The Idaho men’s basketball team beat Sacramento State 61-45 on Feb. 5.
The Vandals dominated offensively, shooting 53% from the field. They were perfect from the free-throw line at 12-12. EJ Neal led the team with 15 points, closely followed by Kyson Rose, who scored the first nine points of the game for Idaho and ended with 14.
Rose scored in double figures for the second game in a row after scoring 13 points against the Montana State Bobcats on Saturday, Feb. 3. He had perfect accuracy from the floor, until a fadeaway jumper was blocked with less than two minutes left in the game. He shot 4-for-5 from the field, including one three pointer. He went 5-for-5 from the foul line.
Neal led all scorers and made five of his seven field-goal attempts. He provided energy for the team with two emphatic dunks during fast breaks, one of which was created off a steal.
Sacramento State struggled to find their rhythm on offense. The Hornets finished the first half with 20 points. They shot a meager 26% from the field and a similar 18% from behind the arc. Their shooting wasn’t much better in the second half and the team ended with 32% accuracy. They finished the game with 14 turnovers, though they outrebounded the Vandals 30-21.
The Hornet’s leading scorers were Zee Hamoda and Austin Patterson who finished with eight points each. The team also had two players with six rebounds, Duncan Powell and Alex Kovatchev.
The Vandals and the Hornets have split their last 20 games. In their last four meetings, which were also split, the game has gone to overtime or been decided by three points or fewer. Tonight’s dominant win makes it 11-9 in favor of Idaho in the last 20 games. It also marks the first time that the Vandals have swept the Hornets since the 2017-18 season.
The matchup was almost rescheduled because Idaho’s flight to Sacramento was canceled because of heavy winds. The team flew to Las Vegas instead, where they rented a bus and drove to Fresno, where they stayed Monday night. They drove three hours this morning to reach their destination.
Seven of Idaho’s players are from California, and Associate Head Coach Brandon Laird spent nine years as an assistant coach at Sacramento State and was the interim head coach for one year. Because of this, the Vandals had an unusually large crowd for a game so far away from Moscow.
“Three games in five days is a lot,” Laird said. “But we have a lot of guys from Northern California and to see our families there, it gave us a much-needed shot in the arm.”
The now 9-14 (3-7) Vandals hope to continue their winning streak when they play one-seed Eastern Washington on Saturday, Feb. 10 in Cheney, Washington. They will then return to ICCU Arena to play Weber State on Feb. 15.
Sacramento State falls to 6-17 (2-8) and will travel to Idaho State on Thursday, Feb. 8.
Willie Gibbs can be reached at [email protected]