The Idaho Vandals and the Idaho State Bengals meet Saturday in college basketball action from Reed Gym. Idaho is 3-11 so far this year. The Vandals lost to Weber State in their last game. As for Idaho State, they’re sitting at 2-11 and fresh off a loss to Montana State. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Idaho won just one of their first eight games this year, taking out George Fox back on November 12. The last six games have been a 2-4 run for the Vandals. They’ve taken losses to CSU Bakersfield, Montana State, Eastern Washington and Weber State in that time.
In the loss to Weber State, the Vandals were down 38-27 at halftime. Idaho got better from there but still lost 84-74. Leading scorer Mikey Dixon led the way on 19 points, and Rashad Smith posted 13 points and five boards.
Over on the Idaho State side, they hit a 2-8 run to open the season. The wins were over Eastern Oregon and Bethesda. The Bengals haven’t had any luck since then either with losses to UC Santa Barbara, Montana and Montana State in the last trio.
Back on January 1 versus Montana State, the Bengals managed just 19 first-half points and 21 more from there in a 60-40 loss. The only Idaho State player in double-figures there was Emmit Taylor with 12 points and one rebound in 20 minutes of work.
The Bengals are 1-5 ATS in their last six Saturday games and 16-36-2 ATS in their last 54 home games. Idaho State is 5-17 ATS in their last 22 overall.
Meanwhile, the Vandals are 4-0 ATS in their last four Saturday games and 6-0 ATS in their last six road games. Idaho is 7-1 ATS in their last eight overall.
PICK: I’m going to go with Idaho here. At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much to like in this matchup, but it’ll be an interesting rivalry game. The Vandals haven’t had much success in the win column lately but they’ve been scoring well with 72 or more points in each of their last four. Conversely, Idaho State has been down in the dumps offensively with 54 or fewer points in four of their last five. A little offense will go a long way here, and I think Idaho will be in full control.