After a horrid 2-6 start to WAC play this season, the Idaho men’s basketball team seemed destined to place near the bottom of the league.
Instead, the Vandals improved during the second half of the season, going 5-3 over the last eight conference games. That was good enough to get them the No. 5 seed in the WAC Tournament and an opening round game against a team — Missouri-Kansas City — that they had previously defeated just last Saturday.
Things are certainly looking up for this Idaho team. The Vandals look to be getting hot just at the right time of the season and the players are finally starting to mesh together as a team.
But one thing Vandal fans have learned over the course of coach Don Verlin’s tenure at Idaho is when it comes to WAC Tournament play, getting a win is tough.
Verlin has been at the helm since 2008 and has led the Vandals to be seeded as high as No. 3 over those years, but they have never been able to produce a win in the tournament.
If Idaho wants to get that win, there are a few things they need to do or continue to do to be successful.
First and foremost, the Vandals need Stephen Madison to continue to do what he has been doing all season.
The senior that just missed out on earning WAC Player of the Year has had 13 straight games where he has scored in double digits. He is showing people that an off-night for him is an 18 point, four rebound performance. For most players, an off night like that would be considered a great game.
The Vandals need him to be on top of his game in Vegas, if they want to have a shot at winning and moving on to the later rounds.
The second thing they need to do is to continue to get Sekou Wiggs and Connor Hill in the game plan. Madison, unfortunately, can’t do this all by himself.
After his 42-point performance at Utah Valley, teams are focusing on Madison and double-teaming him to cut down on his production.
This leaves guys like Wiggs and Hill to try and capitalize on the open shots. Over the last half of the WAC schedule, Wiggs is averaging in double-figure points.
Meanwhile, over the last five games, Hill only missed on double-digit scoring once and in three of those games has scored 20 or more points. With his shooting performance, he could be shedding some light on what he can do for this team after Madison graduates.
If those three can pick up the slack with scoring, the third and final thing the team needs to do is tighten up on defense.
Idaho could probably survive a shootout in its first round game against UMKC, but in the later rounds against the likes of Utah Valley or New Mexico State, they are more likely to win if they are able to shut down the offense.
Idaho did well, specifically in its last game against New Mexico State, because the Vandals were able to out-rebound the Aggies, who are one of the best rebounding teams in the nation.
If the Vandals are able to do these three things, they could surprise the other teams in the tournament. They certainly have the talent to make a run in the tournament, but they need to play like they have in the last few games of the regular season if they want to make a run in the tourney.
Rick Clark can be reached at [email protected]