MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho men's basketball team tips off its 2023-24 home slate with a matchup against California State Northridge inside the ICCU Arena on Thursday, November 9. The action will get underway from Moscow at 6 p.m.
How to Follow
Idaho vs. California State Northridge // Nov. 9 at 6 p.m.
Watch:
ESPN+
Live Stats:
SIDEARM Live Stats
Listen:
The Varsity Network or
GoVandals.com/Listen
Tickets:
GoVandals.com/Tickets
Program:
Digital Game Day Program
Last Time Out
The Vandals fell in their season opener at Washington State, 84-59 on Monday, Nov. 6. Five Vandals scored at least seven points on the night, including a team-high 12 points from junior guard
Quinn Denker.
Julius Mims contributed on both ends of the floor with six points, seven rebounds, three steals and one block. The Vandals scored 26 points off the bench, led by true freshman
Kristian Gonzalez with eight.
Scouting the Matadors
CSUN starts the season 0-1 after a 88-79 loss at Stanford on Monday, Nov. 6. Three Matadors scored in double figures versus the Cardinal, including 22 points from De'Sean Allen-Eikens.
The Matadors finished the 2022-23 season with a 7-25 overall mark and a 4-16 record in the Big West, falling in the first round of the conference tournament to CSU Bakersfield, 51-47.
Northridge begins a new era under first-year head coach Andy Newman, who brought aboard 11 newcomers this season. Allen-Eikens returns to the fold for CSUN after posting 11.1 points and five rebounds per game in 32 starts a season ago.
Series History
The Vandals are 6-7 overall and 3-3 at home against CSUN. Idaho has won the last two matchups and three straight in Moscow. The two programs last met a season ago, where UI earned a 76-73 road win.
Notables
First-year head coach
Alex Pribble leads a new era of Vandal men's basketball after spending the past four years at Seattle U as the associate head coach. He helped lead the Redhawks to back-to-back 20-win seasons and the program's first WAC regular season title during his tenure.
Redshirt junior forward
Terren Frank will look to bounce back after being limited to six games in 2022-23 due to injury. The second-year Vandal averaged 10 points, six rebounds and 1.7 assists in limited action. Redshirt sophomore
Jack Hatten returns for his third season at Idaho after appearing in seven games while redshirt freshman
Titus Yearout rounds out the three returnees from a season ago.
Pribble and his staff brought on board 12 newcomers, including nine transfers and three freshmen.
The Vandals welcome impact transfers
Julius Mims (North Idaho College),
Trevon Blassingame (Fairleigh Dickinson),
Tyler Mrus (Alaska Fairbanks),
Quinn Denker (Cal-State San Marcos),
EJ Neal (CC San Francisco),
D'Angelo Minnis (Western Washington),
Tyler Linhardt (Washington),
Cooper Church (Arizona Western) and
Kyson Rose (Walla Walla CC) to the fold. Freshman newcomers
Kristian Gonzalez,
Takai Hardy and
Miles Klapper will also suit up for the first time in a Vandal uniform.
Significant additions in the front court feature
Kyson Rose and
Julius Mims. The two junior college transfers posted successful sophomore campaigns and will fill in at the forward position with proven scoring and rebounding ability. Rose is fresh off of receiving NWAC Player of the Year honors at Walla Walla Community College after averaging 22.6 points and 10.5 rebounds a game. The Kennewick, Wash. native led the league with 678 total points and 258 field goals while shooting 62 percent from the field. Mims makes the short trek south from Coeur d'Alene, where he spent two seasons at North Idaho College. He started in 44 of 45 games over his tenure while posting 16.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks over his sophomore campaign in 2022-23.
The backcourt and wing positions showcase a mix of veteran leadership along with a versatile group of underclassmen. Minnis will be the lone senior on the roster using his last year of eligibility to play for the Silver and Gold after spending four seasons at Western Washington. Minnis totaled 83 starts and 1,081 points in three seasons while recording his best season in 2022-23 with a team-high 14.3 points and career highs in shooting with a 49.3 percent clip from the field and 44.4 percent mark from three. Denker makes his debut at Idaho after spending a season each at Cal State San Marcos and West Valley College. The San Jose native made the most of his time at San Marcos, averaging 14.5 points per game and posting efficient shooting numbers that included 43.9 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 92.2 percent from the foul line.
Key wing transfers in
Trevon Blassingame,
Tyler Mrus and
EJ Neal will give Idaho versatility on the perimeter with previous success at their last stops on both the offensive and defensive end. Blassingame played in 24 games at Fairleigh Dickinson, an NCAA Tournament team that knocked off the #1 Purdue Boilermakers in the first round. Mrus is a proven three-level scorer by way of Alaska Fairbanks. The Seattle native started in all 24 games for the Nanooks while averaging the second most points on the team at 11.9. After spending two seasons at City College of San Francisco, Neal looks to bring his two-way approach to the court in Moscow. The Bay area product averaged over 11 points per game in 2022-23 and became the program's charge record holder after taking over 100 charges in his two seasons.
The freshman class is led by
Kristian Gonzalez, a guard from Mater Dei Catholic High School. Joining Gonzalez is 6-7 forward
Takai Hardy and lefty specialist
Miles Klapper.
Up Next
The Vandals continue their three-game homestand next week, hosting Evergreen State on Nov. 14 and Pacific Lutheran on Nov. 17. Each game is set to tip off at 6 p.m.
Tickets
Single-game and season tickets are available now. For more information, call the Vandal ticket office at (208) 885-6466 or visit GoVandals.com/tickets.
Follow
Fans can follow the Vandals all season long on Facebook, Instagram, and X at @VandalHoops, and with the Voice of the Vandals, Chris King, at GoVandals.com/Listen. All home and conference contests will be streamed live through ESPN+.
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