The Idaho men’s basketball team kicked off nonconference play Saturday, defeating Corban 90-67 in the Memorial Gym.
“It’s always good getting that first win,” Idaho head coach Don Verlin said in a news release.
Four Vandals posted scores in the double digits, with junior guard Victor Sanders leading with 19 points and four rebounds.
“It was a great team win tonight,” junior forward Brayon Blake said in a news release.
Blake earned his second double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“I thought (Blake) played a really solid basketball game tonight,” Verlin said. “Eleven rebounds is good work on any night.”
Sanders said Blake helped fill the hole alumni Chris Sarbaugh left in the paint.
“Now (Blake is) going in and grabbing those rebounds, and that’s a big part of the team and a big part of our emphasis and what we want to do,” Sanders said.
Senior guard Perrion Callandret and junior forward Arkadiy Mkrtychyan posted 14 and 12 points respectively.
Idaho finished the first half ahead 39-32.
The Vandals shot 48.3 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from beyond the perimeter. Corban finished the half at 35.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the 3-point line.
“We made some adjustments at halftime and they executed,” Verlin said.
Idaho outscored Corban 51-35 in the second half to round out the victory 90-67.
The Vandals shot 50 percent from the field in the second half compared to Corban’s 37.9 percent.
“It was fun to see us share the ball and battle with a very good NCAA Division 1 program for such long stretches,” Corban head coach Austin Johnson said in a news release.
The Vandals proved their dominance in the pain, outrebounding Corban 49-26 and outscoring the Warriors 42-16 in the paint.
A few Vandals found themselves in foul trouble throughout the game.
Verlin said the foul calls were silly.
“Some poor discipline on the defensive end got us into those positions, with the foul trouble, and we had to fight through it,” Verlin said.
The Vandals play Northern Illinois 6 p.m. Wednesday in DeKalb, Illinois.
Mihaela Karst can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @mihaela_jo