Stop the presses...the internet too...Idaho wins

Stop the presses!

Same for the 'net. You know, that series of tubes -- okay, okay, not everyone appreciates John Stewart/The Daily Show and that infamous clip featuring Mr. Wizard [aka Alaska Senator Ted Stevens] rattling on in an authoritative discourse about world wide web.

Anyway, THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO won a basketball game!

The Vandals defeated Eastern Washington 58-49 Sunday.

Direct from the Idaho athletics web site in all its deserved glory:

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho men’s basketball team used its defense to lock down a 58-49 win over visiting Eastern Washington at the Cowan Spectrum Sunday.

The Vandals (2-6) held the Eagles (3-8) to zero field goals over nearly 16 minutes and Eastern Washington committed 19 turnovers in the game. The Eagles were limited to just 15-of-48 (.313) shooting in the contest and hit just 3-of-16 (.188) 3-pointers.

“I was impressed with our defensive performance tonight,” Idaho coach George Pfeifer said. “Trevor (Morris) and Brandon (Brown) had a lot to do with that. Our plan was to play hard, score points and be the aggressor. We simplified everything and we stuck to that plan.”

The win snapped a six-game losing streak and was Idaho’s first win at the Cowan Spectrum since Jan. 18, 2007.

“This team has worked really hard and they are deserving of this pay day. We could have put it away earlier if we would have stayed the course a little more, but we looked like a team who hadn’t won in a while,” Pfeifer said.

Idaho jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but Eastern Washington stormed back with the next six points to pull within one at the 17:30 mark. The Vandals held the advantage until two free throws put the Eagles ahead 10-9 with 15:27 remaining in the half. Eastern Washington moved ahead 14-9 before Idaho came back to retake the lead at 18-16 with 7:42 remaining. EWU led 16-13 with 10:47 remaining in the first half, but that would prove to be the final field goal for the visiting team for nearly 16 minutes. Idaho held Eastern Washington to just one free throw for the remainder of the first half and led 26-17 at the break.

The Vandals moved ahead 30-17 to open the second half before two EWU free throws cut into the margin. Idaho didn’t allow a field goal until the 14:58 mark of the second half when a lay in made the score 35-21. Idaho continued on what would become a 26-5 run and led 39-21 with 13:06 remaining. The Vandals remained up big until their offense hit a bump in the road and allowed the Eagles a 10-0 run that cut the lead to 46-41 with 4:26 remaining. Darin Nagle converted a dunk after the timeout and a missed lay in from Eastern Washington allowed Idaho to move back ahead by 10 at 51-41 with 3:05 remaining. The Vandals converted 7-of-8 free throws during the final 1:15 to hold on for the 58-49 victory.

Jordan Brooks led the Vandals with 14 points and Trevor Morris chipped in 11 points. Brandon Brown came off the bench to score seven points and grab four steals.

The Vandals hit 22-of-52 (.423) shots from the floor and held a 36-31 advantage in rebounding.

The previous list of victors over the Vandals this season includes UC Riverside, Central Arkansas, Idaho State, South Dakota State and others so we felt this win deserved to be highlighted. Hopefully, we haven't gotten too smarmy or nauseating with this.