COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Vandals top Little Rock
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Victor Sanders finished with 20 points, including three free throws in the final seconds, to help Idaho beat Arkansas-Little Rock 65-57 on Friday night to snap the Trojans’ 18-game home winning streak.
The Vandals (2-1) were up 29-21 at the break and had to fend off a late Trojan charge. Little Rock closed to 58-55 with 1:21 left. Myles Franklin drove for a layup, Nate Sherwood made two free throws and Sanders hit three straight free throws in the final 37 seconds to seal it.
“First and foremost, I talked to them in the pregame about sticking to our bread-and-butter and our bread-and-butter is defense and rebounding,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “Tonight we were excellent defensively. When you hold a team like Little Rock to 31 percent from the field and 20 percent from 3, you just did a great job. Now, because of all the missed shots they really got us on the offensive boards, but I thought we did a great job of really defending their guys.”
Sanders shot 5 of 11 from the field and made three 3-pointers. Sherwood finished with 14 points, Arkadiy Mkrtychyan added 11 and former North Idaho College standout BJ Blake pulled down 12 rebounds for Idaho.
Marcus Johnson Jr. led Little Rock (2-1) with 23 points.
Idaho hosts South Dakota State on Monday night in Memorial Gym.
IDAHO (2-1)
Scott 0-2 0-0 0, N.Sherwood 4-4 5-6 14, Blake 3-8 0-0 7, Allen 1-3 0-0 3, Sanders 5-11 7-10 20, Egbert 1-4 0-0 2, Mkrtychyan 4-7 3-4 11, Franklin 1-2 2-3 4, Ingram 2-5 0-1 4, C.Sherwood 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 17-24 65.
UALR (2-1)
Hill 3-11 2-6 8, Shoshi 3-9 5-6 11, Johnson 7-16 7-8 23, Osse 3-12 0-1 9, Jackson 2-11 0-0 4, Black 0-0 0-0 0, Burns 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 1-2 0-1 2, Marcus 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-61 14-22 57.
Halftime—Idaho 29-21. 3-Point Goals—Idaho 6-15 (Sanders 3-5, N.Sherwood 1-1, Allen 1-3, Blake 1-3, Franklin 0-1, Mkrtychyan 0-1, C.Sherwood 0-1), UALR 5-25 (Osse 3-9, Johnson 2-9, Jones 0-1, Hill 0-2, Jackson 0-2, Shoshi 0-2). Fouled Out—N.Sherwood. Rebounds—Idaho 36 (Blake 12), UALR 39 (Shoshi 16). Assists—Idaho 15 (N.Sherwood, Sanders 4), UALR 11 (Johnson 3). Total Fouls—Idaho 21, UALR 17. A—2,630 (5,600).