College of Idaho Men's Basketball to Host NAIA First/Second Round

SERIES HISTORY vs. JESSUP: Friday's matchup against Jessup will mark the fourth meeting between the two schools. The two teams first faced each other in 2011-12 and most recently in 2020-21 with College of Idaho holding a 2-1 advantage in the series. Jessup won the last meeting by a 68-64 margin as the two teams met in back-to-back contests on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, 2021 in Caldwell during the COVID pandemic.
 
SERIES HISTORY vs. CORNERSTONE: College of Idaho and Cornerstone have met up just once and that contest was in the second round of the NAIA Division II National Tournament. The Yotes won that contest by an 86-82 margin in overtime on March 8, 2019.

SERIES HISTORY vs. CARROLL: College of Idaho and the Saints of Carroll are familiar with one another. The two teams have faced each other on 33 occasions with Carroll holding a slight 17-16 advantage. The two teams first faced one another in 1927 and as recent in 2022. The Saints won the last meeting by a 59-51 margin on November 13, 2022.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY: College of Idaho will be making its 26th appearance - third-consecutive year - in the NAIA National Tournament with an all-time mark of 34-22. The 26 appearances is tied for fifth among the most in the NAIA followed by Georgetown (Ky.)-42, Cumberlands-30, Oklahoma Baptist / Central Washington-27; Northwestern (Iowa)-26.

RECORD: 15-10 • STREAK: W8
Previous meetings in the NAIA FIrst Round:
1960* - Villa Madonna (Ky.) 94, College of Idaho 70
1962* - Southeastern Oklahoma State 83, College of Idaho 64
1984* - Cumberland (Ky.) 73, College of Idaho 61
1985* - Athens State (Ala.) 64, College of Idaho 59
1986* - Wayland Baptist (Texas) 72, College of Idaho 66
1988* - Grand Canyon (Ariz.) 99, College of Idaho 96 (OT)
1989* - College of Idaho 61, Biola (Calif.) 58
1991* - College of Idaho 96, Saint Rose (N.Y.) 91 (2 OT)
1993! - Albertson College of Idaho 79, Webber (Fla.) 68
1995! - Ohio Dominican 73, Albertson College of Idaho 72
1996! - Albertson College of Idaho 83, Northland (Wisc.) 68
1999! - Albertson College of Idaho 78, Bethany (Kan.) 73
2001! - Albertson College of Idaho 62, Bellevue (Neb.) 58
2003! - Albertson College of Idaho 53, Taylor (Ind.) 44
2004! - Albertson College of Idaho 77, Tabor (Kan.) 60
2005! - Flagler (Fla.) 82, Albertson College of Idaho 70
2007! - Northwestern (Iowa) 99, Albertson College of Idaho 77
2014! - College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 88, College of Idaho 84
2015! - College of Idaho 65, Dakota State (N.D.) 64
2017! - College of Idaho 98, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 93
2018! - College of Idaho 66, Maryville State (N.D.) 50
2019! - College of Idaho 87, Voorhees (S.C.) 74
2020!+ - College of Idaho 67, Northwestern (Iowa) 49
2022* - College of Idaho 97, Vanguard (Calif.) 78
2023* - College of Idaho 78, Westcliff (Calif.) 61
* - Indicates a single division
! - Indicates years competing as Division II.
+ - Remainder of NAIA National Tournament canceled due to COVID-19 Pandemic

RECORD BOOK WATCH: 
SCORING - 2,718 - 12th (RECORD: 3,192)
FIELD GOALS - 995 - 13th (RECORD: 1,195)
3-POINT FIELD GOALS - 313 - 7th (RECORD: 368)
REBOUNDS - 1,365 - 13th (RECORD: 1,608)
ASSISTS - 531 - 17th (RECORD: 731)
BLOCKS - 104 - 13th (RECORD: 188)
STEALS - 264 - 24th (RECORD: 376)

CCC HONORS: College of Idaho won the regular season Cascade Collegiate Conference title for 10th time. The 10 regular season titles is tied for the most in league history. The regular season efforts led to a conference record four first team all-conference selections. 

