The Idaho Vandals played their second game of the Holiday Hoops Classic over Thanksgiving Break against Sam Houston State. After their first game against California State University, Northridge and a win over them, the Vandals struggled against the Bearkats and lost 94-68.
The Vandals, in the first half, held up very well and had the lead going into halftime, 40-37. They out-rebounded the Bearkats 17-13, and Jack Payne had 12 points on 4-7 field goal efficiency going into the half. Vandals were shooting around 50 percent and although they were 8-23 from the three-point line, it still carried them to a strong 40-32 lead before Sam Houston State closed the gap, and the halftime score was 40-37, Vandals.
The first half showed that Idaho could hold their composure and keep up with Sam Houston State, and they had a strong offense going with a contribution from a lot of players.
The second half was not pretty for the Vandals as they fell apart and allowed Sam Houston State to score 57 points in the second half. That is the largest that Idaho has let the opposing offense score in the second half all season. The Bearkats came out explosive in the second half and couldn’t miss a shot. They hit 10 three-pointers and had a field goal percentage of 63%and 62% from the three.
Idaho struggled to make the plays they were executing in the first half of the game, and the back court was under high pressure. The Vandals were held to just 28 points, and they struggled to rebound. The Vandals only had nine second-chance points while the Bearkats had 16. Despite 15 lead changes and a very strong offensive performance for Idaho in the first 20 minutes, they could not stop the momentum that Sam Houston State had and lost the game 94-68.
The strong players in the game were Payne, freshman forward Jackson Rasmussen and senior forward Brody Rowbury, with each of them scoring over 10 points. They all scored most of their points to begin the game, and it was hard for Idaho to come back when their starting five could not put up many points in the second half.
Concluding the Holiday Hoops Classic, the Vandals are now 4-3 on the season and will go on to play in the Big Sky Summit Challenge against North Dakota and South Dakota State. The next game is in Moscow at the Idaho Central Credit Union Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 6 p.m.
Timmon Friel can be reached at [email protected].