CEDAR CITY, Utah -Idaho State men's basketball capped off their week with a matchup in Cedar City, Utah on Saturday night versus the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds.
Idaho State looked strong to begin the contest. Storming to an 8-2 lead just 3:30 into the game. However, the Thunderbirds wouldn't go down without a fight, answering the Bengals hot start with a 20-6 run over the next 10 minutes. The Thunderbirds forced the Bengals to commit eight turnovers during this run and would take a 24-16 lead with 7:04 left to play in the first half. The Bengals would whittle the Thunderbird lead down to just one after a Gavin Gilstrap layup with 1:27 remaining in the half, but Southern Utah close the half on a 6-0 run and take a 33-26 advantage into the halftime break.
In the second half for every Bengal comeback attempt the Thunderbirds had a response. Not allowing Idaho State to come closer than seven points the rest of the game. Southern Utah would maintain a double-digit lead for most of the half, and go on to defeat Idaho State by a final score of 82-74. Following the loss, the Bengals fall to 4-6 on the year and SUU will get back in the win column, moving their record to 3-6 this season.
The big man tandem of Kiree Huie and Brayden Parker led the way for the Bengals tonight, Huie tying his season-high with 20 points making a career-high 10-of-13 field goals, while also tallying five rebounds, and two blocks. Parker would go on to put up 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, six rebounds, and one steal. Miguel Tomley was the other Bengal in double figures tonight, totaling 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Maleek Arington finished the game with six points, three rebounds, five assists, and two steals, and the final starter for the Bengals tonight, Isaiah Griffin, had eight points, five rebounds, and one steal. Off the bench for ISU Kolton Mitchell finished with three points, one assist, and one steal in nine minutes played, and Trent Johnson put up four points, two rebounds, and one assist in 17 minutes, and Gavin Gilstrap had two points and a season-high three rebounds in six minutes of action.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 57.4 percent from the field, their second highest shooting percentage in a game this season, and 35.7 percent from three-point land, going 5-of-14 from beyond the arc. The Bengals tallied 11 assists, 33 rebounds, and 4 steals.
Southern Utah finished the game shooting 53.2 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from three-point territory. The Thunderbirds led the Bengals in steals and assists tonight, as they finished with 16 assists and 8 steals to go along with their 27 rebounds in the game. SUU forced Idaho State to commit 19 turnovers, their second-highest turnover total in a game this year, leading to 20 Thunderbird points. Whereas the Bengals were only able to put up 11 points off of the 8 Southern Utah turnovers on the evening.
The Idaho State men's basketball team will be back in action on Thursday, December 21st as they travel to Corvallis, Oregon to face off with the Oregon State University Beavers at 5 PM MT.
