The Idaho Vandals looked to improve after their 79-72 loss to Denver, but they ended up falling to Cal State Bakersfield 52-43. However, last night was about more than basketball.
Before the game, the University of Idaho held a moment of silence for Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin, who were murdered on Sunday.
The emotion was in the air when the game tipped off. It was a slug fest as both teams came out slow. There wasn’t much action up until a dunk by junior forward/center Isaac Jones, assisted by fifth year guard Divant’e Moffitt, fired up the crowd as the Vandals made it a one-point game.
After that, there wasn’t much offense. Both teams struggled in the first half with Idaho shooting 7/24 from the field and 2/12 from the 3-point line. Bakersfield was a little better, shooting 11-29 from the field goal and 0/4 from three. With little offense happening, the Roadrunners took a slim 22-21 lead into the locker room.
The second half started off with a bang for the Vandals as they made some shots and had their largest lead of the game, 30-24, forcing Bakersfield to call a timeout.
However, that hot streak went cold as Bakersfield went on a 20-0 run, pushing their lead to 44-30 before Zac Claus called a timeout trying to revive the Vandals. The Vandals needed a break, and they got one as a Bakersfield shot clock violation and a three pointer on the other end would bring it back to a five-point game. However, a turnover by Moffit with 44 seconds left sealed the deal for Bakersfield as they would end up winning this low scoring defensive battle 52-43.
The offensive struggles continued in the second half with Bakersfield and Idaho both shooting 8/22 from the field. Both teams improved their 3-point shooting as Bakersfield was 4/7 and Idaho was 5/16.
The Vandals were led by Jones and Moffitt. Jones posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, going 5/6 from the field. Moffitt also had 10 points shooting 2/8 from the field,1/4 from three and 5-5 from the free throw line.
Bakersfield was led by junior guard Kaleb Higgins with 18 pts as he went 6/13 overall, shooting 2-4 from three. He also hit four clutch free throws to seal the deal for Bakersfield.
Turnovers continued to be a problem for the Vandals. The Roadrunners were able to score 22 of their 52 total points off the Vandals 18 turnovers., Bakersfield’s full court pressure caused a lot of those turnovers, making everything difficult for the Vandals.
With the loss the Vandals drop their second consecutive game and fall to 1-3, a bad start to the season. They will be back home on Saturday to face the 1-3 Utah Tech Trailblazers at 6 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10