POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State Bengals men's basketball team will be back on the court for the first time of the 2023-24 season, hosting Warner Pacific in the MACU Center in Idaho Falls, ID on Monday, November 6th at 6 p.m. This will be the first ever meeting between Idaho State and Warner Pacific.
WP had a record of 18-10 last year, losing their second-round matchup in the CCC Championships to Corban University.
Idaho State finished off last season with an 11-21 overall record and a record of 8-11 in Big Sky play, good enough for 5th place in the regular season conference standings. The Bengals fell to Montana in the quarterfinal round of the Big Sky conference tournament to end last year.
The Bengals return 8 players from last year's roster, including Big Sky second team selection from last season, Brayden Parker, as well as starting guard Miguel Tomley, and Maleek Arington. All three athletes will look to be big factors on both ends of the court for Idaho State this season.
The Bengals bring in 9 new faces, headlined by forward, Kiree Huie, transferring in from Odessa Junior College in Odessa, Texas, and forward, Isaiah Griffin coming in from Southeastern Community College in South Burlington, Iowa. Forward, Trent Johnson out of Midland College in Midland, Texas, will also look to make an impact for Idaho State this season.
Of the 9 new faces on the team, 5 are true freshman. Both guard, Kolton Mitchell, from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and center, Evan Otten, out of Redmon, Oregon, will look to impress off the bench to begin the year.
Tip will be at 6 p.m. in the MACU Center. Scott Gross will call the game on KISU and Dylan Carder will call the game on ESPN +.
Warner Pacific (0-0)
Home (0-0), Away (0-0), Neutral (0-0)
Exhibition Recap
The Bengals played in two exhibition games to open their season, downing the Simon Fraiser Red Leafs 80-55 in their opening exhibition game, and then defeated Dickinson State 88-61 behind a 25-5 run in the final 8 minutes of the game.
The Returning 8
3 Maleek Arington G So. 6-3 200 Auburn, WA
10 Miguel Tomley G So. 6-3 200 Surrey, BC
12 Turner Livingston F R-Fr. 6-4 195 Spokane, WA
13 AJ Burgin G Jr. 6-3 205 San Diego, CA
14 Jordan Hansen G So. 6-6 215 Seattle, WA
20 Briggs Ranstrom F R-Fr. 6-6 205 Eagle, ID
25 Brayden Parker C Gr. 6-8 250 Preston, ID
44 Louis Stormark C R-So. 6-9 250 Alleroed, Denmark
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0 Kolton Mitchell G Fr. 6-1 175 Coeur d' Alene, ID
4 Jaedyn Brown G Fr. 6-4 175 Pullman, WA
5 Laolu Kalejaiye G Fr. 6-0 160 Los Angeles, CA
15 Kiree Huie F Jr. 6-9 220 Grayson, GA
21 Isaiah Griffin F Jr. 6-6 210 Knightdale, NC
22 James Bodily G Fr. 6-3 200 Bancroft, ID
30 Evan Otten C Fr. 6-11 220 Redmond, OR
31 Trent Johnson F Jr. 6-7 205 Cambridge, ON
32 Gavin Gilstrap C Jr. 6-11 270 Spokane, WA
Bengal Bites
- The Bengals return 8 players from last season, including 2 starters and their sixth man
- Idaho State welcomes 9 new athletes to the roster this season, 5 of which are true freshman
- This season begins the 5th under head coach, Ryan Looney, who looks to improve off of one of his best seasons at the helm at ISU
