Vandals win first conference road game this season
An unexpected hero rescued the Vandals in their 80-71 victory over Montana State Thursday night in Bozeman, Montana.
Nine points was all Jordan Scott had scored with the limited playing time he’s received this season. However, as the Vandals struggled against the last place Bobcats, Scott came off the bench and provided a much-needed spark.
The 6-foot-6 freshman from Colorado Springs was tied for the team lead in points with 13 and added three rebounds to cap off his night.
“God bless him, he’s been a great Vandal,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said of Scott. “He hasn’t gotten the minutes, but he comes and works hard everyday in practice and busts his tail. I have a saying to start the year, ‘Everybody is going to help us win a game this year,’ and tonight was Jordan’s night.”
Scott missed one shot all game, as he was 6-of-6 from the floor and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. Verlin said Scott was active and played well on the defense in the 25 minutes he played.
“I thought he gave us a big lift,” Verlin said. “I guess I got to have my head examined. I mean, shoot, if I knew he was going to play like that every night, I would have gotten his butt in there.”
The win was Idaho’s first road victory in Big Sky competition this season. The team will attempt to carry the momentum into Saturday’s game against Montana (11-10, 7-3).
With an overall record of 9-11 and 4-5 in conference play, the victory over Montana State provided a boost for a team on the cusp of not making the conference tournament.
“Yeah, it was a good conference road win,” Verlin said. “We gotta feel good about this one, gotta ride our momentum. I really believe this team is starting to get better.”
The Bobcats started the game on fire from behind the arc, as they made eight first-half 3-pointers and led 39-38 at halftime.
Montana State carried its momentum into the second half and started the half on a 10-0 run to take an 11-point lead.
Idaho, however, answered with a 12-1 run. Verlin said a combination of good defense and the right mix of players on the floor sparked the comeback.
“I had five guys out there that wanted to play hard — we just kept throwing combinations out there,” he said. “It was a great team win tonight. Things weren’t going perfect and we hadn’t played great.”
Montana State’s 3-point shooting cooled off in the second half as the team went 5-of-19 from behind the arc.
Verlin said the Vandals weren’t playing hard and fast enough in the first half, which was the reason why the Bobcats had so many open shots.
“Our number one key in this game was contesting their 3-point shooters,” Verlin said. “When they win at home, they make 3-point shots … We didn’t change anything that we’ve been doing scheme-wise, we just played harder and faster.”
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]