Friday, November 28th, 10:05 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Cowan Spectrum (7,000) -- Moscow, Idaho. Television: None. Home Record: UCI 0-2, Idaho 2-0. Away Record: UCI 0-1, Idaho 0-3. Neutral Record: UCI 0-0, Idaho 0-0. Conference Record: UCI 0-0, Idaho 0-0. Series Record: UC Irvine leads, 15-4.

GAME NOTES: The Anteaters of UC Irvine shoot for their first win of 2008-09 tonight as they land in Moscow to challenge non-conference foe Idaho at the Cowan Spectrum. The Anteaters are currently 0-3 after falling to USC in the opener on the road and then bowing to both Eastern Washington and Oregon at home. As for the Vandals, they've had a diverse list of opponents already and that's the reason the team stands at 2-3 at the moment. After opening against tiny Evergreen State, the team made trips to both Michigan State and Gonzaga, both among the nationally ranked. In addition to the win in the opener, there's a victory versus North Dakota State at home as well, but since then the team has been downed by Eastern Washington on the road Monday night by a score of 69-59. The Anteaters lead the all-time series with Idaho by a commanding 15-4 count, winning the most recent meeting last season by a score of 69-55 at home.

Kevin Bland made a huge splash off the bench for the Anteaters against Oregon last week, scoring 26 points on 12-of-14 shooting from the floor in just 23 minutes of action, but it simply wasn't enough to get the team into the win column. Also scoring in double figures for UCI was Eric Wise who dropped in 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Fellow starter Zack Atkinson cleared a team-best 10 rebounds for a squad that went from shooting just 37 percent from the field in the first half to 62.5 percent after the break. Bland, who has started one of the team's three games, is tied with Wise for the scoring lead at the moment with 13.0 ppg, while Darren Moore accounts for 10.7 ppg. Atkinson (7.0 ppg) paces the group in the paint with seven rebounds per game, but for as much as he has his hands on the ball, the big man should have at least one assist by now. Despite Atkinson's efforts on the glass, the team is being beaten on the boards by more than 10 rpg.

Mac Hopson tallied a game-high 25 points, shooting 3-of-5 beyond the arc and 8-of-14 from the floor, but still the Vandals came up on the short end of a 10-point decision versus EWU earlier this week. Hopson, who also added five rebounds and five assists, played all but one minute of the contest. Kashif Watson contributed another 11 points, five boards and four dishes, which means between the two of them they accounted for all but three of the team's assists on the night. A better shooter from three-point range (.462) than he is from the field (.441) overall at the moment, Hopson leads the program in scoring with 17.4 ppg and is also first with his 24 assists. Watson and Luciano de Souza check in with 13.4 and 10.6 ppg, respectively, to help the Vandals arrive at 67.2 ppg. However, after those three performers there's a huge gap in the scoring, with Marvin Jefferson next on the list with his 6.6 ppg. Part of the problem with Jefferson, a 56.5 percent shooter, is that he's found himself in foul trouble early on and that's put him on the bench.

For two teams that are struggling in the early going, getting a win anywhere you can is important. Unfortunately for the Anteaters, being on the road isn't going to help their motivation.

Predicted Outcome

Idaho 65, UC Irvine 60