by Univ. of Idaho Athletics
GREEN BAY, Wisc. – Similar game, similar heart-wrenching result for Idaho men's basketball on Thursday in a 63-61 loss at Green Bay.
Just two days removed from a last-second overtime loss at Wright State, the Vandal men played another tightly-contested, back-and-forth game and couldn't make the plays they needed to down the stretch. With the loss, Idaho slips to 7-6 on the season, while Green Bay moved to 6-6 overall and 6-0 in home games in 2011.
"I thought our guys gave a heck of an effort," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said after the game. "We had some executional errors – we turned it over 11 times in the second half and we can't do that. The other night was free throw shooting, tonight it was turnovers in the second half."
Junior forward Djim Bandoumel led Idaho with a career-high 16 points, primarily by way of the dunk, and added five rebounds and two blocks, while junior center Kyle Barone posted a second-consecutive double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, as well as four blocks, one steal and one assist. Sophomore guard Stephen Madison put in 13 to be Idaho's other double-digit scorer.
As a team, Idaho shot 43.4 percent from the field, but went just 3-of-10 (.300) from 3-point range. Green Bay was the exact opposite, with a season-best nine 3-pointers on 20 attempts for a 45 percent clip. The Phoenix hit just 11-of-34 (.324) from two-point range in the game.
Idaho tied its season high with an 80-percent shooting clip (12-15) on free throws, but the Phoenix went 14-of-21 (.750) to outscore the Vandals from the line by two. The game featured six lead changes and four ties.
The Vandals effectively shut down Green Bay's top player, 7-foot-1 forward Alec Brown, who had just two points, one rebound, two turnovers and four fouls in the game, but the rest of the Green Bay roster filled the void, primarily in the form of forward Brennan Cougill, who had game highs of 19 points and 19 rebounds, as well as three assists, three steals and two blocks.
"We had no answer for him," Verlin said of Cougill. "He got down low and scored against our zone."
Also for the Phoenix, guards Steve Baker and Kam Cerroni combined to go 6-of-9 from 3-point range and score 13 and 12 points, respectively. No other Green Bay player netted more than five points.
Without Green Bay's top defensive presence in the game, the Vandals did work down low to the tune of five dunks and a 36-18 edge in points in the paint, but the outside game never materialized. Idaho's three made 3-pointers in the game are a season low, and two of those came in the final minute of the game.
"Djim was 7-for-12 and I thought all his shots were right at the basket," Verlin said. "I thought we did a good job of finding our post guys down low tonight."
The Phoenix took advantage of Idaho's 15 turnovers and turned them into 20 points. Green Bay turned the ball over 13 times, but Idaho created just seven points on those opportunities. All the other specialty stats were mostly even, as Green Bay held a 13-11 edge in second-chance points and a 12-10 edge off the bench, while the Vandals had the game's only two fast-break points.
Verlin said he hopes the two down-to-the-wire games this week will help prepare for a tough stretch of games on the horizon, including the team's New Year's Eve rivalry match up with Boise State. The Vandals and Broncos have split the last six matchups, with five being nail-biters. That game tips off at Noon (MT) at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho.
"I think what we've got to do is just keep fighting," Verlin said. "We've got some big games coming up. We probably play, in our fans' eyes, our biggest game of the year when we come back on the 31st.
"We've got to figure out a way to make sure when we get into these games that we find a way to win it."
Idaho turned the ball over 11 times in the second half and coch Don Verlin said that made all the difference (Photo: SWX)
