Larson?s double-double not enough at Idaho

Monday, November 17

Moscow, Idaho

9:00 PM

South Dakota State University

Idaho

11/18/2014 12:59:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

MOSCOW, Idaho – South Dakota State senior Cody Larson posted his second double-double in as many games on Monday at Idaho, but like the first game on Friday in Buffalo, the Jackrabbits came up short in a tight game, falling to the host Vandals by the score of 82-77.

“I was proud of our guys in the second half, and that's two games that we've had the lead in the second half and relinquished it, but this game for us was lost in the first half. We just had no life to us, we got killed on the glass; they missed 18 shots and had nine offensive rebounds,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “We were very fortunate to only be down five points at half, incredibly fortunate, but we didn't lose it in the second half, we lost it in the first half.

Up 5-3 early, Idaho went on an 11-0 run to take a 14-5 lead, prompting a timeout from the Jackrabbit bench with 15 minutes, 34 seconds left in the first half. The Vandals pushed the run to 17-2 after the timeout before Deondre Parks made it six in a row for the Jacks with a pair of 3-pointers, the second after stealing an inbound pass.

Idaho led by as many as 13 points in the half, but the Jacks cut it to three with 40 seconds left in the half before going into halftime down 41-36.

The second half started much like the first half ended, with Idaho maintaining a lead between five to seven points, keeping the Jacks within striking distance. The Jacks cut the lead to one three times before taking a 49-48 lead on a Larson layup with just over 13 minutes left in the game, the first of six second half lead changes.

SDSU led by as many as six points in the second half, but the Vandals clawed back and essentially sealed the win when Mike Scott hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 10 seconds left in the game to put Idaho up 80-75.

Four Jackrabbits scored in double figures in the game, led by Jake Bittle and Parks with 18. Parks also added seven rebounds. Larson finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Skyler Flatten scored 13 off the bench.

Scott led four Vandals in double figures with a game-high 23 points. Bira Seck added 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the game's only other double-double.

The Jacks look to snap the season-opening skid on Friday, when they open their home schedule against North Dakota at 7 p.m. at Frost Arena.

NOTES: Idaho leads the all-time series with SDSU 3-2 … the teams played in front of a crowd of 631 fans at Memorial Gym on the campus of the University of Idaho … Larson's second double-double of the season gives him eight for his career … Larson recorded a double-double for the third straight game dating back to last season … Lane Severyn made his collegiate debut, scoring two points, both from the free throw line, and adding two rebounds in eight minutes