Tag: basketball

  • Idaho vs. Washington State- Postgame press conference

  • Idaho vs. Eastern Washington postgame interview

  • LIVE BLOG: Idaho women’s basketball versus Washington

    Idaho women’s basketball versus Washington

  • Idaho vs Gonzaga postgame

  • Zags beat up on Idaho

     

    Photo courtesy of Zach Edwards/Argonaut

    Story by Kevin Bingaman/Argonaut

     

    Victory was never in question for Gonzaga as the Bulldogs rolled the Vandal women’s basketball team 91-42 Thursday night in Memorial Gym.

    The Vandals came into the game fresh off of a 30-point loss to North Dakota on Monday and things didn’t improve as it was another blowout. Idaho coach Jon Newlee said he hopes playing a tough team like Gonzaga was a learning experience for his players.

    “Our players can take away seeing what a top-20 team is like,” Newlee said. “Physically they really took us out of what we wanted to do. They did a great job defensively just taking us out of our spots.”

    Even before the game started things were not going Idaho’s way. Starters Krissy Karr and Ganeaya Rogers were both injured at North Dakota on Monday and were unable to play against the Zags. Newlee said their absence was a “killer” as his Vandals had to quickly adjust their roster, putting players in positions they don’t usually play. Senior Adrie Shields said it was a difficult transition.

    “I went from a forward to a guard in the space of a week. It was a lot different than I thought it would be,” Shields said. “…I forgot how hard it was to play that many minutes.”

    The Gonzaga defense was in Idaho’s face all night and the Vandals struggled to get any sort of offence going. The Zags started the game on a 13-4 run and took a commanding 48-22 lead into halftime. The Vandals did everything they could to hang with Gonzaga in the second half, but the Bulldogs proved to be too powerful and soared to the blowout victory.

    Freshman Stacey Barr was the lone offensive bright spot for Idaho as she led the team with 18 points and continues to be impressive. The Vandals shot only 28.6 percent for the game and turned the ball over a dismal 26 times. Shiels said it’s been a rough couple games but said the team’s learned some valuable lessons.

    “We’ve learned a lot in those two games and we’ve had a lot of leaps to take,” Shiels said. “…We’ll get there.”

    On the Gonzaga side, it was a special night for coach Kelly Graves as he notched his 300th career victory. Graves said it was a special moment, but he gave all the credit to the talented players he’s coached over the years. While it was a one-sided win, Graves said he was impressed with what the Vandal players showed on the court.

    “I want to give coach Newlee’s team a lot of credit, “Graves said. “They were obviously shorthanded. He’s one of my favorite coaches and he gets more out of his players than anybody.”

    The Vandals will look to snap their current two game losing streak when they travel to the University of Montana to take on the Grizzlies on Sunday. The Griz own a 35-7 overall series record on Idaho, but the Vandals won their lone meeting last season.

     

  • Idaho vs. Gonazaga- LIVEBLOG

    Click on this link to follow our live blog of tonight’s action between Gonzaga and Idaho.

    Idaho vs. Gonzaga

  • Idaho vs. Concordia- Postgame interviews

  • Early trouble

    Kevin Bingaman/Argonaut

    Three points was all that separated Idaho and Corban University in Saturday’s home opener as the Vandals took a hard fought 77-74 victory that raises some concerns about the rest of the season.

    The Vandals could never build a lead as the Warriors came back time and time again. Idaho turned the ball over 17 times against the NAIA foe. Idaho coach Jon Newlee said he was not happy with the team’s performance.

    “Pretty ugly game from our standpoint, but I’ve got to give Corban a lot of credit,” Newlee said. “They came in tonight and wanted to win. We didn’t come in focused and ready to play tonight.”

    Idaho hit only 36 percent of their shots in the game and only 27.5 percent in the first half. Free-throw shooting was also mediocre for the Vandals. They hit just 15 of 23 from the line. Newlee said he didn’t see the focus in his team.

    “That’s something we work on every day,” Newlee said. “Free-throw shooting takes focus and we didn’t have it tonight.”

