MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho men's basketball team got back on track Tuesday night earning first-year head coach Alex Pribble his first career win as a Vandal with a dominant 88-42 victory over Evergreen State at the ICCU Arena. 

All thirteen Vandals that checked into the game tallied at least one-point while Idaho posted one of its best defensive efforts in nine years, holding its opponent to 42 points or fewer for the first time since Dec. 18, 2014 (Walla Walla, 39).

EJ Neal did a little bit of everything on the night, scoring a team-high 15 points, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Kyson Rose also posted double figures with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. 

The first half saw a slow start with a 7-5 score about seven minutes into gameplay. The offense was reignited by a dunk from Julius Mims that started a 21-4 run for the Vandals. Mims put up two back-to-back dunks and came up with two blocks that were crucial to Idaho's start. 

The Geoducks weren't able to come up with a response as the Vandals continued their run. Rose found a rhythm inside the paint putting up eight points (4-4) and grabbing four rebounds in the half.

Idaho limited Evergreen State to just 17 points in the first period while the defense capitalized off of the Geoducks 21.9 percent (7-32) shooting average from the field. The Vandals controlled the boards grabbing 33 of their 60 rebounds on the night in the opening period.

The Vandals carried their momentum into the second half limiting the Geoducks to just eight points halfway into the action.

Neal provided a spark in the second period for the Vandal offense, scoring 12 of his 15 points to keep the game in good hands. 

In the remainder of the second half, Coach Pribble went to his bench and saw a strong performance from Cooper Church, who tallied six points and four rebounds in 12 minutes of action. 

The game ended in an 88-42 Vandal victory. Idaho shot 52.4 percent (33-63) from the field while limiting Evergreen State to 23.0 percent (14-61). The Vandals owned the paint all night with 44 points compared to just four from the Geoducks. 

The Vandals are back in action this week in the ICCU Arena as they are set to face Pacific Lutheran University on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m.

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