RENO, Nev. – The Idaho offense got hot and the defense made enough plays to give the University of Idaho men's basketball a marquee road win on Saturday at Western Athletic Conference-leading Nevada, 72-68.
The Vandals denied the Wolf Pack an opportunity to set a school-record for consecutive wins and handed Nevada (19-4, 8-1 WAC) its first loss since Nov. 25, 2011, against BYU. The Vandals move to 12-11 overall and 5-4 in conference play with the win, and they claim their third win in four regular-season tries at Lawlor Events Center under head coach Don Verlin.
"I thought we had a lot of guys step up and play very, very well and play very hard," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said after the game.
Idaho was dreadful offensively in Thursday's 65-55 loss at Fresno State, but that was certainly not the case on Saturday as the Vandals shot 52.2 percent from the floor and went 10-of-22 (.455) from 3-point range in the game.
The Wolf Pack entered the game right behind Idaho for second in the WAC in 3-point shooting, but the Vandal defense limited Nevada to just six makes in 24 tries for a 25-percent clip.
Idaho trailed 35-31 at the half and allowed Nevada to make 48.1 percent of its shots in the first half, but the Vandals reversed roles in the second and held the Pack to 37.9 percent shooting, while hitting 60 percent of their own attempts.
The best part about the win is that there's no single Idaho player to credit. It could have been sophomore Stephen Madison hitting seven of 10 shots overall and four out of five 3-pointers for 18 points, or maybe freshman Connor Hill, who went 3-for-5 from long range and scored 11 points off the bench.
"Connor Hill came off the bench and gave us a lift when we needed it, then Deremy Geiger knocked down some huge shots and Stephen Madison probably played his best game of the last five or six games," Verlin said.
Senior guard Landon Tatum played tough defense all night long on Nevada star Deonte Burton and filled the stat sheet on the other end with nine assists, six points, five rebounds and one steal. Junior center Kyle Barone scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and nabbed two steals.
Barone added the highlight of the night at the most crucial moment. He was fouled on a drive with 38 seconds remaining in the game and flipped up a prayer of a lob shot that took one high bounce off the side of the rim and popped in for a three-point play, which he converted to put Idaho up, 67-63.
"We had a number of guys step up and make big plays, but none bigger than Kyle Barone's last play that he throws to the rafters and somehow finds a way to fall through the net," Verlin said.
After a miss on Nevada's ensuing possession, Barone drained two more free throws to extend Idaho's lead to six, 69-63. An wild 3-point bank shot by Burton on the next trip down pulled the Wolf Pack back within three at 69-66, but Idaho made three of its final four free throws and the Pack didn't score again until the final seconds.
Geiger went 5-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-8 from 3-point range to finish with 16 points, along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. His two free throws with seven seconds left sealed the game for Idaho.
Nevada out-rebounded Idaho, 38-26, and outscored Idaho in the paint (32-22), off turnovers (15-10) on the fast break (8-2) and on second-chance points (12-3). The Wolf Pack made just 14 of their 25 free throws for a 56.0 percent clip, though. Idaho also added 14 made free throws on 20 attempts.
The Vandals moved to 8-0 this season when shooting at least 50 percent from the field. The Vandals are now 36-5 under Verlin when hitting that standard. The team has won 10 games in a row when shooting 50 percent or better, dating back to last season.
While the offense was sizzling, the defense was efficient as well. Burton got 18 points, but went 5-of-12 from the field and 2-of-6 on 3-pointers. Guard Malik Story, who entered the game leading the WAC with a 47.4 average from 3-point range, was held to just 2-of-8 shooting from distance.
"We did a great job on the defensive end of changing their tempo," Verlin said. "We were able to slow the game down and make it an executional game. We put in a few new looks in practice yesterday and executed them very well, and I think it really got Nevada off their game."
Jerry Evans, Jr. scored 14 points, while forward Olek Czyz added 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting, along with nine rebounds. Story finished the game with just eight points and the rest of the Wolf Pack squad combined for just 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting.
The win gives Idaho a weekend road split and gives the team positive momentum coming into a challenging four-game home stretch. The Vandals will play three games this week at the Cowan Spectrum, starting Tuesday with Seattle U at 7:05 p.m.
Idaho hosts WAC opponents New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech in doubleheaders on Thursday and Saturday, with 8:30 p.m. (PT) tips in each. On the following Saturday, Feb. 18, Idaho plays its final home game of the season in its Sears BracketBuster meeting with Portland State at 7:05 p.m. (PT).
"The bottom line is we played very, very well, we executed our game plan and the shots went in," Verlin said. "Hopefully we can continue that. We've got three big games at home this week."
