Story Published: Mar 5, 2010 at 7:28 AM PST
Story Updated: Mar 5, 2010 at 7:05 PM PST
The win moves Idaho to 14-15 overall and 5-10 in the Western Athletic Conference, but most importantly, it clinches a spot for Idaho in next week’s WAC Tournament. Only eight of the conference’s teams advance to the tournament. San Jose State slips to 14-14 and 6-9 in the WAC.
“That’s great. We live to play on,” Verlin said about clinching the spot. “I told our guys our March Madness has already started. We’ve got to do everything we can to beat Hawai`i on Saturday and get ready to go play next week, but first things first, let’s get ready to beat Hawai`i on Saturday.”
Idaho senior Kashif Watson’s 70-foot, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first half was the culmination of a first half that the Vandals thoroughly controlled. The play was selected by ESPN as the No. 2 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10.
“I really wasn’t thinking about shooting it, actually,” Watson said. “I got the rebound and didn’t even see the clock, so I looked and it started counting down, so I was like, ‘I might as well shoot it.’”
Watson went into the half with 10 points, five assists, and four rebounds, while fellow senior Marvin Jefferson had 10 points, two blocks, and four rebounds as the Vandals took a 45-27 lead into the break.
San Jose State came out with some fight in the second half, and the nation’s eighth-ranked 3-point shooting team woke up after hitting just two of its six first-half attempts to nail seven more in the second period.
SJSU junior Adrian Oliver, the WAC’s leading scorer, hit four second-half 3-pointers, while Robert Owens nailed three more and the Spartans closed to within seven points on two occasions with less than two minutes to go, but Idaho made five of its final six free throw attempts to ice the win.
“Not until the horn sounded – the way they can shoot it, and they way they can get it going with Robert Owen and Adrian Oliver,” Verlin said after being asked when he felt the win was safely in hand.
Four of Idaho’s five seniors scored in double digits, led by Watson and Mac Hopson, who put in 17 apiece. Jefferson finished the game with 15 points, while Steffan Johnson scored 10. Luciano de Souza started his second game of the season and scored eight, along with a career-high-tying seven rebounds, four of them offensive.
Idaho shot 55.6 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from 3-point range and out-rebounded San Jose State by a 34-27 margin. The Vandals dished 18 assists and turned it over just 11 times.
“We were able to set up shop close to the basket and did a good job of getting it in there, then they had to collapse their defense and we were able to kick it out and get some wide open shots,” Verlin said. “I thought we did a good job of finding the wide open man all night.”
San Jose State shot 31.8 percent in the first half and 62.5 percent in the second and finished the game 27-of-54 for a 50 percent clip. The hit 40.9 percent of their 3-point shots and 13 of their 19 free throws.
Idaho created the first-half separation with a 17-6 run that turned a 17-12 Idaho lead into a 34-18 advantage with 3:35 remaining in the half. During the run, the Vandals went 6-of-8 from the floor, forced five turnovers, and held SJSU to just one field goal on four attempts.
The win guarantees Idaho a berth in the WAC Tournament, but the team’s seed is still up in the air. A win or a Boise State loss gives Idaho the No. 7 seed, while a loss and a BSU win puts Idaho in the No. 8 spot. Hawai`i, Idaho’s Saturday opponent, is still alive in the WAC race, but it needs help to secure the final seed in the tournament.
Idaho kicks off Senior Night at 5 p.m. on Saturday on SWX in its final regular-season game of the year. The five Vandal seniors will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.
