The tables were turned Thursday night in Idaho’s 80-63 loss to Northern Colorado.
The tables Idaho generally dines on in its most impressive wins, that is.
It was all backwards in likely the season’s most disappointing game. Idaho’s typical dominance boarding the basketball was swiped away by the Bears and donned like a copycat thief. The sniper-precision from deep and ability to prevent success from opposing sharpshooters was also hijacked by the fuzzy intruders, leaving the Vandals empty-handed and flustered as they frantically searched for any vestige of their former selves.
Although senior guard Victor Sanders retained his personage and dropped a clean 26 on 50 percent from the field, the rest of the offensive onslaught was rare. When it did break free from its cell, which was typically boarded with a Bear-barricade, the offense was incapable of putting forth the usual communal scoring presence.
It was the first time all season the Vandals have been limited to only one double-digit scorer. Anyone who follows this team should recognize that, along with Sanders, senior forward Brayon Blake regularly gets into double-figure scoring (and rebounding).
Two double-figure tallies isn’t even that commonplace. Idaho’s interchangeable offense has a knack for sharing the love. Whether it be junior forward Nate Sherwood, his older brother, Chad or senior guard Perrion Callandret, a third Vandal generally emerges with at least 10 points to contribute to the Big Sky’s fourth lowest scoring offense.
Sanders put up 20 field-goal attempts. The second most? Blake, who finished with just nine points on 3-8 shooting. Sanders absolutely can carry the load if need be, but this Vandal team produces effectively when he’s got a crutch – in the form of more scorers.
Idaho’s defense and rebounding presence was in fact, absent as well. Even though Northern Colorado also took down Idaho in Greeley, 81-77, on Dec. 31, the Vandals still owned the boards, but fell due to late-game droughts.
Colton Clark
This was not the case Thursday night. From the get-go, the Bears owned the glass. Second-chances were abundant for Northern Colorado, it dictated its own offense, didn’t allow Idaho’s defense to capture the momentum and out-boarded the Vandals on offense, 14-9, although it was hard-pressed in capitalizing.
However, simply retaining possession for an extra minute-plus irritated Idaho and narrowed its defensive capabilities, stripping away any chance of gaining that defense-to-offense momentum the Vandals are so accustomed to.
The Bears won the board-battle, 35-25 – the worst rebounding margin of the season for Idaho. The Vandals average a +6.7 margin on the season, of course, before last night’s -10 performance.
Even though the Vandal offense is extraordinarily hit-or-miss, its 3-point shooting percentage is through the roof. Idaho averages 42 percent from beyond the arc, the best in the conference, but was a shell of its typical self against Northern Colorado.
Idaho shot just 25 percent (5-20) from deep, tied for its second worst 3-point shooting performance of the season. Sanders shot the long-ball, 4-11, and C. Sherwood added just one trey. That was it.
Only two players hit from deep, a complete anomaly for this Vandal team.
On the flip-side, Idaho’s conference-leading 3-point defense was also put to the test, and beaten thoroughly. Northern Colorado knocked in 12 triples on 44 percent shooting, five percent better than the Vandals’ average.
As if they hadn’t learned from the recent-past, the Vandals continued to give Bear forward Chaz Glotta way too much room in the deep corner. The big man knocked down all five of his five attempts from deep, often quieting the rumblings of Idaho runs.
Last night, Idaho was not the team that had enamored its students, fans and Big Sky enthusiasts in early-season games like its blowout wins over Washington State and Western Michigan.
It wasn’t even close. The Vandals were the epitome of inconsistency Thursday night – their primary downfall this season.
Colton Clark can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @coltonclark95.