Men's Basketball 01/22/2012

Vandals rally for late win

MOSCOW, Idaho – University of Idaho men's basketball trailed for nearly the entire game, but the Vandals took the lead when it counted on a late 3-pointer by sophomore Stephen Madison to claim a 57-54 home win over Utah State on Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.

“It was a schoolyard brawl tonight,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said after the game. “We knew what they were doing, they knew what we were doing. There was a lot of strategy going on and we were just fortunate to win.”

Madison stubbed his toe in the first half and had been 2-of-9 from the field and 0-for-3 from long range, but when junior Kyle Barone found him alone in the corner with 26 seconds left and the Vandals trailing by one, Madison calmly stepped up and drained the triple to give the Vandals their first lead since 12-11 at the 13:52 mark of the first half.

“I jammed it pretty good and got it wrapped up at half time, so it was bothering me and the shot wasn't there, but the coaches had confidence,” Madison said. “The last one, I just caught it and shot it like normal.”

Idaho moves to 10-9 overall and 3-2 in Western Athletic Conference play, while Utah State slips to 10-10 and 2-3 in the WAC.

Senior forward Djim Bandoumel came off the bench and tied a career high with 16 points, 11 of which came after the break. He grabbed six rebounds – all in the second half and three of which were offensive. He had a pair of put-backs in the closing minutes the kept Idaho within striking distance.

“He's high-energy, he gets us going,” Madison said about Bandoumel. “He's got a big smile and it gets the team going, get us hyped up, and it helps a lot.”

Senior guard Landon Tatum made the key defensive play of the game for Idaho with 11.2 seconds remaining when he stepped in and drew a charge on a Brockeith Pane drive to give the Vandals possession with a two-point lead.

On the ensuing inbound play, junior guard Mansa Habeeb was fouled and he drained one of two with 9.6 seconds left to give Idaho the 3-point lead and force the Aggies into a rushed long-range attempt. When they missed, Bandoumel was there to clean up the board and clinch the win.

“I'll tell you this, we made some huge winning plays down the stretch,” Verlin said. “I thought our defense was stellar at the end of the game. Landon Tatum made a big steal and (drew a) huge charge and Stephen made a heck of a shot. He waited for the right time to make it and I couldn't be happier for our basketball team.”

As a team, Idaho went 20-of-49 (.408) from the floor and 4-of-13 (.308) from 3-point range. The Vandals hit 13 of their 20 free throw attempts for a .650 clip. Utah State shot 48.8 percent (21-43) overall, but was just 2-of-13 (.154) from 3-point range. The Aggies added a 10-of-14 (.714) free throw effort.

For the second game in a row, Idaho was opportunistic defensively. The Vandals converted 16 Aggie turnovers into 22 points and held a 6-2 edge on the fast break. Idaho's bench came through with 25 points to USU's seven.

“I thought if there was a stat that sticks out at the end of this game, it's that we won the turnover battle,” Verlin said. “We get them to turn over 16 times, and we only turn it over eight.”

Utah State outscored Idaho 22-14 in the paint in the first half, but the Vandals reversed that in the second period for a 16-6 edge down low.

Neither team had more than a single-possession lead until the 6:48 mark of the first half when the Aggies opened a 21-17 lead. They would extend to 29-21 at the 2:12 mark, but the Vandals scored a pair of buckets to go into the break trailing, 29-25.

Utah State scored the first two possessions of the second half and extended its lead to a game-high nine points at the 15:26 mark, 39-30. Idaho rattled off a 10-2 run over the next six minutes to pull within one at 41-40 with 9:31 left.

The Vandals never led the Aggies separate from that point on and tied the game up on three occasions before finally breaking through with a lead on Madison's late 3-pointer.

Verlin credited a loud, active student section and a crowd of 2,359 for impacting the game and drawing the team back when Utah State went on runs.

“I thought when we got down a couple times and when we made some runs, they got behind us and they spurred us with their energy,” Verlin said. “I thought that was huge, our student section is awesome.

“We need them every night out, we have two big home games next week and when they come, it makes a huge difference for us, no question about it. I couldn't be happier for them and I was glad we could repay them with the win.”

The Vandals host a pair of WAC games next week, starting with San Jose State on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. and Hawai`i on Saturday at 8:05 p.m. as the second half of a Vandal doubleheader. The women play Utah State at 5:30 p.m. that day. Both games will be played at the Cowan Spectrum.

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