More on last night 's game

We're still feeling the vibe emanating from last night's victory over Idaho so let's revel in it some more.

Here's a take on the game from an Idaho student journalist:

Late Spartan surge ends Idaho’s bid to sweep road trip
Travis Mason-Bushman
Vandal Nation
January 5, 2010

SAN JOSE, Calif. — With four minutes and change to play in San Jose State’s WAC opener against Idaho last night, Spartan forward C.J. Webster looked at the opposing shot clock across the court — it was about to expire. In desperation, he flicked up a no-look shot backwards over his head from the free-throw line.

Back of the rim. Net. Score. The 1,287 fans in the Events Center sounded like 10,000.

It was just that kind of night for the home team...

Go here for the remainder. Do make sure to check out the YouTube link to Coach Don Verlin's post-game press conference.

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What We Liked

* The Spartans scored 44 of their 78 points in the paint -- that's amazing because the Vandals aren't exactly helpless inside defensively. But, as Coach Verlin offered in his post-game press conference, you have to pick your poison and he chose a strategy that didn't quite work for this 40 minutes at least.

* On the other hand, Idaho was credited with 32 points in the paint -- a total that surprises us considering the Vandal top scorers were guards and wings. Remember this statistic from our pre-game report: "In its 2009-2010 victories to date, Idaho has averaged 33+ points in paint to just 24 points in the paint in losses." Curious.

* The official rebounding numbers number turned out to be fairly close (SJSU 13 + 18 = 31, ID 10 + 18 = 28) but San Jose State out-scored the Vandals 22-14 in second-chance points.

* Shooting 52.5% from the floor was a tremendous feat for the Spartans but Idaho also shot a to-be-proud-of (for them) 50.9%.

* First coming back from a second-half deficit and then holding on to a lead down the stretch was an impressive San Jose State achievement. This was a missing element from last season.