Idaho shows strong perimeter game in second exhibition win
Four Vandal players scored in double figures Friday in Idaho’s exhibition basketball win over Lewis-Clark State College, and all four were guards. Senior Connor Hill and sophomore Sekou Wiggs led the way with 13 points apiece, while sophomore Perrion Callandret had 12 and senior Mike Scott had 11.
Hill, well-known for his 3-point shooting, scored his points while playing less than half the game. He was only on the court for a total of 18 minutes.
At point guard, Idaho had a rotation going. Scott is the leader and starter, but Wiggs and Callandret also took time between shooting guard and point guard duties. Idaho coach Don Verlin said he is still trying to settle on a rotation at guard early in the season.
“I don’t know if I’m close yet,” he said of the rotation. “We got too many new guys and too many young guys to say I’m solid on rotation. As we start moving into these next three or four games we’ll figure it out.”
Verlin said although the guard play was impressive, he wants to see more passing to the forwards in the post.
“We’re always going to play three guards,” he said. “We got to do a better job at getting the ball inside. I thought we missed our post guys on a number of occasions. When they’re down there we need to get the ball to them.”
Callandret said having so many athletic guards on the team opens up the perimeter shooting. The Vandals started slow against the Warriors, but ended the day shooting 34.8 percent from the 3-point line and 40.6 percent from the field.
“It opens it up a lot, because if one of us isn’t going to shoot it, the next person, extra pass, they can shoot it,” Callandret said. “We got drive and kicks. We got the best shooter ever, so that always helps.”
Both Callandret and Wiggs were more of driving guards than shooting guards last season, as Wiggs scored 9.9 points per game and Callandret added 2.5 points per game. They both worked on improving their perimeter shooting during the offseason.
“The biggest thing I worked on is my 3-point shot,” Callandret said. “I shot a really bad percentage last year, and coming into this year that’s a big goal for me is to shoot way better from there and just my enthusiasm and my attitude on the court so I can play.”
Wiggs also improved his free throw shooting in the offseason. He came into the 2014 season with a different release on his shot and it appears to be working, as he made all six of his free throw attempts Friday. He shot only 65.8 percent from the line last year.
With Scott, the team captain, and Hill set as leaders and Callandret and Wiggs rising the ranks, Idaho guard play seems to be a strength of the team heading into the regular season.
“The point guard has to be a leader anyway,” Scott said. “As being voted as the leader, it’s even more pressure, because now all the guys are looking at me. Everybody is following my lead, everybody is going off on how I go. So I have to pick my own self up, before I can pick them up.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at`[email protected]