MOSCOW, Idaho – San Jose State came out hot early, but it was Idaho that finished the strongest in a 74-66 Vandal win on Thursday at the Cowan Spectrum.
The visiting Spartans went 5-of-10 from 3-point range in the first half and had a nine-point cushion at 35-26 with 2:22 remaining in the first half, but Idaho answered with an 18-2 run over the end of the first and the first two minutes of the second half to seize control of the contest.
"That last 2:22 of the half was probably the key to the game," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "We did a great job of finishing that half and getting it back to one. We knew we had to pick up our defensive intensity, but I think more than anything we just needed to wear them down and I thought we did that as the half wore on."
With the win, Idaho climbs to 4-2 in Western Athletic Conference play and 11-9 overall. The Spartans slip to 0-6 in the WAC and 7-14 on the year. The win is Idaho's fourth in its last five games.
Senior Deremy Geiger provided the flash, while senior Djim Bandoumel and junior Kyle Barone were the substance. Geiger went 7-of-10 from the field – all behind the 3-point line – for a game-high 21 points, while Barone put up a 21-point, 11-rebound effort for his sixth double-double of the year and Bandoumel earned his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
"For me its special, it's my first one as a D-I player," Bandoumel said of the accomplishment. "He's (Barone) just used to it. I'm really glad about it but I'm really proud we got the W tonight."
Senior guard Landon Tatum had six assists and led a Vandal effort that saw four different players with at least three dishes in the game.
"We had 19 assists tonight, which is good, and a lot of guys had two or three assists," Verlin said. "I thought our guys did a good job making the extra pass – some of those 3-point shots were wide open."
Idaho posted its seventh 50-percent shooting performance of the season with a 27-of-54 (.500) effort from the field, and added an impressive 47.8 percent clip from 3-point range after hitting 11 of its 23 attempts. San Jose State shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first half, but just 30 percent after the break and 40.4 for the game. After hitting half of their 10 long-range attempts in the first 20 minutes, the Spartans went 2-of-17 (.118) from beyond the arc in the second and finished with a 25.9 percent clip.
"I thought our guys did a good job at finding their shooters and contesting them and getting them move out a little father than they're normally used to shooting," Verlin said. "I thought as it wore on, they got a little tight and missed some shots they had made earlier in the half and we were able to rebound those shots."
The Vandals held a 36-28 rebounding edge and outscored SJSU, 13-12, on second-chance points. The Vandals also held a 32-28 edge in the paint and an 11-5 bench scoring advantage. The Spartans had nine fast-break points to Idaho's seven and 16 points off 13 Idaho turnovers. The Vandals turned seven SJSU turnovers into 11 points.
D.J. Brown led SJSU with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, while Wil Carter added 15 points and nine rebounds and James Kinney had 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
San Jose State jumped out to an early 12-7 lead in the first half, but the game was played largely within one score for the first 12 minutes. A pair of 3-pointers by Kinney and Keith Shamburger spurred a 15-6 run and two Cater free throws gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the game at 35-26 with 2:22 left.
On the ensuing possession, Tatum found Barone on an alley-oop dunk, then Vandal junior Mansa Habeeb grabbed a steal and Geiger buried a three. After a missed shot by San Jose State, the Vandals came back and Tatum sent up another lob, this time to Bandoumel, and after a Spartan layup, Geiger netted another triple with seven seconds left in the half to draw Idaho within one.
The second half started just like the first ended – with a Geiger triple. Idaho scored the period's first eight points to run out to a 44-37 lead.
The Vandals extended that lead to 56-46 at the 10:48 mark on a 3-pointer by freshman Connor Hill, but Idaho missed its next four shots and the Spartans rattled off nine in a row to cut the deficit to one point at 56-55.
With the Idaho lead at four points, 64-61, Geiger put a lid on the game with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, the first coming as the shot clock wound down and the second a quick strike from the left corner that gave the Vandals a 71-63 lead with 1:58 to go.
"I really just got into a rhythm a little bit and I kind of felt that one and I just kind of let it go," Geiger said of his final shot. "It was probably a little early (in the shot clock), but good thing I made it."
Shamburger was issued a flagrant 2 foul and ejected at the 1:02 mark after hitting Bandoumel with an elbow following a rebound. Bandoumel made one to tie Idaho's largest lead of the night at 73-63.
The Vandals carry momentum into Saturday's doubleheader against Hawai`i, which comes into the contest at 11-9 overall and 3-3 in WAC play. The Warriors beat New Mexico State last Saturday, 91-87, and fell on Thursday at Utah State, 77-72.
Saturday's game follows the women, which tip off at 5:30 p.m. (PT) against Utah State. The men's game will be broadcast on ESPN Regional and is scheduled to start at 8:05 p.m.
