The Vandal men’s basketball team overcame a sloppy first half and rolled the Evergreen State Geoducks in a convincing 96-72 Friday night exhibition game in Memorial Gym.
Leading by 11 points at halftime, Idaho was unable to contain the Geoducks’ 3-point firing squad, which accounted for 21 of their first-half points.
Evergreen State notched six more 3-pointers in the second half but the Vandal offense took over, scoring 65 second-half points and holding their opponents to 39 percent from the field.
“I thought we played pretty hard, obviously we rebounded the ball very well,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “I played a lot of guys but they played hard and they did what we asked them to do.”
And rebound they did. The Vandals took advantage of a height-impaired Evergreen State team and grabbed 68 boards — 26 on the offensive side of the ball.
Still, the hosts had trouble guarding Geoduck forward Marice Tolliver, who led all scorers with 26 points. The senior caught fire from beyond the arc and buried five threes while Julian Holliday followed with four threes and 19 points.
Verlin was less than pleased with his team’s lackadaisical defense.
“We gave them 13 threes and they scored 72 points — that’s not good enough to get it done any night in our league and probably not with anybody on our schedule so we’ve got to do a better job defensively,” he said.
Idaho utilized its height as an advantage and 6-foot-8-inch junior college transfer Wendell Faines led Idaho with 19 points and five blocks while 6-foot-10-inch center Kyle Barone trailed with 13 points and 18 rebounds. Connor Hill, the 2011 Idaho 5A State Player of the Year, tallied 13 points and was three for six from three-point land.
Faines and Hill, who combined for 62 points, ranked among eleven Vandals who appeared on the score sheet and the Idaho bench Friday.
Of Evergreen State’s six players, only five landed on the score sheet.
Barone, a pre-season all-WAC nominee, noted that the team’s height will be an asset.
“We have more big guys than we did last year and they can score the ball down low very well and that’s definitely going to carry on through to league,” Barone said.
Two Idaho players, Mansa Habeeb and Djim Bandoumel weren’t available for Friday’s exhibition. Habeeb remains ineligible, and Bandoumel arrived late to a team practice.
While Idaho’s starting lineup consisted of five returning players, the five newcomers combined for 56 points.
Dazmond Starke, a 6-foot-6-inch junior college transfer gave Idaho depth down low and finished the game with 12 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Xavier Bazile came off the bench to add nine points and four rebounds.
The gym reached its maximum decibel level of the night when senior walk-on Sheridan Shayne found an open lane on a fast break and slammed it in with two minutes remaining in the game.
“It felt great, all my teammates were so hyped about it and I got it done,” said Shayne, who finished with two points, one rebound and one assist.
Idaho hosts Willamette for its last exhibition match-up Friday before opening the regular season Nov. 12 at Long Beach State.