Idaho cruises to win over North Dakota, 90-58, in Big Sky-Summit League Challenge

MOSCOW, Idaho – It was a challenge in name only. North Dakota could not provide much of one to Idaho in those teams’ iteration of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge series as the Fighting Hawks had no response to Idaho’s Isaiah Brickner going molten in the second half with 22 of his game and career-high 26 points.

The Vandals cruised to a 90-58 win to go 5-3 on the year. North Dakota faded to 3-7.

“I was just trying to take the right shot,” Brickner said. “They were going in, so I kept shooting them.”

Brickner did all his damage in just 17:34, Idaho coach Alex Pribble pointed out. He was an accurate 7 of 10 from the floor, including 4 of 5 on 3-pointers and a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Pribble also noted Brickner, a senior guard who transferred from Marist last season, battled through two injuries in the summer and without much preparation still put up the best numbers in Idaho’s defining end-of-summer conditioning drill. On the basketball court, Brickner is just now finding his form.

“It was only a matter of time for him to come in and perform the way he did,” Pribble said.

The Fighting Hawks were determined throughout the game to double Idaho off ball screens and in the paint, Pribble noted. Committing an extra man to their defense “gives you an advantage if you can get the ball out of there,” he said of defeating North Dakota’s traps.

Scoring throughout the roster, as eight Vandals put up points, and the consistent, determined passing of Idaho’s offense as the Vandals were willing to go deep into the shot clock to get a good look were keys to Idaho taking control of the game. This was seen in the disparity of assists, 20 for the Vandals, 12 for the Fighting Hawks.

Pribble called the game the most complete effort for Idaho this season. The Vandals had 59 points off the bench, outrebounded North Dakota, 35-20, and harried the Fighting Hawks into 17 turnovers that seemed like more. Idaho scored 23 points off those turnovers.

Pribble said he was most excited about Idaho’s defense. “It was a pretty complete defensive performance.”

Idaho struggled to score through the first six minutes but finally took a lead, 11-10, on Biko Johnson’s lofted shot on a baseline drive.

From there, Idaho went on an 8-2 run to gain some separation at 19-12. North Dakota never got closer than five points through the remainder of the game.

Idaho led at the break, 41-27.

Seth Joba paced Idaho in the first half, scoring all of his 13 points, including three three-pointers.

Trevon Blassingame and Johnson each added a dozen points to the Vandals’ game total.

Marley Curtis led North Dakota with 15 points. Eli King followed with 11.

Idaho torched North Dakota from the floor. The Vandals shot 51.9% for the game, 27 of 52, while holding the Fighting Hawks to 20 of 50 shooting, 40 percent.

Women

Oral Roberts 92, Idaho 89: The Idaho women’s basketball team had another high-scoring game, but the Vandals slipped defensively and had their six-game winning streak snapped.

Idaho surrendered a season-high point total in a loss to Oral Roberts on Wednesday at ICCU Arena.

The Vandals (7-2), a top-20 scoring team nationally, have piled up more than 80 points in five consecutive games, but it was not enough to outpace the Golden Eagles (4-5).

Idaho led by 12 points early in the fourth quarter, but Oral Roberts answered with a 14-4 run. Idaho guard Kyra Gardner’s 3-point attempt missed the mark as time expired.

Forward Debora dos Santos led the Vandals with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Gardner added 17 points and guard Hope Hassmann contributed 16.

Idaho lost despite taking 11 more shots than ORU and outrebounding the Eagles by 11. The Vandals shot 39 of 83 (47%) but just 3 of 20 from 3-point distance. ORU, led by Anna Trusty’s 24 points, shot 31 of 72 (43.1%) from the field and 9 of 22 (40.9%) on 3s, and had a big advantage at the foul line – 21 of 22.

Colton Clark contributed to this report.