When the Idaho men’s basketball team walked into the Cowan Spectrum Saturday night, the team was hoping to knock off an undefeated Arkansas-Little Rock program that had been receiving national consideration in the latest Associated Press top-25 poll.
But after 40 minutes of play, the Trojans (7-0) emerged with a 64-54 victory to maintain an unblemished record, while the Vandals dropped to 5-4.
“I really believe that was a winnable game for our basketball team, if we just buckled down a little bit and get the stops that we needed to,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said.
Sophomore guard Victor Sanders and junior guard Perrion Callandret combined to score 25 of the Vandals’ 29 first-half points.
Sanders shot 5 of 6 from the field and Callandret hit three shots from behind the 3-point arc to propel the Vandals to a 29-28 halftime lead.
Junior forward Jalen Jackson led the way in the first half for the Trojans with eight points, while senior forward Roger Woods added seven.
The Vandals outrebounded the Trojans 18-9 in the first 20 minutes of play, with 11 of those rebounds coming offensively.
The second half consisted of a seesaw battle offensively, but the Trojans pulled away from the Vandals late in the game, following a three and a half minute scoring drought from Idaho. The Vandals could not overcome a 10-point deficit late in the second half.
Sanders finished with 24 points and shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range, adding three rebounds for the Vandals.
“I think the other team just played good defense,” Sanders said. “They went in and out of zone, but we just didn’t execute like we were supposed to.”
Jackson finished with 14 points while junior guard Marcus Johnson Jr. added another 12.
Little Rock finished with 30 points in the paint and received 39 points from the bench. The Vandals scored 14 points in the key and received seven points from their bench players.
Another key aspect in the Vandals’ loss was shooting percentage. The Vandals shot 32 percent from the field, compared to 50 percent by the Trojans.
“Bottom line, we need to get some production out of our inside players,” Verlin said. “They were 3 for 19 tonight and we’ve got to figure out a way to score the ball around the basket.”
Idaho will return to the Cowan Spectrum to play Washington State at 6 p.m. Thursday in the annual meeting between the two programs.
“The Pac-12 is definitely a power conference,” Callandret said. “We just have to play how we play and try to run our sets with pace. We don’t want to underestimate our opponent and I feel like that is what is going to get us ready for both of those games.”
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom
(Photo courtesy of Irish Martos)