The play was set up before the game even started. If Idaho won the opening tip, Arkadiy Mkrtuchyan was supposed post up underneath the basket and score — and that’s exactly what happened.
The 6-foot-7, 235-pound freshman, who was born Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, impressed the home crowd in his regular season debut. Mkrtuchyan finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, all while leading the Vandals to a 77-65-season opening win against Eastern Oregon.
“I don’t know if I expected it or not, but I was happy with the way he played,” said Idaho coach Don Verlin of Mkrtuchyan. “He’s got some good physical size. He’s got good strength … he’s got good hands around the basket. He’s going to be a very good Vandal for years to come.”
Mkrtuchyan said when Verlin told him he was going to start he was very excited — on the inside.
“I didn’t want to do anything on the outside — I didn’t want to look like an idiot,” Mkrtuchyan joked.
Mkrtuchyan credits his teammates for his stellar debut. He said the team moved the ball well, which gave him open looks underneath the basket for easy layups.
Eastern Oregon was the second-straight NAIA team Idaho has played. Last Friday, the Vandals beat Lewis-Clark State 75-57 in their final exhibition game. This was not an exhibition game, however.
Like the LCSC game, Idaho struggled in the first half. Eastern Oregon made seven 3-pointers to open the game. Idaho went into halftime with just a one-point lead.
The second half was a different story, though, as EOU only managed to make two threes, and went 2-11 for the half.
“We did a lot better job getting to their shooters,” said Verlin of his teams defense in the second half. “We did a lot better job on our switches that we didn’t do in the first half, and we fought through screens a lot better.”
Senior Paulin Mpawe provided a spark off the bench in the second half. The 6-foot-10 forward had a three-play sequence that started with an impressive put back dunk. On the very next offensive possession, Mpawe grabbed the loose ball and slammed it down once again. He capped it off by taking a charge on defense, and the Eastern Oregon coach quickly called a timeout.
I thought he brought a lot of energy off the bench,” said Verlin of Mpawe. “I thought he played hard, chased the ball on his offensive rebounds. He definitely earned himself some minutes. I just got to figure out — I got six post, and only two guys can play at once.”
Thirteen Vandal players received playing time in Friday’s contest. Freshman Jake Straughan was the only one who didn’t play as he received a redshirt prior to the start of the season.
“It’s going to be a work in progress,” said Verlin of his rotation. “That’s what the preseason is for … like all first games, I thought we did some good things and I thought we didn’t execute very well on some other things.”
Idaho will be back at it 7 p.m. Monday in Memorial Gym against South Dakota State.
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]