Northwest Notes Oct. 17, 2025

Vandal men to face Boise State in exhibition Friday in Boise

Idaho's men's basketball team will face off against Boise State on Friday in an exhibition contest at Idaho Central Arena in downtown Boise.

Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. PDT, with the game airing on KTVB Channel 7 in the Boise area and the KTVB+ app. The KTVB+ app is available for free on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV, as well as on the KTVB website. It will also be available to listen to across select Idaho Vandal Radio Network affiliates, the Varsity Network app, and GoVandals.com.

Tickets are still available through the Idaho Central Arena box office.

In coordination with Boise State and game officials, the two teams have agreed to play an additional 10-minute period following the normal 40-minute game. 

Idaho and Boise State have met 89 times during the 54-year history of the rivalry, with Friday's exhibition being the first since 2014, when Boise State moved to the Mountain West Conference. 

UI returns 62.7% of their minutes from a year ago, the 15th most in the nation. Each of Idaho's top three scorers from last season, Kristian Gonzalez, former Lake City High star Kolton Mitchell and Jack Payne, remained with the Vandals.

In his sophomore season, Gonzalez posted a team-leading 11.4 points per contest, a mark that places him fifth among returners in the Big Sky, and his effective field goal percentage of 53.9 was among the top third of all players in the country. 

Mitchell's 11.1 points per game were among the top 50 in the nation by a freshman last season. Mitchell's season total of 114 assists was 14th best by a freshman in all of D1 basketball, and his assist rate was one of the best marks in the nation. 

Payne earned an all-conference honorable mention nod following a regular season where he averaged 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while shooting at a 46% clip from the field. The former Boise High and Owyhee High standout averaged 19 points and 6.5 rebounds in Idaho's two postseason games, enough to claim a place on the All-Tournament team. 

Idaho also added two big frontcourt pieces from the transfer portal in Meridian's Brody Rowbury from Southeastern Louisiana, and Seth Joba from Vermont. Rowbury is a veteran at the DI level, having started 82 games in three seasons for the Lions, where he averaged 8.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and nearly 26 minutes a game. Joba joins the Vandals after two seasons at Vermont, where he represented the Catamounts in 42 contests. The Orchard Park, N.Y. native shot 32.5% from beyond the arc and 36.4% from the floor.

Lapwai's Titus Yearout returns for his junior season at Idaho. He has appeared in 44 games for Idaho and is coming off a season where he shot nearly 43% from the field and 37% from three. The newest in-state Vandal is Jackson Rasmussen, who was the top recruit in the state last year. Rasmussen played his final prep season at Utah Prep, following three seasons at Owyhee High, where he won two state titles at the 5A level. Last month, Rasmussen was tabbed as Mid-Major Madness' Big Sky Freshman of the Year and was the top freshman commit from the class of 2025 to commit to a Big Sky school, according to 24/7 Sports. 

Boise State returns 47.2% of its minutes from a 26-win campaign a year ago. The Broncos earned a bid to the first College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas, where they beat George Washington and Butler, before falling to Nebraska in the semifinals. BSU finished fifth in the Mountain West regular season standings and fell to Colorado State in the title game of the conference tournament.

The Broncos feature seven newcomers highlighted by Dylan Andrews and Drew Fielder, who transferred to Boise State from UCLA and Georgetown, respectively. Fielder played two seasons at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian.

Head coach Leon Rice, a former Gonzaga assistant and Washington State graduate, is the winningest coach in school history, leading the Broncos to five NCAA Tournament appearances and 12 20-win seasons since being hired prior to the 2010-11 season. 

The Vandals kick off the regular season on Nov. 3, with the 280th Battle of the Palouse at Washington State. Idaho's home slate begins with Whitman on Friday, Nov. 7.