Corner turned ... Gonzalez shines late as Vandals knock off regional rival Eagles
Photo by IDAHO ATHLETICS Jack Payne (7) of Idaho drives to the basket against Eastern Washington on Saturday at the ICCU Arena in Moscow.
From wire and news services and local reports
MOSCOW — “It’s time for this program to start turning the corner,” Idaho men’s basketball coach Alex Pribble said early in the week.
“If we can get a win against Eastern Washington at home, against a rival, in a great atmosphere, it shows we’re taking steps in the right direction.”
Kristian Gonzalez scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half, including a couple of clutch driving layups in the final minutes, as the Idaho Vandals knocked off the regional rival Eastern Washington Eagles 83-76 on Saturday afternoon in Big Sky Conference play before 2,485 at the ICCU Arena.
“This place was rocking tonight,” Pribble said after the game, on ESPN+. “This is what the Idaho Vandals deserve, this is what it should feel like. We’ve talked about taking this to the next step, it’s the fans and the energy level in the building that really helped us when the game got tight.”
Gonzalez went 8 of 14 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) for the Vandals (8-10, 3-2 Big Sky).
Julius Mims, the former North Idaho College standout, scored 14 points and added six rebounds, despite having to sit out the closing minutes due to leg cramps.
Jack Payne, the Colorado State transfer from Owyhee High in Meridian, added 13 points.
Kolton Mitchell, the redshirt freshman from Lake City High, scored all 11 of his points in the first half. He also finished with five rebounds and three assists.
“I think we have a lot of guys who believe in themselves, and have put in the work, and then they trust that work,” Pribble said.
Mitchell’s 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the first half gave Idaho its biggest lead at 38-24.
Eastern pecked away in the second half, getting as close as three points with just under 6 minuts left.
After the Eagles had pulled to within 5 with 1:34 left, Gonzalez answered with a driving layin with 1:07 remaining.
After EWU responded with a hoop, Gonzalez drove for a basket, got fouled and hit the free throw to make it 79-71 with 40.2 seconds left.
“Kris Gonzalez has been in these types of games, so he was able to step up and make big plays when we needed them,” Pribble said.
Mason Williams led the Eagles (6-12, 2-3) with 21 points. Andrew Cook added 18 points for Eastern Washington. Nic McClain also had 13 points, five assists and three steals before fouling out late.
“They were just more ready than we were,” Eastern coach Dan Monson said. “They played better than us in the first half, and we put ourselves into a hole. Offensively we didn’t have a pace to us and defensively we didn’t dictate the first half.”
On Monday, Eastern Washington travels to Montana State, and Idaho plays at Montana.
IDAHO 83, E. WASHINGTON 76
E. WASHINGTON (6-12)
Marquardt 3-9 5-7 11, Cook 7-14 4-5 18, Hartmann 3-5 0-0 7, McClain 4-6 4-5 13, Williams 6-13 6-6 21, Powell 2-8 1-3 6, Zanki 0-3 0-0 0, Stockton 0-1 0-0 0, Dziuba 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 20-26 76.
IDAHO (8-10)
Mims 7-9 0-0 14, Mrus 4-14 2-2 12, Gonzalez 8-14 1-1 20, Mitchell 5-10 0-0 11, Payne 4-9 4-4 13, Linhardt 1-4 6-6 9, Anderson 1-2 2-2 4, Hardy 0-0 0-0 0, Brickner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-62 15-15 83.
Halftime_Idaho 38-26. 3-Point Goals_E. Washington 6-21 (Williams 3-6, McClain 1-1, Hartmann 1-3, Powell 1-3, Cook 0-2, Marquardt 0-3, Zanki 0-3), Idaho 8-29 (Gonzalez 3-7, Mrus 2-9, Payne 1-3, Linhardt 1-4, Mitchell 1-5, Anderson 0-1). Fouled Out_McClain. Rebounds_E. Washington 28 (Hartmann, Powell 7), Idaho 32 (Mims, Mrus 6). Assists_E. Washington 9 (McClain 5), Idaho 17 (Payne 5). Total Fouls_E. Washington 16, Idaho 17. A_2,485 (4,200).