    On the bright side of things for Idaho, freshman Krissy Karr and Stacey Barr continued to impress. Barr lead the team with 20 points while Karr had 23. Karr made one of the key plays in the game late in the fourth quarter. Idaho was up by only one with 39 seconds to go. She intercepted a Corban inbound pass that resulted in a Jessica Graham layup to put Idaho up by three late, which held up in the end. Karr said she feels she needs to be aggressive to prove she belongs as a starter.

    “I feel, honestly, that I need to prove myself to a lot of people right now,” Karr said. “Coach has definitely given me the confidence to know that I just need to play my game. It definitely helps knowing that he’s got my back.”

    The Vandals will have to catch their focus real quick as they have powerhouse Gonzaga coming to Memorial Gym next Thursday.

    Newlee said he wasn’t happy with his team’s performance, but hopes his players learn a lesson about focus.

    “You’ve got to play everybody that comes in to the gym and you’ve got to respect your opponent,” Newlee said. “I don’t feel like my team respected those guys tonight and we almost got it handed to us and it was almost a very harsh lesson to learn. As it is, I think we can learn from it in a positive way and figure out what we need to do every night and play hard and play more focused.”

     

  • Vandals come up short in Long Beach

    Theo Lawson/Argonaut

    The Vandal men’s basketball team held on for 36 minutes but the preseason Big West favorites Long Beach State had too much horsepower, slipping away late with a 69-61 win Saturday in the Walter Pyramid.

    Consecutive 49er turnovers immediately before halftime allowed the Vandals a 29-27 lead after but a second half that saw the lead change five times ended up in favor of the hosts — who pleased 4,348 fans on Homecoming.

    Down by seven points late in the first half, Idaho went on a 10-1 run to end the half. During the run, Long Beach State was 0-5 from the field but Idaho’s persistency ran out in the second half.

    “We played hard enough to win tonight,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. “I was very disappointed in our execution down the stretch. We just didn’t make the plays that we needed to down the stretch.”

    Idaho’s final lead came with 8:15 remaining in the second half, following a Stephen Madison three-pointer. The 49ers’ Eugene Phelps responded with a dunk and though the Vandals would tie it up once more, regaining the lead wasn’t in the forecast for Idaho.

    Junior center Kyle Barone tied it up at 53 a piece at the 7:34 mark but reigning Big West Player of the Year Casper Ware gave the 49ers a three-point lead and Mansa Habeeb’s jumper was blocked at the other end, which would lead to a breakaway and James Ennis dunk.

    “We’ve got to play that hard every night, but we’ve got to clear up some of those executional things, or it’s going to be a long year,” Verlin said.

    The Vandals were victim to 16 turnovers, 10 of those coming in the second half. Long Beach turned the ball over 10 times.

    Madison helped the Vandals to a 6-1 run, which closed the gap to two points, but Phelps turned in a jumper and Ware knocked down another from beyond the arc, giving Long Beach a decisive 66-59 lead.

    “We did a lot of good things, but our concentration on a few key items has to get better,” Verlin said. “I thought we did a lot of really good things, but I was disappointed that we didn’t execute with the game on the line.”

    Djim Bandoumel came off the bench to contribute 13 points and four rebounds while point guard Deremy Geiger added 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Barone led the Vandals in rebounds with nine, but finished with just 11 points and turned the ball over twice.

    Idaho had no answer for Ware, who went off for 20 points, four assists and three rebounds. 49er guard Larry Anderson followed with 16 points and seven assists, while forward T.J. Robinson was the game’s leading rebounder with 11.

    The Vandal bench, led by Bandoumel, contributed 22 points.

    “I thought they did a great job,” Verlin said. “Djim Bandoumel gave us a great lift – I thought he made a lot of big plays. Matt Borton came in in the second half and gave us a huge lift. He made a couple baskets and had a couple assists, and I thought he played very well.”

     

     

  • Highlights from Idaho’s 114-73 win over Willamette University

    The Vandals blew past Willamette Saturday night, putting up 114 points in a shootout victory. In case you missed the game, here are some highlights with a sports center-style commentary.

    [vimeo http://vimeo.com/31761561 w=338&h=256]

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