Brickner leads Idaho against Northern Colorado after 22-point outing

By Canadian Press on January 28, 2026.

Idaho Vandals (12-8, 4-3 Big Sky) at Northern Colorado Bears (11-10, 1-7 Big Sky)

Greeley, Colorado; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Idaho takes on Northern Colorado after Isaiah Brickner scored 22 points in Idaho’s 69-66 loss to the Portland State Vikings.

The Bears are 5-3 on their home court. Northern Colorado is 5-2 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 11.6 turnovers per game.

The Vandals are 4-3 in conference play. Idaho is fifth in the Big Sky with 24.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Jack Payne averaging 3.9.

Northern Colorado scores 83.1 points, 9.9 more per game than the 73.2 Idaho gives up. Idaho averages 10.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 4.2 more made shots on average than the 6.4 per game Northern Colorado gives up.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Quinn Denker is scoring 17.5 points per game with 4.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists for the Bears. Brock Wisne is averaging 16.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 55.2% over the past 10 games.

Jackson Rasmussen is scoring 14.1 points per game and averaging 4.7 rebounds for the Vandals. Biko Johnson is averaging 17.2 points and 4.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Bears: 2-8, averaging 78.2 points, 32.0 rebounds, 15.3 assists, 4.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 81.5 points per game.

Vandals: 6-4, averaging 79.9 points, 33.4 rebounds, 11.5 assists, 7.4 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.6 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press