Vandals Bitten By Kandi Pacific Center Hands UI Bitter Defeat

Pacific’s Michael Olowokandi was so alarmingly talented, consider that his dunk seemed to be his least impressive basket of the night.

Olowokandi displayed the deft footwork, soft touch and post moves that have NBA scouts drooling, racking up a career-best 31 points and 15 rebounds in the Tigers’ 76-63 Big West win over Idaho on Thursday before 3,165 at the Kibbie Dome.

Not bad for the 7-foot-1 senior center who first picked up a basketball when he was 17 years old in England. Olowokandi, born in Nigeria, attended school in England as a freshman before selecting Pacific out of a guide to American colleges.

Pacific coaches spent the first week of Olowokandi’s sophomore year teaching him rudimentary details such as the location of the baseline, low block and free-throw line.

He’s proven to be a quick learner.

“He’s such a big guy,” said Idaho’s 6-6 Mao Tosi, who used every bit of his 270-pound bulk trying to counter Olowokandi’s size. “Whenever he caught it inside, there wasn’t much we could do other than put a body on him.”

Olowokandi reached his per-game averages - 20 points and 10 rebounds - in the first half as the Tigers built a lead they never relinquished. Pacific bolted in front 15-5 as Olowokandi had 10 points. The Tigers were on top 33-26 at half.

Idaho, which dropped to 3-4 in conference and 9-8 overall, was defenseless against Olowokandi in the first half.

“We thought their game plan would be different,” Olowokandi said. “We thought Tosi would muscle me and they’d double team from there. Personally I felt that would have been more effective.”

Instead, Idaho tried to guard him one-on-one.

“Our game plan was to guard the 3-point line and make him work a lot harder for shots he got and foul him in critical situations,” UI coach Dave Farrar said.

“We weren’t going to help on him until he dribbled the ball. In hindsight, we lost the game and he had a big night, so our plan wasn’t as well-conceived as we thought.” Pacific (12-8, 5-2) did little damage with three 3s, but Olowokandi and surprisingly accurate free-throw shooting were enough to end Idaho’s seven-game home winning streak this season. Olowokandi, who has made a Shaq-like 47 percent at the line, was 5 of 7, though he did airball one attempt.

The Vandals never recovered from their slow start.

“We pretty much got what we deserved,” Farrar said. “We cannot approach a game in the first 7 or 8 minutes with a lack of attention to detail and expect to beat a team that was an NCAA participant a year ago.”

Idaho played its typical madcap defense in the second half, but could never pull even or in front. Avery Curry, who had a career-high 31 points, hit a 3-pointer to pull the Vandals within 53-50.

Kris Baumann’s 3 left UI down 55-53. Seconds later, he missed an open 3 that would have put Idaho on top.

That turned out to be Idaho’s final salvo.

Olowokandi scored from the low block and Pacific, the worst foul-shooting team in the conference at 58 percent, made 17 of 18 free throws in the final 5:18.

The Vandals entertain Boise State on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.

Pacific 76, Idaho 63

Pacific (12-8, 5-2) - Woliczko 1-4 4-5 7, Olowokandi 13-21 5-7 31, Mahaffey 1-7 4-6 6, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Anders 3-7 8-12 14, Thomason 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobsen 3-7 6-6 13, McKnight 1-2 0-0 3, Marvel 1-1 0-0 2, Foster 0-0 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 23-49 27-37 76.

Idaho (9-8, 3-4) - Banks 4-11 0-3 8, Tosi 0-1 1-2 1, Byrne 1-4 0-2 2, Baumann 1-6 0-0 3, Curry 11-19 5-7 31, Gray 5-10 8-9 18, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Toal 0-3 0-0 0, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Hampton 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 22-56 14-24 63.

Halftime-Pacific 33, Idaho 26. 3-Point goals-Pacific 3-14 (Woliczko 1-4, Mahaffey 0-3, Anders 0-1, Jacobsen 1-4, McKnight 1-2), Idaho 5-13 (Banks 0-1, Baumann 1-5, Curry 4-7). Fouled out-Curry. Rebounds-Pacific 42 (Olowokandi 15), Idaho 32 (Tosi, Gray 7). Assists-Pacific 7 (Woliczko, Jacobsen 2), Idaho 12 (Gray, Toal, 3). Total fouls-Pacific 17, Idaho 28. A-3,165.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo