Coming off a dominant 122-48 win over Walla Walla, the Vandals were looking to improve to 2-1. However, they ended up falling 79-72 to the University of Omaha despite an incredible second half comeback.
As the Vandals were waking up in the morning, their leading scorer, junior forward/center Isaac Jones, woke up sick and was ruled out of the game. The Vandals missed Jones in the first half as they struggled on both sides of the ball. Omaha got out of the gates early, jumping out to a 19-3 lead before an Idaho timeout. Omaha led 46-26 at halftime, shooting 17/30 from the field and4/7 from beyond the arc. They were also 8/9 from the free throw line.
Fifth year guard Divant’e Moffitt led the Vandals with 12 points, but besides Moffitt, there was little offense in the first half. Idaho shot 9/21 overall and just 2/6 from the three-point line. They shot great from the free throw line, going 6/7, but Omaha was in complete control.
With a 46-26 lead, the Mavericks looked like they were going to coast to victory, but the Vandals woke up and made it a game. Idaho got into a rhythm and started cutting into the 20-point deficit. Moffitt and the Vandals cut the lead to 75-72 with under one minute to go. The Vandals got a steal but couldn’t do anything as they turned it back over. Omaha made two clutch free throws to make the score 77-72. Another turnover by the Vandals. and an easy dunk by Omaha, clinched Omaha’s first victory of the season, dropping the Vandals to 1-2.
The Vandals second half was much better than the first. They shot 13/26 from the field and went 6/11 from the 3-point line. They were a perfect 14-14 from the charity stripe, which was key in the Vandals comeback attempt. The Mavericks benefited greatly from the Vandals’ sloppiness as they scored 30 points off 17 turnovers.
Omaha was led in scoring by sophomore forwards Frankie Fiddler and Marquel Sutton. Fiddler had 28 points, 11 Rebounds and went 11/11 from the free throw line. Sutton had 16 points, eight rebounds, went 3/5 from three-point range and was 5/6 from the free throw line.
The Vandals were led by Moffitt with 29 points, 17 of which came in the second half. He was 8/16 from the field, 2/4 from three and 11/12 on free throws. Sophomore Guard Yusuf Salih and freshman center Nigel Burris were also key. Salih added 13 points, going 3/6 from the field and 2/4 from three. Burris added 10 points, seven rebounds and was 2/2 from 3.
The Vandals as a team were much better this game than their first away game as they shot 22-47 from the field and 8/17 from three. Free throws were the most important stat for both teams. Both teams were outstanding as Idaho went 20/21 from the line while Omaha shot 20/23.
Idaho is hoping to build on their second half performance when they take on Cal-State Bakersfield tomorrow at 6 p.m. in ICCU Arena.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10