The Big Sky Conference (BSC) season opened with energy and close matchups, but Idaho Men’s Basketball dropped another ugly game in Cowan Spectrum.
The Vandals (5-14, 1-7 BSC) fell to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds (12-7, 5-3 BSC) 73-45 at home Monday night.
“This is a dangerous offensive team in Southern Utah, they can score all over the place,” Interim Head Coach Zac Claus said. “They don’t have weaknesses in terms of when they throw their five guys out there, they can score, and they can score in bunches. And they were successful doing that tonight.”
Offensively, Idaho had a tough outing, having its worst shooting performance this season.
The Vandals shot just 26.2% from the floor and 16.7% from three.
After jumping up 2-0 seconds after tip-off, the Vandals would not lead for the rest of the game after the 18:53 mark.
Idaho’s post-game struggled, being outscored 36-24 in points from the paint.
“When I was getting to the middle, I had opportunities to keep going, and I settled for a hook,” sophomore center Jack Wilson said. “Guys are going to play hard. I’m 7 feet, 240 pounds, I’m got to get to the rim. So, another spot to improve.”
In the scoring margin, Southern Utah is just behind Northern Colorado. Both outscore opponents by over 11 points a game, by far the best in the Big Sky.
The Vandals’ two worse conference losses came against these two squads.
“We can just trust what we’re doing. Guys are getting reps in the gym; guys are working on their game. It’s just a matter of trusting that it’s going to fall down before this next game,” Wilson said. “We obviously have a lot to work on but credit to (Southern Utah). They’re tough, strong team and they played a good game.”
Despite the loss, there were positives from Monday’s game.
Idaho grabbed 38 rebounds, it’s third-best outing on the boards this conference season.
The Vandals had the advantage in turnovers, having fewer turnovers than the Thunderbirds, 16-14.
The inability to finish around the rim or through traffic is what held Idaho back.
Physical, athletic and lengthy teams appear to be the Vandals’ weakness.
“(Southern Utah is) good in terms of going the offensive glass, they do a great job,” Claus said. “(The Thunderbirds are) good from a number of different guys able to post up and then when you know again when they drive the ball, they drive with some physicality, and they don’t mind taking on contact.”
In the post-game press conference, Claus said the team will need to return to the practice floor and adjust break the five-game losing skid.
The Vandals prepare for a three-game road-trip between Flagstaff, Sacramento and Bozeman within six days.
Idaho plays Northern Arizona at 3:00 p.m. February 1 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @kellogg_zack.