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Men's Basketball

Stinging loss

MOSCOW, Idaho – University of Idaho basketball has suffered some close losses this season, but Saturday's 76-70 conference home loss to Hawai`i bit the Vandals a little deeper.

Idaho slips to 11-10 overall and 4-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, while the Rainbow Warriors climbed to 12-9 and a matching 4-3 WAC tally. The Vandals had moved into a second-place tie after Thursday's victory over San Jose State.

“It's very frustrating right now,” said senior forward Djim Bandoumel, who had a career-high 24 points. “We were right there – just a couple missed baskets, missed executions.”

The game featured seven lead changes and seven ties, and neither lead spent much time beyond a single possession, but just a few mishaps in the game's closing minutes proved the difference between a huge conference win and a disappointing loss.

The Vandals trailed by two points, 67-65, after Bandoumel's big-time putback dunk off a missed Stephen Madison 3-pointer at the 2:29 mark of the second half, but the Warriors answered with a Joston Thomas three-point play to go up by five points, 70-65, with 1:37 to go.

On the ensuing possession, Bandoumel earned and converted a pair of free throws at the 1:14 mark to bring Idaho back within three points, then UH missed the front half of a one-and-one at the other end. Idaho senior Deremy Geiger's potential game-tying triple on Idaho's next possession rattled in and out and Hawai`i made its final six free throws to ice the game.

“I thought we got a good look and Kyle made a good screen, but it just didn't go down,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said of Geiger's attempt.

Idaho couldn't get the big shots it needed down the stretch, and it couldn't keep the Warriors from getting theirs. After a Kyle Barone putback gave Idaho a 60-59 lead at the 8:38 mark, UH's Zane Johnson came right back and hit a 3-pointer to re-take the lead.

Vandal sophomore Stephen Madison's dunk down the lane pulled Idaho within two, 65-63 at 4:26, but Vander Joaquim scored inside on the next possession to build the lead right back.

“We couldn't get the stops,” Verlin said. “I thought we played well enough offensively. I thought we got a number of good looks. The bottom line is right now, we're not defending it well enough in conference play.”

With Barone suffering through foul trouble in the first half, Bandoumel picked up his game to the tune of a career-high 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while Madison pitched in 15 points, three assists and two steals. Senior guard Landon Tatum went 3-of-6 from the field, hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points with four assists. Barone finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

“Djim has played very well the last two games,” Verlin said. “He did a good job picking up the slack when Kyle was in foul trouble. Both those guys are pretty effective down low and hopefully he can continue to build on those kinds of performances.”

Joaquim led Hawai`i with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, along with nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Johnson and Thomas put in 16 points apiece, while Thomas added nine boards and four assists. Hauns Brereton went 3-of-6 from 3-point range and scored 15 points for the Warriors.

As a team, Idaho shot 48.3 percent overall from the field, but just 31.3 percent from long range. The Vandals shot 81.8 percent from the free throw line, but only earned 11 trips. Hawai`i shot 56.3 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3-point range and 16-of-25 (.640) from the free throw line.

The Warriors held a 32-25 rebounding edge, but the Vandals outscored them 9-7 on the second chance. Both teams scored 34 points in the paint. Idaho held an overwhelming 21-9 advantage in points off turnovers. Fast break points were 3-0 in Idaho's favor, as were bench points at 8-6. Idaho led at the half, 36-35.

“You've got to figure out a way to get the stops defensively,” Verlin said. “It seemed like in the second half defensively, when we stopped them, they got it back. They got some big offensive rebounds.”

Idaho will hit the road next week to play at Fresno State (9-14, 1-6 WAC) and Nevada (18-3, 7-0 WAC) on Friday, Feb. 2, and Saturday, Feb. 4, respectively. The Vandals beat Fresno State, 63-59, and lost to Nevada, 73-55, earlier this year at the Cowan Spectrum.
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