Oklahoma turns up pressure

Tony Marcolina | Argonaut Idaho forward Paulin Mpawe attempts a layup during the game against Western Illinois Nov. 9 at Memorial Gym. The Vandals host Northwest Nazarine at 7 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Gym.

Tony Marcolina | Argonaut
Idaho forward Paulin Mpawe attempts a layup during the game against Western Illinois Nov. 9 at Memorial Gym. The Vandals host Northwest Nazarine at 7 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Gym.

The young Vandal men’s basketball team showed its youth on Wednesday, when it traveled to Norman, Okla., to take on the Oklahoma Sooners. 

After a hot start, where the Vandals jumped out to an early six-point lead, they quickly saw their lead diminish. The Sooners went to a full-court press defense, which led to a 20-5 run and a victory, winning the game 85-65.

“We got off to a good start, no question about it. You got to credit Oklahoma, they made some adjustments, they really picked up the pressure on us and we didn’t handle that very well,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said.

The Sooners full-court press defense led to 14 Vandal turnovers, and held the Vandals to only nine assists. Verlin pointed out that it could take some time for this team to build up some chemistry.

“Nine new guys playing, we showed some inexperience tonight. We resorted back to some bad habits instead of playing team basketball,” Verlin said. “I hope our guys can learn from this game. Oklahoma is a good basketball team, we got to make sure we learn from it and when the heat turns up again, we can respond to it.”

The Vandals failed to get into any kind of rhythm shooting in the game. They went 36.7 percent (22-60) from the field, and 27.3 percent (6-22) from behind the 3-point line. Stephen Madison who had 21 points last game against Western Illinois, leading the Vandals, only had seven points against the Sooners, going 3-11 from the floor, and 0-4 from three.

Verlin once again only played two true freshmen in the game — Perrion Callandret and Sekou Wiggs. Both improved from their Vandal debuts on Saturday, where they combined for just four points, all coming from Wiggs. Callandret had 10 points, adding two rebounds, two assists and one steal during the game while  Wiggs had 11 points with five rebounds and two steals.

“They’re good, young, athletic freshmen and both could be very good here. They have got to learn how to execute and make plays for everyone else though,” Verlin said.

Glen Dean continues to be effective, and led the Vandals in scoring with 14 points, going 5-11 from the field and 2-5 from the behind the arc.

“I thought Glen Dean played a very good game, for having pressure on him all night,” Verlin said.

The men’s basketball team plays again at 7 p.m. on Saturday, when they return to Memorial Gym to take on Northwest Nazarene.

“It’ll be good to get back to Moscow, this team is going to be fine, no question about it,” Verlin said. “I saw some things that I really liked tonight, I think in time you’ll see this team grow and turn into a really nice basketball team.”

Korbin McDonald can be reached at arg-sports@uidahoedu.

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