# 2015–16 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vandals, led by eighth year head coach Don Verlin, played their home games at the Cowan Spectrum, with a few early season games at Memorial Gym, and were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 21–13, 12–6 record in Big Sky play to finish in third place. They defeated Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Montana. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to Seattle.

## Previous season

The Vandals finished the 2014–15 season 13–17, 8–10 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to Eastern Washington.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Sekou Wiggs | 2 | G | 6'3" | 182 | Sophomore | Seattle, WA | Transferred to Alaska Anchorage |
| Connor Hill | 5 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Post Falls, ID | Graduated |
| Mike Scott | 12 | G | 6'0" | 180 | Senior | Los Angeles, CA | Graduated |
| Bira Sec | 13 | F | 6'6" | 215 | Senior | Dakar, Senegal | Graduated |
| Roberto Asencio | 50 | C | 6'9" | 245 | Junior | Haina, Dominican Republic | Left the team for personal reasons |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Chris Sarbaugh | 10 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Senior | Spokane, WA | Transferred from San Diego. Will be eligible to play immediately since Sarbaugh graduated from San Diego. |

## 2015 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Nick Blair SF | Las Vegas, NV | Bishop Gorman High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 13, 2015. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 10/30/2015* 6:00 pm | | Saint Martin's | W 86–62 | | Memorial Gym Moscow, ID |
| 11/06/2015* 7:00 pm | | Lewis–Clark State | W 88–53 | | Memorial Gym Moscow, ID |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2015* 7:00 pm | | at San Jose State | W 74–54 | 1–0 | Event Center Arena (1,327) San Jose, CA |
| 11/17/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Cal State Bakersfield | L 45–68 | 1–1 | Icardo Center (1,480) Bakersfield, CA |
| 11/21/2015* 7:00 pm | | Linfield Mean Green Showcase | W 85–59 | 2–1 | Memorial Gym (609) Moscow, ID |
| 11/23/2015* 5:30 pm | | at North Texas Mean Green Showcase | W 65–63 | 3–1 | The Super Pit (1,756) Denton, TX |
| 11/24/2015* 3:00 pm | | vs. Troy Mean Green Showcase | W 69–63 | 4–1 | The Super Pit (256) Denton, TX |
| 11/24/2015* 12:00 pm | | vs. Samford Mean Green Showcase | L 58–75 | 4–2 | The Super Pit (177) Denton, TX |
| 11/28/2015* 7:00 pm | | Northern Illinois | L 59–66 | 4–3 | Memorial Gym (571) Moscow, ID |
| 12/02/2015* 8:00 pm | | Cal State Bakersfield | W 67–63 | 5–3 | Memorial Gym (563) Moscow, ID |
| 12/05/2015* 5:00 pm | | Arkansas–Little Rock | L 54–64 | 5–4 | Cowan Spectrum (1,154) Moscow, ID |
| 12/07/2015* 7:00 pm, P12N | | at USC | L 55–74 | 5–5 | Galen Center (2,865) Los Angeles, CA |
| 12/10/2015* 6:00 pm | | Washington State Battle of the Palouse | W 78–74 | 6–5 | Cowan Spectrum (3,759) Moscow, ID |
| 12/18/2015* 7:00 pm | | New Hope | W 127–54 | 7–5 | Cowan Spectrum Moscow, ID |
| 12/22/2015* 7:00 pm | | at UC Davis | W 68–51 | 8–5 | The Pavilion (1,211) Davis, CA |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2015 4:00 pm | | at North Dakota | W 74–71 | 9–5 (1–0) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,436) Grand Forks, ND |
| 01/02/2016 1:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | W 75–70 | 10–5 (2–0) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,145) Greeley, CO |
| 01/09/2016 12:05 pm | | at Eastern Washington | L 60–74 | 10–6 (2–1) | Reese Court (3,262) Cheney, WA |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 83–76 | 11–6 (3–1) | Cowan Spectrum (1,318) Moscow, ID |
| 01/16/2016 7:00 pm | | Southern Utah | L 83–85 $^{OT}$ | 11–7 (3–2) | Cowan Spectrum (1,456) Moscow, ID |
| 01/21/2016 6:05 pm | | at Montana | W 63–58 | 12–7 (4–2) | Dahlberg Arena (3,733) Missoula, MT |
| 01/23/2016 1:05 pm | | at Montana State | L 68–70 | 12–8 (4–3) | Worthington Arena (2,435) Bozeman, MT |
| 01/28/2016 7:00 pm | | Sacramento State | L 63–65 | 12–9 (4–4) | Cowan Spectrum (1,228) Moscow, ID |
| 01/30/2016 7:00 pm | | Portland State | W 56–55 | 13–9 (5–4) | Cowan Spectrum (1,546) Moscow, ID |
| 02/04/2016 6:00 pm | | at Southern Utah | W 68–44 | 14–9 (6–4) | Centrum Arena (1,213) Cedar City, UT |
| 02/06/2016 1:00 pm | | at Northern Arizona | L 70–72 | 14–10 (6–5) | Walkup Skydome (1,623) Flagstaff, AZ |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 73–67 | 15–10 (7–5) | Cowan Spectrum (1,012) Moscow, ID |
| 02/13/2016 7:00 pm | | North Dakota | W 65–64 | 16–10 (8–5) | Cowan Spectrum (1,537) Moscow, ID |
| 02/18/2016 7:05 pm | | at Portland State | W 80–74 | 17–10 (9–5) | Peter Stott Center (920) Portland, OR |
| 02/20/2016 7:05 pm | | at Sacramento State | L 65–68 | 17–11 (9–6) | Colberg Court (845) Sacramento, CA |
| 02/27/2016 1:00 pm | | Eastern Washington | W 66–62 | 18–11 (10–6) | Memorial Gym (1,500) Moscow, ID |
| 03/03/2016 7:00 pm | | Weber State | W 62–58 | 19–11 (11–6) | Cowan Spectrum (1,476) Moscow, ID |
| 03/05/2016 7:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 82–68 | 20–11 (12–6) | Cowan Spectrum (2,549) Moscow, ID |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| 03/10/2016 8:00 pm | (3) | vs. (6) Eastern Washington Quarterfinals | W 77–73 | 21–11 | Reno Events Center (2,365) Reno, NV |
| 03/11/2016 8:00 pm | (3) | vs. (2) Montana Semifinals | L 72–81 | 21–12 | Reno Events Center (2,362) Reno, NV |
| CBI ||||||
| 03/16/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Seattle First round | L 63–68 | 21–13 | Connolly Center (999) Seattle, WA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||