Unbelievable ending

DAYTON, Ohio – In a game that featured two buzzer-beaters, Idaho men's basketball suffered a gut-wrenching, 80-78 defeat in overtime at the hands of Wright State on Tuesday at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.

Senior guard Landon Tatum looked like the hero for the Vandals after banking in a halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of regulation to force extra time, then finding Daz Starke for a wide-open layup that gave Idaho a one-point lead with four seconds to go, but WSU's Julius Mays hit a runner as time expired for the win.

The loss ends Idaho's three-game winning streak, knocks the Vandals down to 7-5 and leaves the team lamenting a handful of missed opportunities in what could have been a big road win. The Vandals missed 12 free throws and turned the ball over 16 times.

“It sure would have been nice to get out of here with a win,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said after the game. “We just didn't make the free throws we needed to make to win the game.”

Junior Kyle Barone posted a season-high 21 points and a career-best 14 rebounds, blocked three shots and hit seven of his 11 attempts from the field, but also turned it over a career-high seven times. Tatum scored nine points and tied his career high with eight assists, while Starke came off the bench and added a career-high 11 points and six rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting.

Mays led all scorers with 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting, and also added five rebounds and four assists, while guard Reggie Arceneaux dropped in 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting to lead the Raiders (5-8). As a team, WSU shot 45.5 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from the 3-point line and 72.2 percent from the free throw line.

Idaho went 26-54 (.481) from the floor and 8-of-18 (.444) from 3-point range, but hit just 18 of the team's 30 free throw attempts. The Vandals held a 43-30 rebounding advantage, but they were still hurt by WSU's offensive rebounding. The Raiders earned 16 second-chance points on 10 offensive rebounds, while the Vandals grabbed 12 O-boards and turned them into just nine extra points.

The Vandals' 16 turnovers resulted in 16 points for Wright State, while Idaho turned nine WSU turnovers into 15 points of its own.

The game was very close from start to finish. In total, there were 16 lead changes and nine ties, and while Idaho held the game's largest lead at seven points early in the second half the leads extended above five points only five times all game.

Idaho held a four-point lead at 62-58 with 3:34 left in regulation, but turned it over three times and missed three field goals over the ensuing 3:26, as Wright State tied the game, then opened up a four-point lead on a 9-1 run to put the Vandals in desperation mode.

“You've always got those woulda, coulda, shouldas, but you've got to find a way to get these things done,” Verlin said. “We're battling and getting better, but when we get in these close games, we have to find a way to finish them.”

A Matt Borton corner 3-pointer with four seconds left brought the Vandals within one point, then after a pair of Mays free throws with 1.1 seconds to go, Tatum took the inbound pass, turned, heaved a shot from a few feet in front of halfcourt just as time expired and banked it in for the tie.

Idaho will stay in Horizon League country for its next outing on Thursday, when the Vandals face a Wisconsin Green Bay team that is 5-6 overall and undefeated on its home floor this season.

“We've got another tough game on Thursday against another Horizon League team,” Verlin said. “Hopefully this trip makes us better. It would have been a nice Christmas present (to win on Tuesday), but now we've got to earn our Christmas present on Thursday at Green Bay.”

Thursday's game tips off at 5 p.m. (PDT) at Green Bay. The game will be broadcast on the Vandal Radio Network, while free live video is available online through the Horizon League Network.

Print Friendly Version