# 2021–22 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho in the Big Sky Conference during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by third-year head coach Zac Claus, the Vandals played their home games on campus at the new Idaho Central Credit Union Arena in Moscow, Idaho.

## Previous season

The previous season had been intended to be the 46th and final season for basketball in the Kibbie Dome, configured as the "Cowan Spectrum" for basketball since February 2001. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 football season in the Big Sky was delayed until the spring of 2021. and home basketball games were moved to Memorial Gymnasium,
The Vandals finished the 2020–21 season with a 1–21 record (1–17 in Big Sky, last). In the conference tournament, they lost to Montana in the quarterfinals.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 29, 2021* 6:00 pm | | Evergreen State | W 73–56 | – | ICCU Arena Moscow, ID |
| November 4, 2021* 6:00 pm | | Yellowstone Christian | W 108–68 | – | ICCU Arena Moscow, ID |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Long Beach State | L 89–95 $^{OT}$ | 0–1 | ICCU Arena (1,723) Moscow, ID |
| November 12, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | George Fox | W 95–85 | 1–1 | ICCU Arena (1,307) Moscow, ID |
| November 15, 2021* 7:00 pm | | at Fresno State SoCal Challenge campus-site game | L 62–69 | 1–2 | Save Mart Center (3,388) Fresno, CA |
| November 18, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Washington State Battle of the Palouse | L 61–109 | 1–3 | ICCU Arena (2,727) Moscow, ID |
| November 22, 2021* 2:30 pm, FloHoops | | vs. Utah Valley SoCal Challenge Sand Division semifinals | L 45–83 | 1–4 | The Pavilion at JSerra (317) San Juan Capistrano, CA |
| November 24, 2021* 12:00 pm, FloHoops | | vs. Cal Poly SoCal Challenge Sand Division 3rd place game | L 63–67 | 1–5 | The Pavilion at JSerra (1,700) San Juan Capistrano, CA |
| November 27, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at North Dakota State | L 73–90 | 1–6 | Scheels Center (1,896) Fargo, ND |
| December 4, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southern Utah | L 75–81 | 1–7 (0–1) | ICCU Arena (1,043) Moscow, ID |
| December 8, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | South Dakota State | W 98–84 | 2–7 | ICCU Arena (1,051) Moscow, ID |
| December 11, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 58–59 | 2–8 | Icardo Center (899) Bakersfield, CA |
| December 18, 2021* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | SAGU | W 84–55 | 3–8 | ICCU Arena (1,105) Moscow, ID |
| December 22, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UC Riverside | Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols | Canceled due to COVID-19 protocols | SRC Arena Riverside, CA |
| January 6, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Montana State | L 72–92 | 3–9 (0–2) | ICCU Arena (50) Moscow, ID |
| January 8, 2022 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Eastern Washington | L 93–96 | 3–10 (0–3) | Reese Court (1,351) Cheney, WA |
| January 13, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Weber State | L 74–84 | 3–11 (0–4) | Dee Events Center (2,822) Ogden, UT |
| January 15, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Idaho State Battle of the Domes | L 74–81 | 3–12 (0–5) | Reed Gym (1,474) Pocatello, ID |
| January 17, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Arizona Rescheduled from December 30 | L 72–74 | 3–13 (0–6) | Walkup Skydome (418) Flagstaff, AZ |
| January 20, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Colorado | L 70–87 | 3–14 (0–7) | ICCU Arena (1,069) Moscow, ID |
| January 22, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Sacramento State | W 73–72 $^{OT}$ | 4–14 (1–7) | ICCU Arena (1,134) Moscow, ID |
| January 24, 2022 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Portland State Rescheduled from January 1 | W 84–79 | 5–14 (2–7) | Viking Pavilion (563) Portland, OR |
| January 27, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Montana | L 62–81 | 5–15 (2–8) | Dahlberg Arena (3,014) Missoula, MT |
| January 29, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Montana State | L 62–70 | 5–16 (2–9) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (3,481) Bozeman, MT |
| February 3, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Southern Utah | L 59–75 | 5–17 (2–10) | America First Event Center (2,033) Cedar City, UT |
| February 10, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Idaho State Battle of the Domes | L 70–79 | 5–18 (2–11) | ICCU Arena (1,323) Moscow, ID |
| February 12, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Weber State | W 83–79 | 6–18 (3–11) | ICCU Arena (1,059) Moscow, ID |
| February 17, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Montana | W 82–76 | 7–18 (4–11) | ICCU Arena (1,310) Moscow, ID |
| February 19, 2022 4:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Eastern Washington | W 83–80 | 8–18 (5–11) | ICCU Arena (2,230) Moscow, ID |
| February 24, 2022 7:05 pm, ESPN+ | | at Sacramento State | L 51–83 | 8–19 (5–12) | Hornets Nest (565) Sacramento, CA |
| February 26, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Colorado | L 94–98 | 8–20 (5–13) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,421) Greeley, CO |
| March 3, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Portland State | L 68–79 | 8–21 (5–14) | ICCU Arena (1,231) Moscow, ID |
| March 5, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Arizona | W 78–69 | 9–21 (6–14) | ICCU Arena (1,442) Moscow, ID |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2022 8:30 am, ESPN+ | (9) | vs. (8) Sacramento State First round | L 54–57 | 9–22 | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific. ||||||
Sources