Pocatello, ID- Idaho State will be traveling to Bozeman, Montana this Thursday, January 12th to battle the Montana State Bobcats at 7 p.m. in Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. Over the last 20 seasons (since 2003) the Bengals have a record of 13-24 against the Bobcats in 37 contests. The Bengals have lost the last seven matchups against the Bobcats, their last win over Montana State coming back in March of 2018.
Montana State comes into the game with a record of 10-7 on the year and 3-1 thus far in Big Sky Conference play, winning their matchups last week against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. The Bobcats are averaging 76.2 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the field and 34.7 percent from deep. The Bobcats will look to stymie the Bengals defensively as the Bobcats are holding their opponents to just 66.8 points per game (1st in the Big Sky), 40.7% shooting from the field (1st in the Big Sky), and force 13.7 turnovers per game (2nd in the Big Sky).
The Bengals will look to take down the Bobcats behind their fierce defense and hot three-point shooting. The Bengal defense has held their opponents to just 29 percent from three-point land this season (23rd in the nation), 42.6% shooting from the field (3rd in the Big Sky), average 2.8 blocks per game (3rd in the Big Sky), and 6.6 steals per game (2nd in the Big Sky). The Bengals have also been deadly from three-point land averaging 8.4 threes per game (77th in the nation).
Tip will be at 7 p.m. in Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Montana. Jerry Miller will call the game on KISU.
Montana State University (10-7)
Home (5-1), Away (5-3), Neutral (0-3)
ISU Recent Series vs. MSU
2/7/2022 H L 72-54
1/1/2022 A L 60-40
3/11/2021 N L 71-63
2/13/2020 A L 73-69
1/25/2020 H L 75-64
Weber State University Recap
The Bengals men's basketball team defeated the Weber State Wildcats Thursday night, 67-57. The Bengals move up to 6-10, 3-0 BSC. After the loss Weber State drops to 7-9 on the year and fall to 2-1 in conference play.
The Bengals and Wildcats battled all first half exchanging hard-fought buckets down low and making free-throw after free-throw. As the Wildcats extended their first-half lead to nine points the Bengals were able to cut the lead down to seven at the break. However, the Bengals took the second half by storm, going on a 17-3 run in the first eight minutes, and taking the lead 42-37. The Wildcats fought as hard as they could to keep up but the Bengals' defense closed out the game strong as the Bengals cruised to a double-digit win in Ogden.
Brayden Parker was the Bengals leading scorer tonight finishing with 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Miguel Tomley and Jay Nagle both chipped in 12 points apiece while Maleek Arington had another great game off the bench with nine points, three assists, three steals, and two rebounds.
The Bengals shot 43.9 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from deep. Idaho State assisted on 12 made baskets, outrebounded Weber State 35-27, and finished with nine steals. The Bengal defense held Weber State to 35.6 percent shooting from the field and just 15.8 percent from deep. The Bengals were able to go on a huge run to open up the second half and never looked back as the defense made sure to shut down the Wildcat offense.
The Returning 6
0 AJ Burgin G So. 6-3 205 San Diego, Calif.
2 Tommy Ball G Fr. 6-0 175 El Dorado Hills, Calif.
5 Austin Smellie G Sr. 6-5 200 Preston, Idaho
13 Daxton Carr F Jr. 6-7 215 Pocatello, Idaho
22 Jared Rodriguez F Sr. 6-8 215 Glendale, Ariz.
25 Brayden Parker C Jr. 6-8 250 Preston, Idaho
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1 Jay Nagle F Sr. 6-9 215 Vacaville, Calif.
3 Ronnie Stapp G Jr. 6-6 185 Bakersfield, Calif.
10 Miguel Tomley G So. 6-3 200 Surrey, BC
11 Brock Mackenzie G Sr. 6-2 185 Sammamish, Wash.
12 Turner Livingston F Fr. 6-4 195 Spokane, Wash.
14 Jordan Hansen G Fr. 6-6 215 Seattle, Wash.
20 Briggs Ranstrom F Fr. 6-6 205 Eagle, Idaho
23 Maleek Arington G Fr. 6-3 200 Lake Tapps, Wash.
24 Ed Chang F Jr. 6-8 215 Papillion, Neb.
32 Kolby Lee C Sr. 6-9 240 Meridian, Idaho
44 Louis Stormark C Fr. 6-9 250 Alleroed, Denmark
Bengal Bites
- Brock Mackenzie is currently 5th in the Big Sky in three-pointers made (37), and three-pointers per game (2.31)
- Brock Mackenzie and Miguel Tomley are both top 11 in the Big Sky in three-pointers per game and total three pointers made
- The Bengals are currently 77th in the nation in three-pointers made per game (8.4 per game)
- The Bengals' defense is currently 1st in the Big Sky and 23rd in the country in three-point percentage defense, holding opponents to just 29 percent from three this season
- The Bengals' defense ranks 2nd in the Big Sky in steals per game (6.6) and 3rd in the Big Sky in blocks per game (2.8)
- This is the first time in Idaho State history that both the men's and women's basketball teams begin conference play 3-0
