The University of Idaho Argonaut

The University of Idaho men’s basketball team (6-19) remains empty handed on the road after a 69-55 loss to UC Irvine in the O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters basketball extravaganza Saturday.

Idaho has not emerged victorious in any of their 13 road games this season.
In the midst of Idaho’s 39 percent shooting average, Michael Crowell shined with a career high 21 points. Crowell sank 6-11 from the field, five of which came from beyond the arc and 4-5 from the free-throw line.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, other than Crowell, and we didn’t get a lot of scoring inside,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said.
Jordan Brooks contributed to Idaho’s play by earning a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Brooks, who sustained a minor shoulder injury in his 25-point performance last Thursday, looked to be back in full force.

Excluding Crowell and Brooks, the rest of the Vandals hit just nine field goals and three free-throws.
Idaho also gave up 21 turnovers that resulted in 16 points for UC Irvine.
Though Idaho’s shooting left something to be desired, Pfeifer was not completely disappointed in the team. 

“UC Irvine makes a mess out of a lot of team’s offenses,” Pfeifer said. “Defensively, we worked our tails off. We really bore down and got into people.”
The Vandals limited the Anteaters to 47 percent from the field.

The early part of the game was close, including four ties and four lead changes. With Idaho leading 17-15 and 6:11 minutes left on the clock, UC Irvine employed a 13-3 run to end the first half at 28-20. Idaho never fully recovered from the deficit, closing it only as far as six points in the second half.

The last time Idaho and UC Irvine met was in the 2004-05 season when both teams were members of the Big West Conference. UC Irvine is still a member of the Big West. Idaho lost both match-ups that season 70-71, and 68-80.
Idaho hopes to curb this season’s road woes as it moves into next week’s rough schedule and its final two away games.

On Thursday, the Vandals fly to Hawaii to take on the Rainbow Warriors (11-3, 7-4). The game will begin at 9 p.m.
The Vandals last met Hawai’i on Jan. 26 in Cowan Spectrum, a game that ended in a 58-53 defeat for Idaho. Idaho will look to overcome the lethargy that Pfeifer said led to the team’s previous loss to Hawai’i.

From Oahu, the Vandals will travel to San Jose, Calif. for a game with the San Jose State Spartans (12-13, 4-8). San Jose State became one of the few teams Idaho has dominated this season on Jan. 24 when the Vandals took them down 74-63 in Cowan Spectrum.