Idaho defense suffocates Hornet offense Saturday
Idaho coach Don Verlin said Mike Scott’s performance in Saturday’s 69-58 victory over Sacramento State might have been the best of his career.
“Mike Scott probably played his best overall game,” Verlin said of his senior point guard. “He had to handle the ball versus the pressure, he had to guard the best player, he got trapped all night long. He was exhausted … and he kept fighting through it — I was proud of Mike.”
Amelia C. Warden | Argonaut
Junior forward Paulin Mpawe reaches for the tip during Saturday’s game against Sacramento State at the Cowan Spectrum. Idaho won 69-58 over the second-best team in the conference.
Scott finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, all while holding Sacramento State’s leading scorer Mikh McKinney to 15 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
With Eastern Washington’s loss to Portland State earlier in the day, Sacramento State entered the game as the conference’s No. 1 team — which was short lived, as it moved back to second place after the loss.
Senior shooting guard Connor Hill said Idaho is one of the better teams in the conference.
“We’ve proved over the course of this season that we can play with anyone in this league,” Hill said. “When we’re playing well, sharing the ball, playing as a team, that’s when we’re the best and we can play with anyone.”
After a 1-2 road trip, Idaho responded with two wins over Portland State and Sacramento State, improving to 11-12 overall and 6-6 in conference competition. The two wins propelled Idaho from eighth to sixth place in the Big Sky standings.
Next up is a pair of road games against two teams Idaho has yet to play this season.
Amelia C. Warden | Argonaut
Fans cheer for a Vandals Valentine’s Day win at the game against Sacramento State at the Cowan Spectrum. Idaho won 69-58.
First up, Thursday Idaho will travel to Flagstaff, Arizona, to take on an NAU team currently at fourth place in the Big Sky standings with an 8-4-conference record.
Then, Saturday the team will be in Cedar City, Utah, to play Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds, with recent wins over Weber State and Idaho State, are 4-8 in conference play and sit two games behind the Vandals in ninth place.
Verlin said a reason for the Vandals’ improved play of late is simple — they’re starting to mature as a team.
“We’re getting more seasoned,” Verlin said. “We’re getting better, especially defensively. We’re not making the defensive errors we did and we’re able to withstand a little adversity. It’s good to see this team grow.”
Sacramento State’s 58 points against the Vandals tied for its second lowest total of the season.
Amelia C. Warden | Argonaut
Connor Hill shoots for a three point shot during the first half of Saturday’s game against Sacramento State at the Cowan Spectrum. Idaho won 69-58.
With an offense ranked second in the conference in points per game, averaging 77.2 PPG, Idaho now appears to have a defense to go with it. This has Verlin confident for the final stretch of the season and, hopefully, into the Big Sky Tournament.
“I think the team that plays the best, gets hot in the tournament, will be the team getting out and going to the NCAA Tournament — why shouldn’t it be us?” Verlin said. “We got enough talent … If we play right, we’ll have a chance to win the conference tournament. We got to get there first though.”
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]