CCC HONORS x 2: Sophomore guard Samaje Morgan was named the conference Player of the Year. He is the seventh player in program history to earn the annual honor.

BLAINE IN MARCH: Yotes head coach Colby Blaine has posted a 17-3 record (.850) in the month of March since taking the reigns of the program in 2018-19.

PLAYERS IN THE NAIA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT:
Caden Handran (10 GP/10 GS...3.5 ppg, 1.0 apg, 56.5 FG%)
Tyler Harris (6 GP)
Samaje Morgan (6 GP/6 GS...11.0 ppg, 2,8 apg, 2.0 spg, 80 FT%)
Jake O'Neil (9 GP/9 GS....13.4 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 4 double doubles)
Johnny Radford (9 GP...6.6 ppg, 32.4 3-PT FG%)
Tyler Robinett (10 GP/10 GS...7.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 36.1 3-PT FG%)
Straton Rogers (6 GP...3.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg)
Bryan St. Clair (4 GP)
Paul Wilson (9 GP...5.2 rpg, 51.7 FG%)
Drew Wyman (10 GP/10 GS...10.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 44.4 FG%)

YOTES vs. the FIELD: College of Idaho has faced 25 teams in the 64-team field with an all-time record of 183-124. Outside of its three fellow CCC teams, the next most common opponent for the Yotes is Montana Tech, the No. 3 seed in the Naismith Quadrant with College of Idaho holding a 30-10 all-time mark. Behind the Orediggers is Friday's potential opponent, Carroll, who the Yotes have faced 33 times for a 16-17 all-time mark.

CCC and THE YOTES IN THE POST SEASON: College of Idaho enters the post-season with a mark of 34-22 in the post season. Just 10 programs - two of which are in other Divisions of college athletics now - have more wins than College of Idaho. The Yotes are joined in the postseason by fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference teams - LC State (10-16), Oregon Tech (39-18) and Southern Oregon (6-9) for an all-time mark of 92-65. 

1,000-POINT PLATEAU: Jake O'Neil became the 31st player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark in the 79-51 win over Multnomah in program history. He was joined in the 1,000-point club by Johnny Radford, who reached the mark with his second 3-pointer in the win over Walla Walla. Drew Wyman became the third Yote with over 1,000 career points with his 13-point effort at Bushnell. It is the first time in program history that the Yotes have had three 1,000-point scorers on the roster in the same year. 

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS: College of Idaho put up 50+ points in the first 20 minutes on 12 games in 2023-24. Despite the loss to Oregon Tech, on the season, the Yotes are outscoring the opponents, (2718 / 87.7 ppg to 1997 / 64.4 ppg), outrebounding the opponents (1365 / 44.0 rpg to 984 / 31.7 ppg). For the season, College of Idaho is shooting 48.5% from the field and have made313 3-pointers as well as made 415 of 584 free-throw attempts. Opponents have made just 281 of 426 free throws and committed 12.9 turnovers per game.

DOUBLE DOUBLE, DOUBLE DOUBLE (CAREER)
Jake O'Neil: 9 (26; last vs. Evergreen (1/20/24)
Straton Rogers: 2 (last vs. Multnomah (2/4/23)
Drew Wyman: 2 (last vs. Multnomah (2/10/24)
Samaje Morgan: 1 (last vs. Oregon Tech (1/20/23)
Tyler Robinett: 1 (last at Northwest (2/17/23)

20 Win: With the first 20-win season in 1954-55, College of Idaho has had 26 20-win seasons and seven of the last eight seasons after picking up win No. 20 in a 106-61 rout of Walla Walla. Colby Blaine has won at least 30 games, four of the last five seasons including a school record 36 in 2022-23.

