SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, Calif. -- The Idaho men's basketball team found themselves in a tight battle to the end but ultimately saw Cal Poly prevail, 67-63 on Wednesday afternoon at the SoCal Challenge.
Senior Mikey Dixon added another double-digit performance to the box score after leading the Vandal offense with 18 points. It marks the fifth time Dixon has scored 10-plus points this season.
Backcourt running mate Trevante Anderson tallied 11 points, marking his fourth time to reach double figures while Rashad Smith, JeMeil King, and Tanner Christensen each added seven points.
The Vandals found success early on from the 3-point line, knocking down two-consecutive baskets from behind the arc courtesy of Dixon and Smith. The baskets pushed the score to 9-7 before the Mustangs went on a 12-1 run to gain a 19-9 advantage.
Later in the period with Idaho trailing 30-18, Pepple Jr. helped spark a 7-0 run that included a dunk and second-chance basket to help push the score to 30-25. Pepple Jr. grabbed two of his four offensive rebounds in the first half run by the Vandals.
The Mustangs carried a five-plus point advantage through the remainder of the first half and ultimately led 38-29 after the first 20 minutes of action.
Idaho turned eight offensive rebounds into eight-second chance points while Cal Poly was able to gain a presence inside with 20 points in the paint during the first half of action.Â
Cal Poly pushed their advantage to double-digits in the opening three minutes of the second, but Idaho would continue to stick around and get the game back within eight points with 17 minutes left to play. A scoring drought followed as the two teams battled on the defensive end without allowing a basket for over three minutes of play.
Pepple Jr. highlighted a defensive stop during the drought with back-to-back blocks to help mark a career-high of four blocks on the day for the Shoreline, Wash. native.
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The Vandals held the Mustangs without a field goal the remaining six minutes and 17 seconds of the game while Idaho made six of their last eight shots, but ultimately the Mustangs continued to make timely free throws to earn the victory, 67-63.
The two teams combined to shoot 78 FTs in the 40 minutes of action. The Vandals weren't able to take advantage from the charity stripe, as the team shot 62 percent on 23 of 37 shooting.
The Vandals will continue their three-game road trip when they head to Fargo, ND to face North Dakota State on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT.
