Kyle Barone has become quite familiar with the term “double-double” during his collegiate career and it didn’t take much for Idaho’s junior center to acquire his eighth of the season Saturday, while assisting the Vandals to a 74-63 win over visiting La. Tech.
A pesky but athletic Bulldog team swarmed the Vandals with a nonstop full-court press but Idaho maintained its composure and sole possession of third place in the WAC standings with its season-best fourth consecutive victory.
Barone’s size advantage made him a major player, but the Garden Grove, Calif., native also impressed with much-needed ball-handling skills when he became Idaho’s only outlet.
“They’re quick. They put a lot of pressure on the basketball and do a lot of good things,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We adjusted a little bit as the game went on. I thought we did a good job late in the game breaking the press. We got some easy baskets but we also turned it over and gave them some easy baskets and I thought that was the difference in the second half.”
Idaho’s first-half tempo seemed convincing, especially when the Vandals’ 7-0 run helped them to an early eight-point lead. Barone dominated inside the paint and by halftime he tallied nine rebounds and 11 points — one board short of a double-double.
However, the mismatch Michael White’s team had down low didn’t faze the Bulldogs or prevent them from putting together a second half comeback. Their full-court press became increasingly effective against a flustered Vandal team that turned the ball over 10 times in the second half.
“In the second half they stuck with their man-to-man kind of press with being up on the ball kind of taking out and making it tougher to get the ball in. I think Landon and the guards did a good job taking care of the ball there at the end,” Barone said.
After taking a seven-point lead into halftime, Idaho committed six turnovers in the first six minutes of the second half, allowing the Bulldogs to storm back to their first lead since Brandon Gibson turned in the game’s first points.
Nevertheless, Idaho benefited from the Bulldogs’ physical play, which sent the Vandals to the free-throw line 27 times. A team that shot 50 percent from the charity stripe against Seattle and New Mexico State, went 74 percent Saturday.
In addition, four of Idaho’s five 3-point shots came in the second half. Senior point guard Landon Tatum, who only had 10 3-point makes on the season, accounted for three of the Vandals’ five Saturday.
“I was able to hit a couple more shots this game, a lot of my teammates found me open for the three ball and I was able to knock it down so that probably helped out the most,” Tatum said.
Idaho eventually broke out of the full-court trap, while continually increasing their lead, which reached a game-high 12 points with 1:11 remaining.
Though the Vandal players drew the majority of the game’s fouls down the stretch, Verlin and Learfield Sports play-by-play radio announcer Evan Ellis drew a Gibson charge late in the second. The junior toppled over the press table, sending Ellis and his broadcasting equipment to the floor.
Tatum’s 14 points tied Barone and Deremy Geiger for a team-high, and marked the first time he scored more than 10 points in a game since the teams’ Jan. 12 match-up in Ruston. The senior averages just 6.8 points-per-game this season and not more than 4.5 in his previous four appearances.
Barone’s 15-rebound showing tied his career-high, which was also set last month in Ruston. His 13 defensive rebounds are also a career-high. The junior’s all-around performance rounded out with three blocks.
The Vandals shot 24-44 and 54 percent from the field and are now 10-0 this season when shooting 50 percent or better. Idaho held La. Tech to 40 percent from the field and allowed the Bulldogs, who turned in thirteen 3-pointers during last month’s match-up, to convert just 6-23 and 26 percent of their shots from 3-point range.
The Vandal defense shut down La. Tech leading scorer Raheem Appleby, holding the freshman scoreless. It was the first time in the WAC this season Appleby hadn’t scored in a game and the first time he went scoreless playing more than three minutes in a game.
“I think last time we played them he was their second-leading scorer and our coaches were saying that he’d been on a tear and they were really trying to challenge the guards to get out to him, making shots tough,” Verlin said.
Both men’s and women’s games Saturday evening supported the Coaches vs. Cancer initiative, and were sponsored by Relay for Life.
After three games in five days the Vandals have a week to rest before hosting Portland State of the Big Sky for a Sears BracketBusters match-up at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in the Cowan Spectrum. Two former Vandals, Gary Winston and Renado Parker play for the Vikings (12-12, 6-6 Big Sky), who are led by senior Charles Odum averaging 18.6 points-per-game, good enough for No. 31 in the nation.,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We adjusted a little bit as the game went on. I thought we did a good job late in the game breaking the press. We got some easy baskets but we also turned it over and gave them some easy baskets and I thought that was the difference in the second half.”
Idaho’s first-half tempo seemed convincing, especially when the Vandals’ 7-0 run helped them to an early eight-point lead. Barone dominated inside the paint and by halftime he tallied nine rebounds and 11 points — one board short of a double-double.