Sunday's basketball WAC-iness

 Brian Murphy goes biographical on Leon Rice with a superlative piece in today's Idaho Statesman.

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 Shawn Harrison provides a story on Utah State's exhibition opener.

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From Spencer Farrin at Vandal athletics:

There were still some kinks and some hitches, but Idaho men’s basketball coach Don Verlin liked a lot of what he saw in his team’s exhibition opener against Northwest Christian, an 81-35 Vandal win.

“There were a lot of good things that came out of this game,” Verlin said. “I got to play all 12 guys and I got some guys out there that didn’t have any game experience, so I felt like this game was real important to us as far as finding out what guys can do.”

Not only did 12 Vandals enter the game, but every player scored, 10 of them registered at least one assist, and everyone played at least 11 minutes in the game.

Sophomore center Kyle Barone led all scorers with 15 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting, along with two blocks, while senior Jeff Ledbetter went 5-of-8 from the floor with four rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Juniors Landon Tatum and Deremy Geiger, both of whom are vying to replace the departed point guard spot, each dished five assists, while Tatum scored six and grabbed three steals, and Geiger scored five and had three rebounds.

Verlin said he also liked Idaho’s action on the boards and the way the Vandals shared the ball.

“I thought we did some really good things, especially rebounding the basketball, we passed the ball very well tonight – we had 24 assists on 34 baskets, that’s pretty good,” Verlin said. “That’s one thing you’re going to see with this team, they’re very unselfish.”

The Vandal men dominated down low against the undersized NCU front court, and Verlin said he hopes to see even more improvement from Idaho’s post players as the season goes on.

“That has to be our strength this year,” Verlin said of post play. “That’s where our returning veterans are at, that’s where our size is at, and I think that’s where the strength of our team has to be.”

Between Barone, juniors Luiz Toledo, Djim Bandoumel, Renado Parker and redshirt freshman Joe Kammerer, the Vandals scored 37 points on 17-of-29 (.586) shooting, along with 26 rebounds and three blocks. Idaho out-rebounded NCU by a 51-23 margin and held the Beacons to 14-of-51 (.275) shooting.

Idaho outscored Northwest Christian by a 52-12 margin in the paint, 22-4 off turnovers and 14-4 in second-chance points. The Vandals also ran the floor for 14 fast-break points, while allowing just one transition field goal.

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Wolf Pack athletics offers separate videos and Q-and-As with Deonte Burton and Derrell Connor.

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Brian McInnis offers a Q-and-A with redshirt Zane Johnson.