Vandals catch fire, but still get burned by Broncos

MOSCOW, Idaho – The search goes on for the University of Idaho men’s basketball team:

For their first Western Athletic Conference victory; for Leonard Perry’s first coaching win against Boise State; and for their defense, which lost track of Boise State throughout an 82-68 setback Saturday afternoon in front of 2,716 at the Cowan Spectrum.

After a sleepy first half, Idaho made it interesting with a sizzling second half, including five Brett Ledbetter 3-pointers in less than 3 minutes. The Vandals cut a 20-point deficit to four, and then staged another rally later to trim an 18-point margin to six.

Each time, BSU answered, often from long distance to earn its first WAC road win in four tries. The Broncos shot 57.1 percent, including 12 of 24 on 3-pointers. Senior wing Coby Karl poured in 25 points. He made 6 of 8 3-pointers, several of which were launched from the 24- to 27-foot range.

“(Eric) Lane hit some shots, but Karl hit some tough ones,” said Perry, who dropped to 0-9 against the Broncos in his five years. “One of those in the first half, the clock is running down and he shoots a contested – almost fouled – shot that had to be close to the hash mark and just swishes it.

“Same thing in the second half in the middle of a run, (Karl makes) a deep, deep, deep shot. That’s what really good players do.”

Idaho (3-14, 0-6 WAC) has lost eight straight, four of those WAC home games. The Vandals’ upcoming schedule is daunting with their four remaining WAC home games against opponents in the upper half of the conference.

BSU (10-9, 3-5) was playing its third game in six days, but had no problem dialing up its offense. The first indication of trouble for Idaho’s defense came on BSU’s opening possession. The Broncos brought the ball down and threw one pass to Karl, who buried a 3-pointer over Idaho’s zone.

“He hit a couple of deep ones, but he’s done a better job of not shooting as many of those as he did in the past,” Broncos coach Greg Graham said. “I was trying to rest him, but I hate to run him in and out because then he gets out of rhythm. If they wouldn’t have gone in, I would have probably been mad. But they went in, so I can live with it.”

The Broncos stretched their lead to 26-9 on Lane’s 3-pointer. Idaho, stuck on nine points for nearly 5 minutes, finally got a three-point play from Tanoris Shepard, but still trailed 35-20 at half.

“The start of the game cost us because I thought we competed as hard as we’ve competed all year (in the second half),” Perry said.

The second half looked nothing like the first. Idaho put together its most productive half of the season with 48 points – just its third half with 40 or more points. The Vandals made nearly 70 percent of their shots to pull within 48-44 after Ledbetter’s fifth 3-pointer.

“Once you hit that first one, you start working yourself into a rhythm,” said Ledbetter, who finished with 17 points. “I’ve done that a couple of times in my career.”

After Ledbetter’s last 3, though, BSU zipped downcourt and former Community Colleges of Spokane guard Matt Bauscher hit a 3-pointer before Idaho’s defense was set. The Broncos did the same thing twice more in the next 6 minutes, getting an inside bucket from Kareem Lloyd and a 3-pointer from McNeal Thompson to quickly answer Idaho baskets.

“Those were big for us because it’s always tough playing here,” Thompson said. “The crowd gets into us, and even though it’s kind of small, it gets real loud. Once they got on their run, we hit some big shots and it motivated us to keep playing and get stops on defense.”

BSU devoted more attention to Ledbetter, whose next 3-point attempt was swatted by Lloyd and converted into a layup at the other end. But Idaho found other sources of offense as David Dubois made several jump hooks and Shepard scored from 3-point range and on runners in the lane.

Shepard, who finished with 23 points, hit a pull-up jumper to draw Idaho within 74-68 with 1:10 left. Thompson hit two free throws and Idaho turned the ball over with 51 seconds remaining. BSU ran off 20 seconds before Idaho could foul and Thompson hit 1 of 2 foul shots to seal it.

Idaho visits Fresno State on Monday and Hawaii on Thursday.

Boise St. 82, Idaho 68

Boise State (10-9, 3-5)—Lane 7-14 1-2 18, Robinson 1-1 0-0 2, Karl 8-14 3-4 25, Tiedeman 2-2 0-0 5, Banks 3-3 2-2 8, Thompson 2-3 5-6 10, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Lloyd 3-5 1-2 7, Bauscher 2-6 1-2 6, Cunningham 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 28-49 14-20 82.

Idaho (3-14, 0-6)—Watson 0-4 0-2 0, Shepard 9-15 2-2 23, Ledbetter 6-13 0-0 17, Dubois 7-9 0-3 14, Nwoke 1-5 2-2 4, Forge 1-6 0-0 3, Jakovljevic 2-4 1-3 5, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Vrzina 0-2 0-0 0, Kale 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 27-63 5-12 68.

Halftime—Boise State 35, Idaho 20. 3-point goals—Boise State 12-24 (Karl 6-8, Lane 3-8, Tiedman 1-1, Thompson 1-2, Bauscher 1-5), Idaho 9-27 (Ledbetter 5-11, Shepard 3-5, Forge 1-6, Jakovljevic 0-2, Watson 0-3). Fouled out—Ledbetter. Rebounds—Boise State 32 (Lloyd 8), Idaho 33 (Nwoke 8). Assists—Boise State 15 (Robinson, Karl 3), Idaho 14 (Jakovljevic 4). Total fouls—Boise State 16, Idaho 20. A—2,716.