OVER 1,000-STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A 3-POINTER: The 3-point shot has been key to the Yotes success over the years. College of Idaho has a season-high of 20 3-pointers (vs. Multnomah - 2/10/24) in a game in 2023-24 and made just three (against Eastern Oregon - 12/30/23). Last time out, College of Idaho made eight 3-poitners to their string of games with a made 3-pointer to 1,153. UNLV holds the current 3-point streak record (1,220), just ahead of CCC member Corban (1,209) and Duke (1,180). The last time that College of Idaho was held to just one was on February 5, 2010 against Eastern Oregon.

COLBY CONTINUES TO CLIMB THE CHARTS: Heading into Friday's action, College of Idaho head coach Colby Blaine is fourth all-time in wins with 166 wins behind Dick Carrow (3rd-179), Mark Owen (2nd-189) and Marty Holly (12st-423). He is just two wins shy of his fifth 30-win season. 

A WINNING TRADITION: College of Idaho entered the season with 1,446 all-time wins which ranks ninth all-time in the NAIA. Only 13 programs have over 1400 wins in the NAIA. 

PURCHASE A PIECE OF HISTORY: The JA Albertson Activities Center is getting a new court! This is your chance to purchase a commemorative piece of the court. Visit http://tinyurl.com/4tz6kh5m to get your piece for just $100 for a 12"x5" piece.

BALL SECURITY: In 23 of the 31 games, College of Idaho has had less than 10 turnovers. The 9.5 turnovers per game is seventh in the NAIA.

FOR 3: Johnny Radford has made 70 3-pointers in 2023-24 for 233 in his career to move into third place all-time. Next on the list for Radford is 275 by Josh Owen (2004-08). Earlier this season, College of Idaho hit at least 10 3's in 10-straight games for the first time in program history. Earlier this season against Multnomah, College of Idaho made a season-high 20 3-pointers for the first time since they made 20 triples against Northwest Indian College on Nov. 23, 2018. College of Idaho knocked down 17 3-pointers in the 107-40 win over Walla Walla on Friday, January 5. The most and at home since they drained 18  since they made 18 against Walla Walla on January 28, 2023. The 10.2 made 3-pointers per game ranks seventh in the nation. 

BOARD WORK: Three players - Caden Handran (10 vs. Hope International - 11/24/23); Jake O'Neil (12 at Warner Pacific - 12/16/23; 10 vs. Montana Western - 11/25/23) and Paul Wilson (10 vs. Montana Western - 11/25/23) - have had double-digit rebounds in a game in 2022-23. With O'Neil and Wilson each grabbing double-digit rebounds against Montana Western, the last time that C of I had two players with double-digit rebounds was at Multnomah on Feb. 4, 2023. Furthermore, the last HOME game with two players with double-digit rebounds was on December 7, 2019 against Multnomah when Talon Galloway had 10 boards and Connor Desaulniers had 16 against the Lions. College of Idaho has outrebounded 29 of its last 31 opponents - dating back to 2022-23, the Yotes have outrebounded its 48 of its last 50 opponents. 

HOME COURT EDGE: The J.A. Albertson Activities Center is arguably one of the toughest venues in all of NAIA Basketball, as the Coyotes posted a perfect 20-0 mark in 2022-23 and have posted a staggering 160-16 overall record on their home floor since the start of the 2013-14 season. After a season-opening loss in 2023-24, College of Idaho has won its last 16 in a row at home. The 20 home wins were just one win shy of  a new school record held by the 2021-22 team. Since the Activities Center opened in 1991, the Yotes have recorded a 383-100 all-time record – with the mark ballooning to 500-109 when accounting the previous decade at O'Connor Fieldhouse.

JAM THE JAAC: College of Idaho leads the NAIA for a second-straight year with an average of a program best 1,481 fans at its home games in 2022-23. Since 2013-14, with the exception of the CoVID year of 2020-21, College of Idaho has averaged over 1,000 fans per home game.