A ferocious men’s basketball team got a much-needed comeback win against EWU last Friday and looks to keep the momentum rolling against Northern Arizona Saturday night.
Idaho comes into the game as one of the best teams in the Big Sky Conference with Northern Arizona hanging out at dead last.
In what seems like an easy win to fans, this may be a trap game for the Vandals. The Lumberjacks come in the top six of the conference in both steals and blocks per game, which may make it a difficult time for the Vandals.
Idaho leads the Big Sky in 3-point field goal percentage, and that will be the key to beating Northern Arizona. Expect senior guards Victor Sanders and Chad Sherwood to find shots falling from deep to try to keep up with the Lumberjacks defense.
Idaho has struggled this season coming off of big wins. Earlier in the season when the Vandals came off of a dominating win against Washington State it seemed that Idaho would be unstoppable if they continued that way of play. The following game the Vandals lost to CSU Bakersfield, a team that Northern Arizona defeated earlier on in the season.
Idaho will continue its roadtrip with Southern Utah before Northern Arizona, head coach Don Verlin stated in a press conference on Tuesday that preparation for both games will be the same.
Another player to expect big things from on Saturday will be sophomore guard Trevon Allen, who has provided a nice spark of scoring for the Vandals.
“Trevon is a good player,” Verlin said. “We’re finding ways to give him more minutes. He shot the ball extremely well against Eastern, and we are going to need our depth as we go into the conference season and conference tournament.”
Northern Arizona ranks dead last in points per game and field goal percentage, and against a stingy Idaho defense it looks to be a game heavily in Idaho’s favor.
A win against the Lumberjacks would keep Idaho amongst the top teams in the Big Sky, and with the conference tournament in sights, conference seeding will be big. If Idaho wants to keep their dreams of a NCAA tournament birth alive, knocking off simple conference wins like this weekend’s game will be key.
The Idaho Vandals will face the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected]