Idaho (11-7, 3-2) vs. Sacramento State (6-11, 2-3)
MOSCOW, Idaho – After hanging onto their fourth wire-to-wire victory of the season against Weber State, the Vandals return to ICCU Arena for a two-game set against Sacramento State and conference leaders Portland State. The Hornets will swarm into Moscow on Thursday, January 22, set to start at 6 P.M. PT, and will air on ESPN+, the Vandal Radio Network, and the Varsity Network.
Sac State is coming off a perfect weekend with wins against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado, the program's first league wins of the season, in what will be the Hornets' last season in the Big Sky before departing for the Big West at the end of the year.
Led by first-year head coach Mike Bibby and sporting NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O'Neal as General Manager, the Hornets feature an army of newcomers this season, including Mikey Williams by way of Central Florida, who has averaged 17.8 PPG, top-five in the Big Sky. With Williams out last week, Prophet Johnson was the star of the show as he put up 29 points vs. Northern Arizona and 30 vs. Northern Colorado in Sac State's first two league wins of the year.
This will be the 38th meeting between the two programs. Idaho holds a commanding lead in the series with a 26-11 record that includes a season sweep over Sacramento State in 2024-25.
IDAHO NOTES
- Idaho features five players on the roster that hail from the Gem State for the first time since the 1971-72 season
- Idaho's February 19, 2026 game at Portland State was selected to air on ESPNU as part of the Big Sky's distribution deal with the Worldwide Leader in Sports.
- This will mark the first time the Vandal men have had a regular season game appear on a linear ESPN channel since the 2010-11 season.
- Idaho has found points from its entire roster this season with four or more Vandals finishing in double-figures in 10 of 18 games so far.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 120: The 2025-26 season marks the 120th year of Idaho men's basketball. In the first 119 seasons, the Vandals won five conference titles, made four NCAA tournament appearances, and had five All-American players.
- 100: All season long, Idaho Basketball is remembering the life and legacy of the legendary Vandal, Don Monson. Monson was a three-time basketball letterman as a student, but his biggest honor was as head basketball coach from 1978 to 1983, where he led the Vandals to a Sweet Sixteen appearance and earned 100 wins over five seasons
- 5: Five Idaho natives are on this season's roster, the most since the 1971-72 season
- 60: Idaho's streak of games with 5+ made threes came to an end vs. Montana, having previously accomplished the feat in 60 straight contests.
- 137: Idaho was 137th in the Dec. 8 NET rankings, the highest mark in program history since the rankings debuted in time for the 2018-19 season.
- 5: Following Kolton Mitchell's 14-point performance against Eastern Oregon, five Vandals have now crossed over the 500-point mark in their careers (Mitchell, Kristian Gonzalez, Brody Rowbury, Biko Johnson, Isaiah Brickner)
- Jack Payne is also rapidly approaching this milestone, needing 48 points to hit 500.
- 1000: Senior forward Brody Rowbury is closing in on 1,000 career points in his final collegiate season. With 950 under his belt so far, he needs 50 to hit that margin.
- Rowbury would be the first to hit that milestone in black and gold since Kyson Rose did the same in the 2024-25 season.
- 4: Idaho's preseason ranking in both Big Sky Preseason Polls, its highest since 2017
- 62.7: The Vandals return the most minutes in the Big Sky, with three out of their five most common starters staying in Moscow for the 2025-26 season
- 14: Head Coach Alex Pribble led Idaho to 14 regular season wins last year, the most since the 2017-18 season.
- 2: Two of Idaho's regular season games are set to take place in Boise this season, the first time the Vandals will play a regular contest in the state capital since the fall of 2018
- 308: The 2024-25 Vandals relied heavily on play from beyond the arc, setting a new school record for made triples at 308.
- 10: Idaho is averaging 10.5 made threes per contest, a top-25 mark in the nation.
- 21: The Vandals earned the program's largest comeback win of the 21st century vs. Montana State in January, trailing by 21 points just before halftime and coming back to win 92-89 at the final buzzer.
UP NEXT
Idaho will continue Big Sky play, hosting Portland State on Saturday, Jan. 24.
TICKETS
Season tickets are on sale now! For more information, call the Vandal ticket office at (208) 885-6466 or visit govandals.com/tickets.
FOLLOW THE VANDALS
To stay up to date with Vandal Hoops, follow the team on Instagram (vandalhoops), X (VandalHoops), and by visiting govandals.com.
