MOSCOW, Idaho - The Idaho men's basketball team earned their first win of the 2021-22 season Friday night, defeating George Fox University, 95-85.
It's the first time an Idaho team has scored 89-plus points in the first two games of the regular season since the 1981-82 Sweet-16 team.
Trevante Anderson returned where he left off from Wednesday night, dropping a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Nolan Bertain added 18 points after hitting a 4-5 clip from behind the 3-point line. Mikey Dixon filed his second double-digit performance of the season with 16 points, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field.
Three other Vandals put up double figures in scoring as Philip Pepple Jr. added 13 points, while JeMeil King and Yusef Salih each scored 11 points.
The Vandal offense found the bottom of the net right out of the tip with a 3-point basket from Bertain. After Idaho took an 8-5 lead, a scoring drought would ensue as the two teams would go scoreless for a little over two minutes of play. When it seemed as if the Vandals would find a groove, the Bruins would answer and keep the game within two possessions.
The Bruins stuck around throughout the remainder of the first half with the Vandals holding a one-point lead, 49-48.
Idaho found some breathing room with 10 minutes left in the second half after a perfect lob set up by Anderson to Pepple Jr. to make the score 78-67. George Fox would cut into the deficit to make it a seven-point game but the Vandals were able to fend off any kind of comeback to send Idaho fans home happy with the first official win at ICCU Arena, 95-85.
As a team, the Vandals shot 70.5 percent from the field while hitting 9-17 from outside the 3-point line. Turnovers proved to be the Vandals Achilles heel throughout the night, surrendering 20 turnovers to the Bruin defense.
Idaho will compete in their first road contest of the season when they make the trip to the west coast to face Fresno State on Monday, November 15 at 7 p.m.
