Vandals breeze past CS Bakersfield
MOSCOW - After a back-and-forth first half, the Idaho men's basketball team exploded to start the second and left CS Bakersfield behind in a 72-44 victory on Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.
The Vandals (7-4) led by five points at the break, but scored 12 unanswered points and raced out to a 20-1 run at the beginning of the second half to crack the game wide open. CS Bakersfield (5-5) shot just 21.9 percent in the second half and missed all nine of its 3-point attempts after the break.
"I thought that first eight to ten minutes in the second half we played very well," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said after the game. "I thought we did a very, very good job contesting shots and they were only getting one shot in the second half. I was most pleased with our defensive effort tonight."
The win is Idaho's third in a row, and it's also the team's third-straight game shooting at least 50 percent from the field. The Vandals connected on 28 of their 49 attempts for a 57.1 percentage.
Junior center Kyle Barone led all players with 13 points and nine rebounds, while senior guard Landon Tatum added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, which included converting a pair of three-point plays. He also had four rebounds and three assists.
"We came out that first eight to ten minutes (of the second half) and I thought we did a great job defensively, contested shots," Verlin said. "I thought Kyle and Stephen did a good job rebounding the ball and that ignited our break and we were able to get a little bit of a lead."
Former Post Falls High standout Connor Hill scored six points for Idaho, which plays at Wright State on Tuesday.
CS BAKERSFIELD (5-5)
White 2-9 0-0 5, Grayson 1-7 0-0 2, Johnson 2-9 0-0 5, Savage 2-7 0-0 4, Carter 2-9 1-2 5, Pearson 0-0 0-0 0, Matip 1-4 1-1 3, Hughley 0-3 1-2 1, Young 1-4 0-0 2, Hayes 3-7 1-3 7, Jackson 4-7 2-2 10. Totals 18-66 6-10 44.
IDAHO (7-4)
Tatum 5-7 2-3 12, Bandoumel 3-6 0-0 6, Barone 4-6 5-7 13, Madison 4-8 1-2 9, Geiger 3-7 1-3 9, Starke 0-1 1-2 1, Habeeb 1-2 0-0 2, Shayne 0-0 0-0 0, Hill 2-5 0-0 6, McChristian 1-2 0-0 2, Borton 3-3 0-1 8, Kammerer 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 28-49 10-18 72.
Halftime_Idaho 31-26. 3-Point Goals_CS Bakersfield 2-18 (Johnson 1-2, White 1-7, Carter 0-1, Young 0-1, Matip 0-2, Hayes 0-2, Grayson 0-3), Idaho 6-17 (Borton 2-2, Geiger 2-5, Hill 2-5, McChristian 0-1, Madison 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_CS Bakersfield 38 (Savage 8), Idaho 42 (Barone 9). Assists_CS Bakersfield 5 (Grayson 5), Idaho 13 (Madison 5). Total Fouls_CS Bakersfield 15, Idaho 11. A_815.