The Vandals entered New Year’s Eve looking to kick off conference play with a bang.
In a nail-biting contest that went down to the end, the Vandals defeated North Dakota 74-71 in Idaho’s first trip to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
The victory marks Idaho’s fourth straight win, the longest streak for Idaho since the 2013-14 season. The win also improves Idaho’s record to 9-5.
Idaho head coach Don Verlin said that the win was a good start to kick off conference play.
“It was a good win and (we) found a way to fight through adversity,” Verlin said. “Our guys stayed in it and our team was a really good team. They were cheering and excited for each other.”
Thursday’s game wasn’t easy for sophomore guard Victor Sanders, who was charged with four fouls. As a result, Verlin sat out Idaho’s top-scorer for most of the game, as Sanders went 0-3 from the field.
Verlin substituted freshman forward Nick Blair in place of Sanders, who provided an immediate spark for Idaho, scoring five points off the bench to lead Idaho to a 10-0 run.
Verlin said the players who came off the bench made a difference in Idaho’s win.
“When our team was struggling a little bit, Nick came off,” Verlin said. “He came off and made a three, made a nice pass and got a big time offensive rebound and gave us a big lift.”
Blair also collected two rebounds and added an assist as junior forward Ty Egbert caught a pass from Blair and slammed it down in commanding fashion.
Egbert led Idaho in rebounds with eight.
“Ty did a really nice job on North Dakota’s big boy Shanks,” Verlin said. “We didn’t have to double as much and thought he stayed in between the basketball all game long. He was big inside and posing his will and really liked how he played.”
Sanders’s night didn’t end on a low note however, as he returned in the closing minutes of the game to add a crucial three-pointer for Idaho. Sanders’s only points from the field gave Idaho a 60-57 lead with five minutes remaining.
Later in the game, Sanders successfully made two free throws to again extend Idaho’s lead, as the Fighting Hawks were unable to close the gap.
Verlin said that guards Chris Sarbaugh and Perrion Callandret did a great job in keeping Sanders focused. Callandret led Idaho with 21 points.
Sophomore guard Chad Sherwood provided 16 points, three assists and made all five of his free throws. Sherwood’s 16 points was a career-high against Division I opponents.
Idaho successfully converted 75 percent (18-24) of their free throws.
Verlin said he was proud of Sherwood’s aggressive style of play when he came off the bench.
Fighting Hawks guard Quinton Hooker led North Dakota in the second half with 26 points, after scoring just two points in the first twenty minutes of play.
“We gave him way too many easy and open looks,” Verlin said. “We gave him way too higher percentage. This team is built on is defensive rebounding and we rebounded the ball well. But they outscored us by three and that’s a recipe to get beat on the road.
“We did good in the first half but we got to do a lot better job in the second half,” Verlin said.
The Vandals will look to extend their win streak to five on Saturday at 1 p.m. on the road against Northern Colorado at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado.
Verlin said the team must guard the ball and play better on the road.
“We didn’t do quite a good job on guarding the ball, sealing the gaps and contesting shots Thursday,” Verlin said. “This team has chance to play right at the top of the Big Sky Conference. But we got to figure out how we’re going to do it and you got to do it on the road.
“That’s how you win a conference championship is on the road and we got to be a little better on the things we do Saturday,” Verlin said.
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @TheLTFiles