Idaho shot 64.3 percent (18-of-28) from the field in the second half as the Vandals topped the Northern Illinois University men's basketball team, 84-47, on Friday night (Dec. 2) at the ICCU Arena. Divant'e Moffitt scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Vandals, Isaac Jones added 17.
Keshawn Williams (Chicago Heights, Ill./Tulsa) was the lone Huskie in double figures, he scored 10 points with a team-best seven rebounds.
"We were just a dead team," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "(Idaho) made plays, they were exactly who we thought they were, but we weren't who we thought we were. The travel, time difference, that was a tired bunch. This was a scheduling loss where we just didn't have any energy, any fight that was needed to win on the road."
With the game tied at 10, Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J./Clarendon College) converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia/Seward County CC) made a free throw as the Huskies took a four-point lead with 8:27 left in the opening half.
Nutter finished with eight points, David Coit (Columbus, N.J./Atlantic Cape CC) also added eight for the Huskies.
NIU was still in front by four before Idaho 10-1 run to take a five-point advantage, 22-17, with a little over four minutes to play before the intermission.
After a triple from Williams brought the Huskies back within a pair, 24-22, Idaho closed the half on an 11-2 run to take a 35-24 lead into halftime.
Moffitt led all scorers with 14 points in the opening 20 minutes, including three triples in the final two minutes of the half. Nutter led NIU with a half-dozen in the first half. The Vandals shot 46.4 percent (13-of-28) in the opening stanza, including 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from three, while holding the Huskies to just 32.1 percent (9-of-28) and 25 percent (2-of-8) from three.
A 9-0 burst helped give Idaho a 48-28 lead with 14:36 to play before Yanic Konan Niederhauser (Fraschels, Switzerland/Ursping) ended the run with a basket inside for the Huskies. The Vandals made eight of their first nine shots to start the second half.
Idaho's lead continued to grow throughout the second half as the road weary Huskies began to feel the effects of two games in 48 hours played nearly 2,000 miles apart.
Dominique Ford scored 12 points for Idaho and Nigel Burris was the fourth Vandal in double figures, he had 11 points.
NIU will return to the Pacific Northwest in a little over week as it travels to Spokane, Wash., to face Gonzaga on Monday, Dec. 12. Game time against the Bulldogs is slated for 8 p.m. CT.
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