CHENEY, Wash. — It’s hard to stop a team that can’t miss its shots. The Idaho men’s basketball team knows all about that first-hand.
The Vandals, who were one of the best shooting teams in the nation for the better part of the first two months of the season, ran into a buzzsaw Saturday as Eastern Washington made 61% of its shots in a 95-74 Big Sky Conference win at Reese Court.
Angelo Allegri led five Eagle (11-7, 5-0) players in double figures with 18 points. Tyreese Davis had 15 points. Ethan Price tallied 14 points and seven rebounds. Steele Venters finished with 13 points. Cedric Coward came off the bench for 13 points. Casey Jones contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.
Senior guard Divant’e Moffit had 29 points for Idaho (6-12, 0-5), who have lost six consecutive games. Junior forward Isaac Jones added 14 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Yusef Salih contributed 13 points. Senior guard Rashad Smith chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.
Eastern Washington started fast, scoring 10 of the first 15 points of the contest. The Eagles built a 20-12 lead with 9:05 left before halftime, but the Vandals scored six unanswered points in the next two minutes to pull within two. Eastern Washington went on a 10-2, finished by a pair of 3-pointers from Allegri and Venters, to take a 30-20 advantage.
Idaho fought back again, using a 9-2 run bookened by a layup and a 3 from Moffitt, that got the Vandals within 32-29 with 3:24 to go.
However, the Eagles scored the next seven points, including the final five by Davis, to take another 10-point advantage at the 1:53 mark. It was 41-32 Eastern Washington as the teams went to the locker room.
The Eagles then scored the first nine points of the second half to take an 18-point advantage and cruised from there. Idaho never got closer than 14 in the final 18 minutes of the game.
Eastern Washington was 36-for-59 from the field, including a sizzling 21-for-31 (67.7%) in the second half. Conversely, the Vandals were 19-for-50 (38%) overall. The Eagles held advantages in points off turnovers (21-9) and points in the paint (50-20).
Idaho next plays at 6 p.m. Monday at home against Montana State.
IDAHO (6-12, 0-5)
Moffitt 9-16 8-8 29, Jones 3-8 8-9 14, Burris 0-3 2-2 2, Ford 0-3 1-3 1, T. Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Salih 4-8 2-2 13, R. Smith 2-7 5-5 10, Hatten 1-2 0-0 3, Hanshaw 0-1 2-2 2, Harge 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 28-31 74.
EASTERN WASHINGTON (11-7, 5-0)
Allegri 8-11 0-0 18, Davis 6-10 0-0 15, Price 5-7 4-6 14, Venters 4-7 4-4 13, Jones 2-5 5-5 9, Coward 6-7 1-1 13, Stroud 3-5 2-2 8, Erikstrup 2-6 0-0 5, Harper 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 36-59 16-18 95.
Halftime — Eastern Washington, 41-32. 3-point goals — Idaho 8-21 (Moffitt 3-4, Salih 3-6, Hatten 1-1, R. Smith 1-5, Burris 0-1, Ford 0-2, T. Smith 0-2), Eastern Washington 7-19 (Davis 3-5, Allegri 2-5, Venters 1-2, Erikstrup 1-3, Stroud 0-1, Harper 0-1, Jones 0-2). Fouled out — Harge. Rebounds — Idaho 27 (Jones 7), Eastern Washington 31 (Jones 10). Assists — Idaho 5 (Moffitt 2), Eastern Washington 15 (Allegri, Davis, Jones 3). Total fouls — Idaho 18, Eastern Washington 23. Technicals — Harge, Price, Harper, Eastern Washington team. A — 1,636.
