Whether it was Sekou Wiggs’s two high flying dunks, Glen Dean emerging as a potential star or Connor Hill dropping 22 points to lead the Vandals to a commanding victory, there was a lot to smile about Tuesday in Memorial Gym.
Tony Marcolina | Argonaut
Point Guard Mike Scott makes a jump shot during Tuesday’s exhibition game against Walla Walla in Memorial Gym. The Vandals had a 90-49 win to start off their season, and will be playing Western Illinois at 7 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Gym, for their regular season opener.
“I thought we played really hard, we played with a lot of energy and intensity, especially early, and we got them out of their offense — which was good to see,” said Idaho basketball coach Don Verlin, who saw his men’s basketball team win over Walla Walla.
The Vandals won the game 90-49 over Walla Walla, who is a part of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Walla Walla started its season 0-4 before heading to Moscow to play the Vandals in the exhibition game.
Junior guard Connor Hill was impressive with his 22 points, but newcomer Glen Dean stole the show with his overall performance. Dean scored 13 points, only missing once from the field, going a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc and 5-of-6 overall. He also added two rebounds, five assists and one steal in 20 minutes of play.
Verlin might have found his starting point guard in Dean, but junior Mike Scott isn’t far behind him. The two combined for seven assists and four steals, both having a huge impact in the game.
“They are great players,” said senior forward Stephen Madison, who had four points and six rebounds of his own. “They came in here with a pass-first mentality and that’s what you want your point guards to be, and they can shoot on top of that, so that’s a huge plus.”
Dean and Scott were finding open players all night, and Connor Hill might have benefited the most.
“Well he (Hill) better (benefit), because they both can pass it,” Verlin said. “They both are very good at driving the lane and finding him, and I think he will really benefit from having them on the team.”
With 10 new players, there was some question on how fast this team could come together. Even though they were playing a team that clearly wasn’t the talent level of the Vandals, Madison said the team is coming together and starting to mesh well.
Looking ahead, the Vandals will welcome the Western Illinois Leathernecks at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Memorial Gym. The Leathernecks went 22-9 (13-3 in conference) in 2012-13 and were one win away from making it to the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the way for Western Illinois is the 6-foot-6 senior forward, Adam Link, who averaged nearly 10 points per game last season. He will be relied upon to pick up the points that Ceola Clark and Terell Parks left behind, two all-league performers last season who have graduated Western Illinois.
While the Leathernecks have lost their two leading scorers, they might be reloading with an impressive recruiting class, led by Garret Covington, a 6-foot-5 true freshman, who turned down offers from Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa to go to Western Illinois.
The Vandals will be challenged Saturday night. The big question is which freshmen will be playing this season and which ones will be receiving redshirts. The two freshmen who Verlin said will be playing for sure are Sekou Wiggs and Perrion Callandret. Verlin said he will know the rest by Friday.
The men’s basketball team will be heading into its regular season opener confident after the exhibition win and will be tested by the Leathernecks.
“I think we are going to apply some pressure, we’re going to be able to get up and down the court and get some shots in transition, that’s the kind of team we’re going to be,” Verlin said.
Korbin McDonald can be reached