College Basketball Today

IDAHO AT NORTHERN ARIZONA

The Vandals (1-3 Big Sky, 7-9 overall) call on the Lumberjacks (3-2, 6-10) at the Walkup Skydome at 6:35 PST in Flagstaff.

At a glance

The Vandals are on the Road to Nowhere and they can’t seem to find an exit ramp. UI is 0-5 in road games with the average setback by 21.2 points. The Vandals trailed by 30 in Thursday’s 73-56 loss at Weber State.

Idaho’s season may be at a crossroads. A rebound victory tonight could catapult UI to a strong conference finish and to the top-six finish necessary to make the Big Sky Tournament. Another mind-numbing defeat may send the Vandals spiraling.

NAU is the Big Sky’s biggest surprise. Forward Brad Snyder and muscular guard John Rondeno figured to be solid, but senior wing Tyrone Johnson has developed into a key player. He has scored in double figures four straight games after never reaching double digits in his NAU career.

Idaho: Harry Harrison, 13.3 ppg, 11 rpg; Mark Leslie, 13.2 ppg; Shawn Dirden, 10.2 ppg. Northern Arizona: Snyder, 14.5 ppg, 90-percent foul shooter; Rondeno, 12.2 ppg.

Radio: KVNI (1080 AM) Coeur d’Alene, KRPL (1400 AM) Moscow, and other stations on the Vandal network.

EASTERN WASHINGTON At WEBER STATE

The Eagles (0-4 Big Sky, 3-12 overall) are in Ogden, Utah, for tonight’s conference game against the Wildcats (3-2, 9-8). Tipoff is at 6:35 p.m. PST.

At a glance

Eastern follows Thursday night’s closer-than-normal, 67-58 road loss at Northern Arizona with tonight’s game against the defending Big Sky regular-season champion Wildcats. Weber State was impressive Thursday, hammering an Idaho team that handled EWU last weekend. Does that make tonight’s Eastern-Weber State game a mismatch? Probably. The Wildcats are 15-6 against the Eagles and have won the last five.

EWU can make this one close by picking up where it left off in Flagstaff, having rallied within a point in the game’s final minutes after falling behind by 15. The Eagles had more rebounds than NAU, breaking a four-game streak in which they had been outrebounded. And by making just five secondhalf turnovers, EWU forced the Lumberjacks to make their foul shots to stay ahead. It’ll take two good halves by Eastern to break the Eagles’ 42-game road losing skid.

Eastern: Kevin Groves, 13.1 points per game; Josh Lewis, 10.9 ppg; Curtis Porter and D’mitri Rideout, 9.9 ppg; Melvin Lewis, 8.2 ppg, 7.5 rebounds per game. Weber State: Ruben Nembhard, 20.3 ppg, 2.3 steals per game; Jimmy DeGraffenried, 15.6 ppg; Kirk Smith, 10.4 rpg.

Radio: KSBN (1230 AM).