After a dominant 88-42 win over Evergreen State, the Vandals hosted Pacific Lutheran, hoping to extend their win streak. From the tip-off until the final horn sounded, the Vandals cruised past the Lutes with a 96-52 victory, giving them their second victory of the season.
Idaho came out on fire as it went on a 13-0 run before the first media timeout. After the Lutes finally got on the board, the Vandals continued to pour it on and pushed the lead up to as much as 23 points in the half.
The Lutes were able to finish the half strong, but the Vandals still took a 41-23 lead into halftime. Idaho had a very strong shooting half, going 17/29 from the field, 1/5 from three-point range and 6/8 from the free-throw line.
Pacific Lutheran was strong from beyond the arc but could not get anything else to fall. The Lutes went 7/18 from the field, 5/7 from three and 4/6 from the free-throw line. After the Lutes’ run to end the half, the Vandals came out in the second half and put the game to bed early.
With help from the bench and reserves, the Vandals outscored the Lutes 55-29 and rolled to a 96-52 victory, giving them their second win in a row and pulling them to .500 at 2-2. The Vandals continued their hot shooting and ended the game shooting over 50%.
Idaho ended the game 36/64 from the field, 7/20 from beyond the arc and 17/23 from the free throw line. The Vandals’ defense showed up again, holding the Lutes to just over 50 points as they had a tough shooting night in the second half.
The Lutes finished the game 16/48 from the field, 7/19 from the three-point line and 13/16 from the free-throw line.
The Vandals had 11 of their 13 players that got on the score sheet. They were led by junior forward Juice Mims and junior guard Quinn Denker, who both had 16 points, a season-high for both.
Redshirt junior Terren Frank added 14 points, and redshirt freshman Titus Yearout had a career-high 12 points in his second game as a Vandal.
“First and foremost, I just want to say I love my teammates,” Yearout said. “I love my coaches, they believed in me, and I have just been putting in the work so, I just came out and did my thing, and it felt great.”
Denker was very pleased with the effort the team has been given the last few games,
“Everyone’s doubting us right now, and we’ve got faith in each other. All we’re doing right now is just bringing the chip on our shoulder every day and putting our best forward,” he said.
Coach Alex Pribble also praised the Vandals’ effort and heaped praise on the defense. “It’s been a point of emphasis for us. I think we did a good job tonight, particularly to start the game,” he said.
With the Vandals’ next game against Coach Pribble’s old team, Seattle University, he’s feeling a mix of emotions about facing them.
“I’m excited to be back in that gym to face familiar faces, a lot of people I care a lot about. I’m not one of those coaches that necessarily likes to compete against former players or people that are close with, (but) I look forward to a new opportunity, a new challenge for our team,” he said.
The Vandals will travel to Seattle to take on Seattle U on Wednesday, Nov 22, at 5 p.m. While still in Seattle, they will take on UC San Diego on Black Friday at 3 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss10