GAME NOTES - IDAHO VS. NORTHERN COLORADO

Moscow, ID - After a quick road trip to the Treasure State, it's back to home, sweet home for the Idaho Vandals men's basketball team.

Idaho (8-11, 3-3 BSC) currently sits at .500 in conference standings, with two of the three losses being decided by five points or less. Simply put, the Vandals are competing with the best, which they will continue to do when Northern Colorado (14-5, 6-0) comes to town.
The Bears are undefeated in Big Sky play and have not lost a game since early December, collecting a strong win over Air Force and an 81-57 rout of Montana in that time. This brings a mighty challenge to Moscow, but the Vandals are not here to talk, they're here to play.

LAST TIME OUT
UNC is coming off of two straight home games, with the most recent being a narrow win in Greeley over Sacramento State. The Bears' normally high-scoring offense was held to 68 points in a contest where the lead changed thirteen times.
The Bears clipped the Vandals in each of their regular-season matchups in 2024, first travelling to Moscow in January and coming out with an 89-68 win, then hosting the black and gold a month later and coming away with victory #2, 76-62.

SCOUTING THE BEARS
Known for their highlight-reel offense, Northern Colorado is rattling off 82.4 PPG in 19 contests, more than a full three-point lead over second-place Portland State. This is in large part due to two of the most exciting players in the league, senior Isaiah Hawthorne and junior Langston Reynolds. Each averaging 16.8 PPG, they give the Bears dynamic threats from multiple ends of the court. Hawthorne has established himself as a constant threat from beyond the arc with the fourth-most made threes (38) in the conference. Conversely, Reynolds has become a force in the paint, bolstering his PPG with the eighth-most rebounds (5.8) per game and the seventh-most assists (3.6).
Senior Jaron Rillie has become one of the most efficient point guards in the conference, averaging 5.1 APG (3rd in BSC) while boasting the second-best assist to turnover ratio (2.8). Overall, the Bears bring a veteran, high ceiling offense to Moscow that the Vandals are preparing to match.

SERIES HISTORY
In a certain sense, Idaho and Northern Colorado are the two newest teams to the Big Sky Conference. The Vandals rejoined the conference in all sports except for football in 2014, later adding the gridiron back in 2018. The Bears moved up from Division II and to the conference in 2006 which, while Idaho is also a charter member of the Big Sky, makes both schools the only ones to have their names added to the conference since the turn of the century.
Because of this, the history between the two is fairly recent, with the first matchup played in 2015 after the Vandals rejoined the league. After an 0-4 start to the series, UNC has been nearly undefeated since, winning 13 of the last 14 contests including 11 straight from December 2017 to January 2023. The Vandals' last win over the Bears came in Feb. 2023 and the last win in Greeley took place in Feb. 2017.

QUICK FACTS - IDAHO VS. NORTHERN COLORADO
WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 23
WHERE: ICCU Arena // Moscow, ID
WHAT TIME: 6:00 PM PST

LINKS: LiveStats // Watch (ESPN+) // Listen (The Varsity Network)