Revenge is a dish best served cold.
The Vandals did just that on a snowy Wednesday night in Moscow, taking down California-State Bakersfield 67-63 to avenge a previous November loss to the Roadrunners.
“One of the things we talked about all week was how Bakersfield doesn’t know how good we are or how tough we are,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “And I thought our guys did a good job of really standing their ground in the paint.”
Junior guard Perrion Callandret provided an early spark for the Vandals offense with eight points in the first half. Senior guard Chris Sarbaugh also supplied a strong presence for the Vandals by setting a new career-high with 15 points.
“Everybody was just unselfish tonight,” Sarbaugh said. “Honestly that was a big key.”
Idaho (5-3) went on an early 9-0 run to earn a 17-10 lead in the first half, holding the Roadrunners scoreless for almost four minutes of play.
Cal State-Bakersfield (3-3) struggled to convert scoring opportunities in the first half. The Roadrunners went 1-11 from the field during a six-minute period late in the first half.
Cal State-Bakersfield eventually mustered a strong defensive presence, forcing four Idaho turnovers in the final minutes of the half. The Vandals shot 2-12 during this span and entered the second half with a one-point lead.
Senior center Aly Ahmed carried the Roadrunner offense early in the matchup by scoring seven points and providing a dominating presence in the paint.
“(Ahmed) is a great player,” Verlin said. “He’s big and Arkadiy battled him. But Mkrtychyan’s energy and intensity was good all night long, even though he came off a severe knee injury.”
The Roadrunners seemed to gain control of the game when sophomore guard Brent Wrapp went on a 7-0 run for Cal State-Bakersfield to open the second half. Teammate Damiyne Durham continued the offensive push for the Roadrunners by draining 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions.
But the Vandals responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Chad Sherwood and Callandret to regain a 47-46 lead with eight minutes left in the game.
A cold shooting streak slowed Cal State-Bakersfield down the stretch, and 17 second-half points from Callandret propelled the Vandals to the win, despite a late offensive attack from the Roadrunners.
Callandret went 12 of 12 from the free-throw line, converting several key free throws late in the game to stifle a comeback attempt by the Roadrunners.
“This whole week Coach (Verlin) has been having us shoot free throws because last game that kind of hurt us a little bit,” Callandret said. “I just went out there and concentrated and tried to knock them down, and luckily I did.”
With the win, the Vandals snapped a two-game losing streak.
“I liked our mental focus tonight,” Verlin said. “My guys didn’t waver at all. I mean, a number of times Bakersfield had to really work to get a basket.”
Idaho will now prepare for its next home matchup against Little Rock at 5 p.m. Saturday. The meeting between the two teams will mark the first time this season that the Vandals will host a game at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow.
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom