Vandals get their second win at California Thanksgiving Jam

The Vandals headed down the West Coast to participate in the California Thanksgiving Jam last week. After struggling to put numbers in the win column, they were looking for at least their second win of the season. Their first opponent was 1-3 Cal Poly. 

Cal Poly 

The Vandals got off to as hot of a start as they have all season, shooting 12/18, or 66%, from the field, the best they’ve shot all season. They were also 4/5 from three-point range and 8/10 from the free throw line. Cal Poly shot 16/27 from the field, 2/9 from beyond the arc and 5/6 from the free throw line. Fifth-year guard Divant’e Moffitt led the Vandals’ impressive shooting with 12 points, but Cal Poly held the 39-36 halftime lead. 

The Vandals rhythm would take them to a 40-39 lead. However, Cal Poly took charge, going on a 13-0 run to take their lead to 52-40. Cal Poly led by as many as 19 points. The Vandals were able to get it back down to 11, but the damage was already done as Cal Poly got the victory 82-71. 

The Vandals cooled down in the second half shooting 15/32 from the field, 3/9 from three-point range and 2/3 from the free throw line. Cal Poly shot 14/24 from the field in the second half, 3-4 from three and 12/14 from the free throw line, outscoring the Vandals in the second half 43-35.  

Cal Poly was led by senior forward Alimamy Koroma with 23 points. He shot 9/12 from the field, 1/2 from three-point range and 4/5 from the free throw line.  

The Vandals transfer combo of Moffitt and junior forward/center Isaac Jones combined for 41 of the Vandals 71 points. Moffit led the team with 22 points while also racking up eight assists. He was 7/11 from the field and 8/9 from the free throw line. Jones had 19 points, six rebounds, was 8/12, shooting, 1/1 from beyond the arc and was 2/4 from the free throw line.  

The loss brought them to 1-5 and a three-game losing streak, which they hoped to end against Pacific. 

Pacific  

The Vandals got off to another hot start as they shot 17/32 from the fieldand 6/10 from the free throw line. However, they didn’t shoot well from three-point range, going 2/12. 

Pacific shot 14/32 from the field, 4/7 from three and 7/8 from the free throw line. This time around, it was the Vandals who went into the halftime break on top as they led 42-39.  

The Vandals came out of the locker room and continued their hot shooting. They went 15/26 from the field, 4/10 from three and 8/9 from the free throw line. Pacific improved their shooting going 13/25 from the field, 3/6 from beyond the arc and 13/17 from the free throw line.  

In total, Idaho shot 32/58 from the field, 6/22 from three-point range and 14/19 from the free throw line. Pacific went 27/57 from the field, 7/11 from three and 20/25 from the free throw line.  

The game was back and forth the entire time. With less than two minutes remaining, the game heated up. It was tied at 77 until freshman center Nigel Burris made a three pointer to put the Vandals up 80-77. Pacific then made a layup with 44 seconds to make it 80-79. Moffit was able to answer with a layup of his own, putting the Vandals in front 82-79  

Pacific was fouled with seven seconds left. They made two clutch free throws to bring the game to 82-81. They called a timeout before fouling Moffitt with five seconds remaining. The Tigers were hoping for at least one miss to give them a chance, however Moffitt stepped up and delivered when the Vandals needed him, making both free throws pushing the lead to 84-81. Pacific heaved one up to try and tie the game, but it fell short. The Vandals picked up their second victory of the year, winning 84-81 and ending a 3-game losing streak.  

The Vandals were led by Isaac Jones, who scored a season high 31 points. He shot 11/14 from the field and 9/12 from the free throw line. He also tacked on seven rebounds and four assists. Moffit added 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half, shot 9/13 from the field and went 2-2 from the free throw line. The Vandals will return home on Friday Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. to take on 2-5 Northern Illinois.      

Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10