The Idaho men’s basketball team didn’t hold a lead until the second half of Friday’s game against Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas. Once the Vandals took the lead, it didn’t stick.
Idaho just couldn’t keep up with the Bearkats. Sam Houston State took the 69-62 win in the last minutes of the game.
“The bottom line is they played harder than us,” Verlin said in a radio interview following the game. “I was disappointed in our effort tonight. We’re a better basketball team than that.”
The Vandals held a lead for just over four minutes of play, to Sam Houston State’s 29 minutes.
Junior guard Victor Sanders led Idaho with 14 points.
Freshman guard Trevon Allen earned another collegiate start, with senior guard Perrion Callandret out for the third straight game because of a lingering knee injury.
Allen earned a career-high 10 points.
Junior forward Brayon Blake finished with eight points.
“At the end of the day it falls on me,” Verlin said. “I’ve got to get them ready and I didn’t have them where they needed to be, the right mindset going into this game.”
Sam Houston State spent the first half pressing the Idaho defense.
Behind by as many as 12 points, the Vandals staged a comeback late in the first half.
Sophomore guard Chad Sherwood dropped two 3-pointers and a free throw to chip away at the gap.
Sanders and Blake sunk two 3-pointers in the last minutes of the first period to end the half behind 32-30.
Idaho left for the locker rooms with nine turnovers. Sam Houston State capitalized, scoring nine points on turnovers.
The Vandals shot 40 percent from inside and 44 percent from outside during the first half.
Sophomore power forward Nate Sherwood earned his third foul in four minutes on the court to start the second half.
Idaho finally leveled the score 35-35 after three minutes of play.
The teams battled back-and-forth during the second quarter, taking leads of two or three points, only to fall behind the other.
“We got a close game there in the second half,” Verlin said. “Something we’ve worked on going into this game is making sure you keep your composure and make the right plays.”
Nate fouled out with a minute remaining.
Verlin said the fouls on his big men made things difficult.
“It was tough to get my substitution pattern,” Verlin said. “That was tough. On the road, you never feel like all the calls go your way.”
Idaho failed to keep composure, fouling on three straight plays and eventually falling to the Bearkats.
Senior forward Ty Egbert and junior forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan ended with four fouls apiece.
The Bearkats outrebounded Idaho 33-25. Idaho made 32 percent of its 3-point shots, to Sam Houston State’s 24 percent. The Vandals finished with 15 turnovers.
The Vandals play San Jose State 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Memorial Gym.
“Tonight, this team outcompeted us,” Verlin said. “That’s unacceptable. We will bounce back.”
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos