Northern Colorado (12-10, 2-7) entered Thursday night with just one Big Sky Conference victory, but inside Bank of Colorado Arena, the Bears looked nothing like a team near the bottom of the standings. Behind a dominant all-around performance from former Vandal Quinn Denker and a decisive second-half surge, Northern Colorado defended its home court with a 91-83 win over Idaho (12-9, 4-4).
Denker turned in one of the most impressive individual performances in the conference this season, leading all players with 35 points while filling the stat sheet with 10 assists, seven rebounds and two blocks. The former Idaho guard controlled the game’s tempo from start to finish and repeatedly made the Vandals pay at the free-throw line, where he went 12-14.
Despite Denker’s big night, Idaho put itself in a solid position early on. The Vandals matched Northern Colorado shot for shot in the first half and carried a one-point lead into the break. Idaho’s ball security helped keep things steady, as the Vandals finished with just six turnovers, tied for their second-lowest total of the season.
But the game flipped midway through the second half, and it started with a costly moment for Idaho’s frontcourt.
With just under 10 minutes remaining, Vandal forward Brody Rowbury, Idaho’s primary interior presence, was involved in a physical scramble for a jump ball. After a review, Rowbury was ejected from the contest for pulling a Northern Colorado player to the floor. At the time of his exit, Rowbury had contributed 10 points and three rebounds and had been a key part of Idaho’s effort to hold its own in the paint.
Without him, the Vandals were suddenly undersized, and Northern Colorado wasted no time exploiting the mismatch. The Bears relentlessly attacked the paint down the stretch, finishing with a 44-22 advantage in points in the paint. Forward Brock Wisne scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Northern Colorado’s inside success translated directly to efficiency. The Bears shot 52.6 percent from the field for the game and poured in 55 second-half points, gradually pulling away from the Vandals in a game that had been tight for the first 25 minutes. While neither team produced a massive scoring run, the Bears’ steady execution on nearly every trip down the floor wore Idaho down.
Offensively, Idaho leaned heavily on freshman Jackson Rasmussen, who once again carried a significant portion of the scoring load. Rasmussen finished with 26 points and six rebounds, attacking the basket and living at the free throw line, where he went 11-13.
Kolton Mitchell provided a late spark, knocking down several key shots as Idaho tried to rally in the closing minutes. Mitchell ended the night with 19 points, three rebounds and three assists, helping the Vandals trim the deficit briefly before time became a factor.
Free-throw shooting was one area Idaho handled well. The Vandals went 24 of 28 at the stripe, marking their sixth game this season shooting better than 85 percent from the line.
The loss stings even more considering how competitive Idaho looked in its previous outing, when the Vandals nearly knocked off conference-leading Portland State. Instead of building momentum, Idaho dropped its second straight game and allowed a team near the bottom of the standings to be more physical than them.
Now, the Vandals will have little time to dwell on the result. Idaho heads to Flagstaff next, where it will face Northern Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 5 p.m., looking to regroup and get back on track in the thick of Big Sky play.