The Idaho men’s basketball team finished the regular season with a 82-68 victory over Idaho State Saturday.
The victory clenched a third place finish in conference play and as the team enters the Big Sky Conference tournament this week with a first-round bye.
“I thought we played really well and Idaho State is a good basketball team,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “They were scrappy and they played that matchup zone all night long. I thought we did what we had to do to get it done tonight.”
The Vandals had a slow start in the first half, as the two programs exchanged the lead every other minute. An early 3-pointer and a following jumper from sophomore Vic Sanders sparked the Vandal offense to take control of the game.
The Vandals entered halftime with a 37-29 lead over the Bengals.
Idaho shot 25 percent from behind the three-point line and 42.4 percent from the field.
The Bengals finished the half shooting 22.2 percent from the perimeter and 50 percent from the field.
Idaho State junior Ethan Telfair scored 10 first-half points for the Bengals.
“Ethan Telfair is a good player,” Verlin said. “He’s really hard to guard and it’s really hard to keep him in front of you.”
Telfair’s quick ball handling and his ability to move to the basket and draw fouls proved difficult to defend for the Vandals. Despite his offensive power, the junior found himself in foul trouble on the defensive end, earning a technical foul near the end of the second half.
Idaho senior Chris Sarbaugh said the tension on the court between Telfair and Sanders was evident, but it worked in the Vandals’ favor.
“There are two things that can happen when you start talking to someone: either they get worse or they get better – and when you talk to Vic (Sanders) he gets better,” Sarbaugh said. “It definitely got his confidence up and he hit huge shots.”
Sanders went on to finish the game with 25 points as Idaho added to its lead down the stretch.
The Vandals ended the night shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the perimeter.
Idaho State ended with 41.5 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from behind the three-point line.
Saturday night’s win was Verlin’s 20th victory this year. The win marked the first time the coach accomplished this feat since joining the Vandals.
The team congratulated Verlin with a Gatorade bath in the locker room after the final buzzer.
“It feels great, and I really feel good for this basketball team,” Verlin said. “But these 20 wins aren’t about me, it’s about them. Vandal fans should be proud of these boys to put on the Vandal uniform because they stand for everything Vandals should stand for. They have high character, they work their tails off, they come to practice and they fight every single day to get better.”
The game proved the final opportunity for the Idaho seniors to step onto their home court. Sarbaugh finished the game with four points, two assists and one steal. Senior forward Nahshon George posted three points and collected four rebounds, while senior Paulin Mpawe finished with three points and three rebounds.
Sanders said the team is ready to leave their mark in the conference tournament.
“We worked hard all summer to shine all winter,” Sanders said. “March Madness is coming up and this is where you make your mark. One game could be the end of your season so we just got to take one game at a time and keep believing in our system and play together and we’ll be alright.”
Verlin said he’s confident in the team’s ability as Idaho enters the tournament.
“I think it’s wide open. We’ve beaten the two teams at the top of the conference. We’ve beaten everybody in the top five of the conference,” Verlin said.
Sanders said defense is key for the Vandals in tournament play.
“We’re reliant on our defense, day in and day out, regardless of whatever happens,” Sanders said. “We believe in our defense and we’ll play our defense against the best offense.”
Mihaela Karst can be reached at [email protected]