MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho men's basketball team battled throughout but the Northern Colorado offense showed off an efficient display of shooting from the field to earn an 87-70 victory on Thursday night at ICCU area.

Senior Mikey Dixon led the Vandals with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. The offensive output was the sixth time Dixon has scored 20 or more points this season. Forward Tanner Christensen also filed his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bears shot 57.1 percent from the field and tallied 52 points inside the paint to help earn the victory. The Vandals were unable to get it going from behind the arc, as the Bear defense held Idaho to 3-of-16 shooting on the night.

"That is a really good offensive team that has firepower all over the place," Head Coach Zac Claus said. "I give them a whole lot of credit for the way they played, the pace that they played with, and how unselfish they were." 

A fast start by the Northern Colorado offense got the first half underway with the Bears making their first four shots out of the gate to push the lead to 9-2. The Vandals recovered, making three of their next four shots from the field to make it a one-point game (9-8). Idaho hung around within two possessions until the 11:12 mark when the Bears issued an 11-0 run to go up 30-18. UNC pushed their lead to 14, but the Vandals were able to work their way back to cut it to seven, heading into the locker room 46-39 at halftime. 

Idaho shot 47.1 percent and outrebounded Northern Colorado 15-14 in the opening 20 minutes. 

Out of the break, the Vandals cut the score to 60-54 with 12:25 remaining before the Bears went on a pivotal 13-0 run. The Vandals were unable to find any kind of momentum after that point, as UNC earned the victory, 87-70.

JeMeil King and Philip Pepple Jr. were key contributors off the bench for the Vandals, as King added nine points and Pepple Jr. tallied six points, three rebounds, and two blocks on the night.

The Vandals fall to 3-14 overall and 0-7 in conference play while Northern Colorado goes to 9-8 and 4-1 in Big Sky action.

Next up: The Vandals will look to shake off the home loss when they return to ICCU Arena to host Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon. Action is scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m.

"This schedule doesn't wait for anybody," said Claus. "If you think you have time to time to worry about it or feel sorry for yourself then the next game is going to run you over. It is okay to be disappointed before you put your head on the pillow tonight but you better wake up with a renewed spirit and get yourself ready to go because Sacramento State will not care."

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