Butler's shooting sinks Vandals
MOSCOW - Kevin Butler set career bests with 23 points and a 7-of-7 performance from 3-point range, helping Texas-Arlington hold off Idaho 71-68 on Thursday night for its third straight win.
Butler, a senior, was 8 of 8 overall. Brandon Edwards added 11 points for the Mavericks (13-9, 8-5 Western Athletic), who avenged a 77-64 loss to Idaho in Arlington on Jan. 19.
Stephen Madison scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, and Kyle Barone had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Vandals (9-15, 5-9), who lost their third in a row. It was Barone's sixth 20-10 game of the season.
"I thought we had great looks," Idaho coach Don Verlin said. "We had three or four layup opportunities we didn't convert and it wasn't from lack of effort or lack of execution, we just didn't get the job done."
Texas-Arlington led most of the game but saw Idaho tie it at 59 on Madison's 3-pointer with 8:49 left. After the Mavericks went back in front, Mansa Habeeb's layup with 22 seconds left pulled the Vandals within 69-68 before Edwards made two free throws with 6 seconds to play. Idaho's Mike McChristian then missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
"I thought we battled to get back in the game when they had a guy just going off in Butler tonight," Verlin said. "I thought we did everything we could do to win that basketball game against a good Arlington team in a huge game and we just don't finish the plays we needed to in the end."
Idaho hosts conference-leading Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (22-3, 13-0) are receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls.
TEXAS-ARLINGTON (13-9)
White-Miller 3-7 0-0 6, Butler 8-8 0-0 23, Catlett 1-8 2-2 4, Edwards 4-6 3-4 11, Reves 2-5 3-5 7, Outler 1-2 0-0 3, Charles 1-6 2-2 4, Gainey 4-6 0-0 8, Gruszecki 2-5 0-0 5, Rodgers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 10-13 71.
IDAHO (9-15)
Habeeb 3-7 5-6 11, C. Hill 2-9 0-0 6, McChristian 2-8 0-0 4, Barone 5-8 11-12 21, Madison 6-10 8-11 25, Douglas 0-2 1-2 1, Kammerer 0-0 0-0 0, Faines 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-44 25-31 68.
Halftime_Texas-Arlington 39-30. 3-Point Goals_Texas-Arlington 9-14 (Butler 7-7, Outler 1-2, Gruszecki 1-3, Charles 0-1, Edwards 0-1), Idaho 7-17 (Madison 5-5, C. Hill 2-6, Douglas 0-1, Habeeb 0-1, McChristian 0-4). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Texas-Arlington 27 (Edwards 7), Idaho 27 (Barone 10). Assists_Texas-Arlington 12 (White-Miller 5), Idaho 10 (McChristian 4). Total Fouls_Texas-Arlington 24, Idaho 15. A_883.