State or Utah Valley in the first round and that of course is a good thing if Don Verlin wants to get his first tournament win with the Vandals.
Rick Clark can be reached at [email protected]