TUESDAY TUNEUPS: Both College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon had exhibition contests on Tuesday night. The Yotes were 60-47 winners over NCAA Division II and rival Northwest Nazarene University. The contest was the lowest combined scoring effort between the two teams since a 57-54 win by the Yotes on December 4, 1959. NNU was limited to 47 points, its lowest offensive output in this rivalry since scoring 44 in the 1959-60 season.
Samaje Morgan scored a game-high 17 and
Jake O'Neil had a solid all-around game with 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
STRONG START TO SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN: Sophomore
Straton Rogers has increased his production in his second full season with the Yotes from 4.6 to 21.1 minutes per game; 1.3 to 6.3 points per game and 1.8 to 9.5 rebounds per game. Rogers has scored at least eight points in the last five games and had at least eight rebounds in seven of eight contests.
SAMAJE GIVING GIFTS: Freshman
Samaje Morgan has already started the holiday season with gifts for his teammates. The freshman from Eugene, Oregon is averaging 5.1 assists per game. The last Yote to average more assists per game was Talon Pinckney, who averaged 5.4 assists per game in 2017-18. Morgan gave out 10 assists in the win over Madonna on Saturday. The 10 assists are the most since a 10-assist game by Pinckney on December 15, 2017 against Corban.
GRAND THEFT CALDWELL: College of Idaho had 12 steals against Madonna. The last time that College of Idaho had 12 steals in a game was when they had 14 against Oregon Tech on January 25, 2020.
SCHEDULE NOTES: College of Idaho opened the season with a pair of games in Glendale, Arizona where they faced No. 1 Arizona Christian and a team receiving votes nationally in OUAZ before coming home for a stretch of six-straight home games (minus an exhibition game at NNU on November 22). Â Last season, College of Idaho played seven of its first nine at home.Â
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS: College of Idaho ranks eighth nationally in offensive rebounds per game (14.0 rpg).
REJECTION: College of Idaho blocked nine shots in its win over Embry-Riddle (Ariz.). The nine rejections were the most by a Yotes team since a 12 blocked shot effort against Eastern Oregon on February 28, 2015.
IS THERE AN AREA CODE? College of Idaho has made 62 3-pointers (7.8 made per game) on the 2022-23 season. Nine-different Yotes have hit a three pointer on the season with
Johnny Radford knocking down a team-high 24 of 55 (43.6%) of his attempts. For his career, Radford has made 96 3-pointers which ranks 36th in program history.
Next on the list
32. 98 -
Emanuel Morgan (2013-17) - current Yotes Assistant Coach; Everett Ratliff (1997-98).Â
34. 97 - Keun Palu-Thompson (2017-19)
NOT JUST A BASKETBALL SCHOOL: In the fall, the College of Idaho football team won a share of the Frontier Conference title for the fourth-straight year. The last two seasons, College of Idaho has shared the title with its only outright Frontier Conference title coming back in 2019. The Yotes women's soccer team reached the second round of the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in program history. To reach the national tournament, the Yotes received a bid, by virtue of advancing to the CCC Championship game. In the first round, the Yotes defeated Truett McConnell by a 2-1 margin. Last, but not least, the College of Idaho men's and women's cross country teams enjoyed another successful campaign. The women's team won its fourth-straight Cascade Collegiate Conference title and went on to finish a program-best third at the national championships. The Yotes had three runners earn All-American honors including Ellyse Tingelstad, who won CCC Runner of the Year honors for a second-straight year. On the men's side, they finished second at the conference meet and a CCC-best seventh at the NAIA National Championships led by CCC Men's Runner of the Year Hayden Bostrom, who brought home All-American honors.Â
GETTING TO THE LINE: College of Idaho has made 130 free throws on 187 attempts. Opponents have got to the line 115 attempts on the season. Five of the last six seasons, the Yotes have made more free throws than their opponents.
YOU'VE BEEN ROB'D: Sophomore
Tyler Robinett leads the Yotes with 10 rejections in the first eight games. He put away 20 shots in his redshirt freshman campaign, last season. With 32 for his career, he ranks 36th all-time. Junior
Paul Wilson has 66 career rejections which ranks 12th all-time in program history.
FIRST POINTS: Redshirt freshmen
Whitt Miller and
Bryan St. Clair scored their first collegiate points in the 78-51 rout of Embry Riddle (Ariz.). St. Clair knocked down a 3-pointer to go along with a layup and Miller scored six points and grabbed four rebounds in the win.Â
DON'T I KNOW YOU: The roster for the Yotes features 12 returning letterwinners from a NAIA Elite Eight squad in 2022-23. Among the newcomers is freshman
Samaje Morgan, who is the brother of assistant coach
Emanuel Morgan. Assistant Coach
Jacob McLeod is reunited with his former co-worker and Yotes head coach
Colby Blaine as the two worked together at the College of Southern Idaho.Â
DOUBLE DOUBLE, DOUBLE DOUBLE (CAREER)
Jake O'Neil: 1 (6; last vs. Providence (Mont.) (11/25/22)
THE 8 & 8 CLUB: The season is just eight games old, but
Jake O'Neil leads the Yotes with four games with at least eight points and eight rebounds just ahead of
Straton Rogers, who has had three games.
TALES FROM SAFFORD - Longtime Director of Athletic Communications Mike Safford left behind these notes - BEYOND THE 3-POINT LINE SUCCESS: Since college basketball adopted the 3-point line at the start of the 1986-87 season, the Coyotes have made a 3-pointer in every game played but one – a loss to Idaho State during the U.S. Bank Tip-Off Tournament at Boise State on Dec. 2, 1988. Since then, C of I have run a string of games with a trey to 1,097 – one of five programs (UNLV – 1,168, CCC rival, Corban – 1,155, Duke – 1,161and Western Kentucky – 1,104) which have made a 3-pointer in over 1,080-or-more straight games. UNDER 60 POINTS / OVER 95 POINTS: C of I has a dominating 209-13 mark when holding teams under 60 points over the last 40+ years. During the stretch, the Coyotes are 51-1 when opponents fail to score 50. In addition, the Yotes have won 52 of their last 53 contests (dating back to 2006) when scoring 95 points per game.
