Vandals suffer Rocky Mountain low

DENVER - When Kyle Barone doesn't score until late in the second half, it's a sure sign things aren't going well for the Idaho Vandals. This was exhibited Saturday as the Vandals suffered their worst loss of the season - a 74-58 defeat at the hands of the Denver Pioneers in Western Athletic Conference play.

The win was Denver's ninth straight at home.

Turnovers were the initial problem as the Vandals (9-14, 5-8) turned the ball over on four of their first six possessions and wound up with 12 for the first half and 16 for the game. Denver (16-8, 10-2) used those bobbles to its advantage by shooting out to a 10-2 early lead, 36-14 halftime edge and second-half leads of as many as 30 points.

The biggest disappointment for coach Don Verlin was the Vandals' uninspired play.

"We didn't compete like we needed to against a good Denver ballclub," Verlin said.

“That was the thing that was most frustrating about it. For whatever reason, we didn’t compete like we needed to. No question about it. It’s very frustrating at this time of year.”

No one was exempt.

“It wasn’t one guy,” he added. “It was a team effort.”

Jalen Love set the tone early for Denver by staking the Pioneers to a 10-2 lead by scoring all of their first 10 points and 13 of their first 15. Love finished with a game-high 22 points.

It was a turnover flurry by the Vandals sandwiched around a Wendell Faines jumper and two Barone free throws. Adding to those woes, the Vandals recorded just 14 first-half field goal attempts.

Barone had a difficult time against the steadfast Denver defense. He managed just the two free throws in the first half and had but one field goal attempt — at the 5:06 mark of the opening period. It didn’t get any easier in the second. He did add four free throws for a perfect 6 for 6 on the night from the line but again he had just one shot — a jumper he made with 5:55 to play.

Mike McChristian and Stephen Madison matched 14-point nights, with Habeeb Mansa adding nine and Barone finishing with eight. The Vandals did have the edge on the boards with Madison’s six helping Idaho to a 27-25 advantage.

Idaho plays at Texas-Arlington on Thursday.

IDAHO (9-14)

Faines 1-2 0-0 2, Barone 1-2 6-6 8, Habeeb 4-5 0-0 9, C. Hill 1-5 0-0 3, McChristian 6-13 0-0 14, Harris Jr. 0-3 0-2 0, Douglas 2-3 0-0 4, W. Hill 1-2 0-0 2, Borton 0-2 0-0 0, Madison 6-9 1-3 14, Kammerer 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 23-48 7-11 58.

DENVER (15-8)

O’Neale 5-8 1-1 12, Udofia 5-8 3-4 13, Love 9-10 0-0 22, Olson 4-9 0-0 11, Hallam 2-6 2-2 7, Foeman 2-3 0-1 4, Rucker 0-0 0-0 0, Samac 0-0 0-0 0, Logan 0-0 0-0 0, Griffin 1-3 1-2 3, Engesser 0-2 0-0 0, Byrd 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-51 7-10 74.

Halftime_Denver 36-14. 3-Point Goals_Idaho 5-12 (McChristian 2-5, Madison 1-1, Habeeb 1-1, C. Hill 1-3, Harris Jr. 0-1, W. Hill 0-1), Denver 9-23 (Love 4-5, Olson 3-8, Hallam 1-2, O’Neale 1-3, Udofia 0-1, Foeman 0-1, Byrd 0-1, Engesser 0-2). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Idaho 27 (Madison 6), Denver 25 (O’Neale 6). Assists_Idaho 8 (Madison 2), Denver 21 (Hallam, Olson 5). Total Fouls_Idaho 12, Denver 12. A_5,257.