FINAL SCORE
Idaho Vandals - 84
Eastern Washington Eagles - 81 

SEASON RECORDS
Idaho - 9-5
Eastern Washington - 2-12

VANDAL LEADERS
PTS - Kolton Mitchell (32)
AST - Trevon Blassingame and Kolton Mitchell (2)
REB - Brody Rowbury (8)
BLK - Brody Rowbury and Seth Joba (2)
STL - Kolton Mitchell (3)

NOTABLES

• With 11 made threes, Idaho extended its streak of five or more made threes to 60 straight games.
  • Idaho has made 10 or more threes in 12 games this season
• With today's win, Idaho is now 5-0 at home for the first time since the 2017-18 season.
• Kolton Mitchell led all scorers with a career-high 32 points on 10-15 shooting, while swiping a season-high three steals
• Biko Johnson posted his third 20-point game as a Vandal, scoring 20 while going 5-12 from the field and 8-10 from the line

MOSCOW, Idaho. - On the day Idaho honored legendary head coach Don Monson, the Vandals pulled out an 84-81 victory over Eastern Washington in both teams' Big Sky opener.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 
Idaho struggled to find points early, turning the ball over on its first two possessions, before back-to-back buckets from Jackson Rasmussen gave UI a 7-5 lead before the first TV timeout. 

It did not take long for Kolton Mitchell to pick up where he left off, as the sophomore scored 11 points in the first eight minutes. The Coeur d'Alene native's triple with 12:30 to play in the opening half gave the Vandals a six-point lead, their largest of the period. 

The game was even at 37 at the break, with both teams converting over 45% of their shots in the first 20 minutes.

Idaho's attack began to take off out of the locker room, as the Black and Gold jumped out to an 11-point advantage with just over 11 to play, thanks to an Isaiah Brickner layup. The Eagles fought back, leveling the game with 6:30 on the clock. 

EWU and UI traded points down the stretch, before Idaho wrestled the lead away for the final time on a Biko Johnson triple with just 15 seconds to go. Mitchell and Johnson made four foul shots in the final 10 ticks to seal the deal, giving the Vandals the victory in their conference opener. 

UP NEXT
The Vandals will continue Big Sky play against Montana on January 8 at ICCU Arena, with tip slated for 6 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+, the Vandal Radio Network, and the Varsity Network. 

TICKETS
Idaho Athletics announced that all student tickets for football, basketball, volleyball, and soccer home events are free of charge for the 2025-26 academic year. To claim your tickets, visit govandals.com/tickets 

FOLLOW THE VANDALS
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