MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho men's basketball team (6-5) competes in their final non-conference game of 2023 when the squad heads to Southern California for a matchup against UC Riverside (4-7). The Vandals will go up against the Highlanders on Thursday, December 21 at 5 p.m. PST inside SRC Arena.

How to Follow 
Idaho vs. UC Riverside // Dec. 21 at 5 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: SIDEARM Live Stats
Listen: The Varsity Network or GoVandals.com/Listen

Last Time Out
The Vandals dropped a road meeting at Stanford this past Sunday, 64-82, snapping Idaho's three-game win streak. Despite the 18-point loss, the Vandals took care of the basketball and forced the Cardinal into turnovers. Idaho turned the ball over just five times, tying for the fewest turnovers against a Division l opponent in a single game since February 21, 2015 (vs. Southern Utah, 5), while pressuring Stanford to give up 14 turnovers, which is the second most for the Cardinal this season. 

Providing a spark off the bench for the fourth consecutive game, Tyler Linhardt stepped up to score a personal-best 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the Vandal scoring attack. The starting backcourt of Quinn Denker and D'Angelo Minnis followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Minnis also got it done in other ways, adding five rebounds, two assists and three steals for the second straight game. 

It was a tough shooting effort for Idaho, as they were held to 39 percent (26-66) from the field and 24 percent (6-25) from three. In turn, Stanford shot 56 percent (31-55) from the field and 44 percent (10-23) from three. 

Scouting the Highlanders
UC Riverside is 4-7 overall and 3-1 at home this season. The Highlanders are coming off two straight losses to Washington State (49-86) and California Baptist (69-70).

As a team, the Matadors rank first in the Big West in turnovers per game (9.8) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.44), while sitting second in free throw percentage (72.2), offensive rebounds per game (13.2) and three-point makes (8.3). They let it fly from behind the arc, shooting the most three-point attempts per game (27.3) in the conference at a 30 percent clip. 

Isaiah Moses leads the Highlanders in scoring at 13.1 points per game while teammate Barrington Hargress follows with 11.1. Hargress ranks first in the Big West and 35th nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 3.07. 
  
Series History 
Idaho holds a slight 7-6 edge overall against UC Riverside in series history. After winning seven of the first eight contests versus the Highlanders dating back to 2002, Idaho looks to snap a current five-game losing streak. Most recently, the Vandals fell last year in Moscow to UC Riverside, 74-76. 

Up Next
The Vandals start a four game home stretch and open conference play next week, as Sacramento State and Portland State come to town. Idaho faces off against the Hornets on Thursday, December 28 (6 pm) and the Vikings on Saturday, December 30 (2 pm).

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