STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific men's basketball team (4-5) continues its road trip, traveling north to face Idaho (4-4) at 6 p.m. PST on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at ICCU Arena.
The Tigers are coming off a tough loss in the 7,000 feet of elevation to Northern Arizona by a score of 78-58. Senior
Judson Martindale put together his best performance as a Tiger in the effort against the Lumberjacks, scoring a season-high 21 points in a career-high 37 minutes.
Head coach
Leonard Perry, who has a long history with Idaho playing and coaching there, is excited to make his return to his alma mater.
"I have great memories of the town of Moscow and the school," said Perry, who graduated from Idaho in 1995 and served as the Idaho head coach for five seasons from 2001-02 through 2005-06. "In terms of the game, we got to figure out a way to get on track. We've had some spirited and competitive practices lately. If we're able to translate that into the game, I like our chances."
The Tigers have a 16-3 edge in the all-time series against the Vandals. The two teams crossed paths a season ago during the California Thanksgiving Jam in Stockton, Calif., where the Vandals picked up a close 84-81 win on November 25, 2022. In that contest, then-junior
Donovan Williams led the way with 19 points as he connected on 40 percent (four-for-10) of his shots.
Last year, Idaho earned a 5-10 record at home and finished 10-22 overall on the season. To open the 2023-24 campaign, the Vandals started with back-to-back losses to Washington State and CSUN, who Pacific also fell to on Nov. 29 by an 11-point margin (80-69).
Idaho junior forward Julius Mims dropped 11 points in the Vandals' 85-70 home win against Cal Poly on Saturday, going 5-5 from the floor. Mims leads the Vandals in scoring with 10.9 points per game to accompany a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game and a field goal percentage of .594.
Along with Mims, Idaho has three players averaging double-digit scoring. Junior guard Quinn Denker averages 10.1 points per game. Senior guard D'Angelo Minnis has started all eight games for the Vandals, leading his team with 29 assists following a three-assist, 18-point performance against the Mustangs.
For the Tigers, Martindale leads the team with 11.8 points per game with a .461 field goal percentage after his big afternoon against NAU. Martindale ranks 17th in the West Coast Conference in points per game.
Sophomore guard
Moe Odum paces Pacific with 46 assists. His 5.1 assists per game rank among the top three in the WCC while leading the conference with a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio.
Redshirt junior
Burke Smith is coming off back-to-back games with double-digit scoring. The native of Glen Allen, Va., scored 11 points in the effort against the Lumberjacks. Graduate student
Greg Outlaw posted a season-high 13 points while shooting perfect from the free throw line (6-6) off the bench against NAU.
The game can be viewed on ESPN+. Zack Bayrouty will broadcast the game on Fox Sports 1280 AM.
Follow along on Pacific's men's basketball's social media accounts on both @PacificMensBB on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
