By Korbin McDonald
Heartbreak is a tough thing to overcome, but the Vandals will have to do just that. In a back and forth affair with the rivals just west of the border, Washington State held on when the final buzzer sounded, with a 67-66 win over the Vandals.
In what has became a one sided rivalry over the years, with WSU winning the last 10 games, the Vandals enjoyed control for most of the night, even jumping out to a 10-point lead early in the second half.
Led by DaVonte Lacy, the Cougars surged back with a barrage of threes and found themselves with a one-point lead with seven seconds left in the game.
The Vandals would have the last shot. Head coach Don Verlin decided to put it in the hands of his senior leader and point guard, Glen Dean.
“My first instinct was to try to get all the way to the rim and draw a foul. I stumbled on my foot and didn’t feel like I had a shot,” Dean said. “I saw Connor (Hill) in the corner and tried to get the best pass off I could.”
Hill would get a clean shot off, but it would deflect off the rim, ultimately ending the game.
“It should of never came to that position,” Verlin said. “We did a terrible job of keeping them off the glass and that was our number one key to the game, we didn’t man up tonight.”
The Vandals would get out-rebounded 35-31 by the Cougars. Leading the way for WSU was senior forward, D.J. Shelton. He would end the night with a double-double, with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Playing in his last Battle of the Palouse, senior Stephen Madison led the Vandals with 16 points, showing a knack for getting to the line where he was 9-10.
Also playing some inspired basketball was Dean. Right from the start the senior from Seattle showed the intensity you would expect from a rivalry game.
“I knew the rivalry was big, but it didn’t really hit me until we started playing,” Dean said.
Dean would end the night end the night with 14 points.
Asked about any hangover from this game, coach Verlin said they cant have one, they’ve got to flush it down and let this one go.
Despite the loss, the Vandals played some good basketball, but the players don’t see it that way.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a moral victory, because we had them the whole time, and we want the win,” Madison said. “You can take the goods from it, but you also got to take the bad and work on it from there. It’s tough, especially with a close rivalry, we played so hard and had a good lead, we just didn’t come through in the end.”
In what has been somewhat of a rarity over the years, the Cowan Spectrum was packed full of Vandal fans. The building was electric and the players and coaches took notice.
“It was a great atmosphere in the dome tonight, I thought it was a really nice home court advantage for us,” Verlin said. “They don’t know how much that helps our team, the players are really disappointed because we don’t get a lot of big crowds here, so when we do get a big crowd you want to pay them for it. I sure hope the fans come out again, I think they’re going to like watching this team play.”
– The Vandals took 31 trips to the free throw line, 21 of them in the second half, hitting 26 of them. Connor Hill and Glen Dean combined for a perfect 12-12 from the line.
– This extends Idaho’s loss streak to WSU to 11
– Stephen Madison was once again Idaho’s leading scorer with 16
– Idaho’s turnover to assist ratio was a sore-to-the-eye 11-to-5.
– The Vandals have no time to dwell on the loss, they take a trip to defending Big Sky champion Montana on Wednesday.