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As Idaho racked up its third stra ight
20-win season and a fourth consecutive
trip to post-season play, they proved
once again that nothing could match
power of gol
T
he Vandals stepped right
into the proverbial fire.
Fresh off the best season
in the school's history, the Don
Monson-coached squad began
their follow-up act by traveling
to the always-tough Sun Met
Classic in Fresno, California,
a tournament almost exclusively
claimed over the
years by host Fresno State.
After an opening-round
67-60 victory over Loyola
Marymount, the Vandals succumbed
38-34 to the Red
Wave of Fresno State, whose
record the previous year had
equaled Idaho's at 27-3. The
skeptics began to surface as
many fans looked ahead to one
of the toughest pre-conference
schedules in Vandal history.
Idaho was definitely feeling
the heat.
But, with a little luck and a
lot of stamina, the Vandals
emerged without another burn
as they swept the rest of their
10 pre-conference games and
claimed their second consecutive
Far West Classic Ti­
Ue - a feat previously only accomplished
by Oregon and
Oregon State. Of these 10 victories,
five were by five points
or less and four of these downto-the-wire
conquests were of
Pac-10 teams.
The streak began with a
hard-fought 51-46 victory over
the Washington Huskies, and
a 62-58 overtime thriller over
neighboring, arch-rival
Washington State in front of
11,000 wildly cheering fans in
the Dome. The victory was the
third in a row over the
Sending signals.
When a game goes down to the
wire. coaching can be the decldlng
factor. Head coach Don Mo1110n ln·
struc:ts his players during a break ln
the action late ln the game against
Washington State. (photo by M.
LaOTange)
Cougars and extended Idaho's
home-court winning streak to
37 games.
The V a.ndals followed the
two big victories over Pac-10
schools with a 67-56 defeat of
Eastern Washington, a 65-44
rout over St. Martins, an 84-73
win over then-undefeated
California-Irvine, and an
86-59 thrashing of Midwestern
State.
Portland, Oregon was the
next stop for Idaho as they
began their quest for a second
consecutive Far West Classic
Title. The Vandals edged
Portland in the opening round
63-57 and knocked off Oregon
in the semi-finals 56-53 to set
up a long-awaited rematch
with Oregon State, the team
that ended Idaho's NCAA
championship bid the
previous season.
From the opening tip-off it
was apparant that there was no
love lost between the two
teams. The Vandals opened up
to an early lead in the defensive
battle and held a 26-18
halftime advantage. But the
Beavers rallied in the second
half and as the buzzer ended
regulation play, the score was
knotted at 36-all. Overtime
brought more strategic and
deliberate play as each team
scored only one bucket to
force a second overtime.
With the score tied at 40 and
less than a minute remaining,
Idaho's Stan Arnold cut in
front of a pass and drove for an
easy lay-up and the Vandals
held onto their lead to claim
the championship with the
42-41 heartstopper over
Oregon State.
Winding up their preconference
schedule, Idaho
nipped always-tough Gonzaga
54-51 to finish the first part of
their season with an impressive
11-1 record heading into the
conference play. But, if Idaho
fans thought the tough part of
the season was over, they were
wrong. Because, for the Vandals,
the heat was only
beginning.
continued I>
Men's Basketball 191