MOSCOW, Idaho – The North Dakota men's basketball team fell on the road to Idaho in the first game of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge by a score of 90-58 on Wednesday night. UND drops to 3-7 and Idaho improves to 5-3.

UND was led offensively by Marley Curtis (15 points), Eli King (11 points) and Zach Kraft (9 points), as the trio combined for 35 of the teams 58 points and all of the Hawk's seven three-pointers on the night. Curtis and Kraft each connected on three shots from behind the arc, while King poured in one. They combined to go 7-for-14 from deep (50.0%).

For the second straight game NoDak got off to a very early lead, owning an 8-3 advantage through three minutes of action. Anthony Smith lll made a deep two-point basket from straight on with 16:03 to play, giving the Hawks a 10-5 lead.

The Green and White went without a field goal for the next 5:41 of game play, allowing Idaho to go on an 8-0 run and 17-4 extended run during that time to jump in front 22-14.

The Hawks remained competitive, as a King deep triple from the right wing brought UND within 24-19 at the 8:04 mark, but back-to-back Vandals triples gave UI a 30-19 lead with 7:09 to play in the first half.

Following two Uelmen free throws with 4:24 remaining, UND trailed 34-26. North Dakota then allowed an Idaho 7-1 run to end the half, going into the break down 41-27. The Vandals got 22 points off the bench in the first 20 minutes, compared to three from the Hawks.

Neither team came out of half hot, but the Vandals used an 11-4 run over the first 6:04 of the second half to open up a 21-point lead by a 52-31 margin with 13:56 remaining.

 UND would not get back within 20 points the rest of the way, shooting 11-for-27 from the field in the second half, compared to 14-of-25 from Idaho. North Dakota trailed by as many as 37, falling 90-58.

The Hawks will continue the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge on Saturday at home against Montana at 7 p.m. The game will be aired on Midco Sports and on the radio at 1440 AM The Fan.

Postgame Notes

• North Dakota falls to 3-8 all-time against Idaho and 1-4 all-time in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge
• Curtis cracked double-digits for the fourth time this season, tying his career-high in three-pointers made with three
• King had his seventh double-digit scoring game and his ninth game with two or more steals, snatching three on the evening
• King now ranks 10th in UND history in steals with 117 in his career
• Kraft has now had a three-pointer in 9-of-10 games this season, logging two or more trey balls in seven outings
• North Dakota shot 20-for-50 from the field compared to 27-for-52 from Idaho
• UND connected on 7-of-24 three-point attempts, allowing UI to shoot 14-for-29 from behind the arc
• NoDak was outrebounded 35-20
• Idaho had 59 bench points compared to 20 from North Dakota
• The Hawks turned 14 Vandals turnovers into eight points, while Idaho turned 17 UND turnovers into 23 points
• North Dakota's 17 turnovers were a season-high

How It Happened
First Half
15:45 UND 10, UI 5
11:31 UI 16, UND 12
7:19 UI 27, UND 19
3:40 UI 34, UND 26
Half: UI 41, UND 27
 
Second Half
15:32 UI 49, UND 31
11:23 UI 54, UND 34
7:28 UI 66, UND 41
2:28 UI 90, UND 56
Final: UI 90, UND 58

For more information on North Dakota men's basketball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDmbasketball.
-- UND --