DAVIS, Calif. – Idaho men's basketball (4-7) suffered their third straight loss to UC Davis (7-4) on Wednesday night in Davis, 66-74.

Kolton Mitchell scored a career-high 26 points on 8-12 shooting, leading all players. Forward Takai Hardy secured his first double-double, with a career-high 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Jojo Anderson contributed 13 points, his second double-figure effort of the season. 

Scoring was at a premium early, with both teams only converting one field goal in the first two minutes. The Aggies took advantage of the slow start, pulling out to a 10-2 lead at the 15:55 mark. The Vandals responded with a three by Anderson and a fast break layup by Mitchell to pull back within a possession. Idaho would stay within six points for almost the entire opening period, only falling behind by seven due to a UC Davis jumper with a minute remaining in the first half. 

The Aggies went on a 14-5 run to open the second, before the Vandals answered back with a 7-0 hot streak to pull back within seven with 12 minutes remaining. UC Davis began to pull away, leading by as much as 15 with just over three minutes to go, before Idaho scored 11 unanswered to slash the Aggie advantage to just four with 42 seconds left. UC Davis made their free throws down the stretch to ice the game and seal an eight point victory.

Idaho shot 6-24 from beyond the arc, making five or more threes for the 25th straight game and converted 86% of their shots from the charity stripe, their best percentage of the season. The Vandals also received 31 points off the bench, their fourth time this season with 30 or more bench points. 

Idaho will now make a 58 mile trip south to Stockton, Calif. to face Pacific on Saturday Dec. 21. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. This is the Vandals final non-conference test before opening Big Sky play in the new year.