BOISE, Idaho - The Idaho State men's basketball team is moving on to the Big Sky Tournament semi-final round, and will be going up against off with the 3rd seed, Montana, on Tuesday, March 12th at 9 pm. The winner of the game between ISU and UM will advance to Wednesday night's championship game where the winner of #10 Sacramento State and #5 Montana State will be waiting. Scott Gross will call the game on KISU and the game will also be available to stream on ESPN2.
University of Montana (22-10)
Home (13-3), Away (8-7), Neutral (1-0)
ISU Recent Series vs. UM
3/4/2024 A L 65 – 79
12/30/2023 H L 68 – 76
3/6/2023 N L 74 – 83
2/9/2023 H L 61 – 69
1/14/2023 A L 55 – 84
The Grizzlies come into the semi-final matchup against Idaho State with a 22-10 overall record and 13-6 in conference play, winning their last three contests in a row. Montana has downed Idaho State in five straight meetings, and the Bengals are 1-27 vs Montana in their last 28 meetings, dating back to 2009, including last season's Big Sky Tournament quarter-final matchup that saw the Griz send the Bengals home, 83-74.
University of Northern Colorado Recap
The Bears would open the game on a 7-0 run over the first 3:21, looking to take control early in the game. However, Idaho State would have a response, going on a 16-5 run to take a 16-12 lead with 9:14 to play in the half. Following a Miguel Tomley three-pointer with 2:21 remaining in the first half, the Bengals found themselves up by eight points, the largest lead of the first half. The Bears would end the half on a 5-0 run, as Idaho State would take a three-point advantage into the halftime break, 33-30.
To open the second half the Bengals would be able to extend their lead to 12 points, after a nifty Miguel Tomley floater, 48-36 with 14:57 to play. Northern Colorado would have answer, cutting the Bengal lead down to just four points, 52-48 with 10:51 remaining. ISU would have an answer of their own, going on a 15-5 run to push themselves to a 14-point lead, 67-53 with just minutes left on the clock. UNC would refuse to go away, coming back to within six points of the Bengals multiple times, but could not complete the comeback attempt as Idaho State would earn their second Big Sky Tourney win in as many days, and advance to the Big Sky Semi-Finals for the first time since 2009. Following the second-round victory Idaho State will improve to 15-19 overall and 8-12 in conference play. After the loss Northern Colorado will drop to 19-13 overall and 12-7 in Big Sky play.
All five starters for Idaho State would end in double figures, Miguel Tomley would lead the game in scoring, finishing with a season-high 28 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from three-point land, three rebounds, and one assist. Isaiah Griffin would step up for the Bengals on both ends of the court tonight as Griffin would tally 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from deep, a team-high eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal while helping the anchor the Bengals' defense against UNC's Saint Thomas, as ISU would limit the Big Sky Conference's Newcomer of the Year to just 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field. Kiree Huie would end tonight with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and six rebounds, while fellow big man, Brayden Parker, would end tonight with 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals, one assist, and one block. The final Bengal starter, Maleek Arington, would end the game tonight with 11 points, eight assists, three rebounds, and one steal. Off the bench for the Bengals Trent Johnson and AJ Burgin would keep the Bengals' rhythm flowing, as Johnson would record four points, three rebounds, and one steal in 21 minutes, and Burgin would provide the Bengals with three points and one rebound, going 1-of-2 from beyond the arc in 12 minutes of action.
After recording his 1 block tonight, Brayden Parker is now T-5th with Jeff Cook (1977-78) on the ISU Single-Season Blocks list.
Following his 3 assists in the game, Maleek Arington now sits at 159 assists on the season, moving him into 5th place on the ISU Single-Season Assist Leaderboard, passing Tony Malveaux (1983-84), Jordie McTavish (2000-01), and Tyrone Buckman (1991-92). Also, after recording his 1 steal tonight, Arington is now T-8th place on the ISU All-Time Steals list with Matt Stucki (2005-09) at 115.
Following making 3 more three-pointers in tonight, Miguel Tomley, moves up the Idaho State All-Time and Single-Season 3PM record books. Tomley now sits at 81 made three's this season, moving him into 2nd place on the ISU Single-Season list, needing just one more to tie, and two more to break Tim Erickson's (2000-01) Single-Season 3PM record. Tomley also now sits at 139 career 3PM, moving him into sole possession of 7th on the ISU All-Time 3PM list, passing Jeff Gardner (2003-05).
Idaho State finished the game shooting 46.8 percent from the field, and 33.3 percent from three-point territory, going 6-of-18 from deep, and one of their season's best performances at the charity stripe, 19-of-20. Idaho State tallied 11 assists, 32 rebounds, and 6 steals.
Northern Colorado finished the game shooting 46 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point land (8-for-22). The Bears ended the game with 30 rebounds, 4 steals, and 13 assists.
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
- Brayden Parker is 3rd on the ISU career Blocks list with 121, passing Nate Green after recording 2 blocks in the Bengals game vs Northern Arizona on Feb. 29th
- Brayden Parker became the 25th player in Idaho State history to reach the 1,000-career point mark after dropping 24 points in the Bengals' game vs Montana on Dec. 30th
- Parker moved into 10th place on the ISU All-Time Scoring list with 1,319 career points. Passing Frank Swopes (1,304) after recording 18 points vs Northern Arizona on March 9th
- Maleek Arington is now T-8th All-Time in Steals at Idaho State with 115, tying Matt Stucki (2005-09) after recording 1 steal vs Northern Colorado on March 10th
- Miguel Tomley has moved into the All-Time record books at Idaho State as he now sits at 139 career 3PM, moving him passed Jeff Gardner (2003-05) for 7th on the ISU All-Time 3PM list
- Brayden Parker is 4th in the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, making 53.3% of his shot attempts (71st in the country)
- Brayden Parker is 3rd in the Big Sky in Blocks (47) & 4th BPG (1.42)
- Kiree Huie is 5th in the Big Sky in Blocks (39) & BPG (1.18)
- Kiree Huie is 3rd in the Big Sky in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (2.21)
- Maleek Arington is 2nd in the Big Sky and 41st in the nation in Assists (159) & 2nd in the Big Sky in APG (4.8)
- Maleek Arington is 2nd in the Big Sky in Steals with 76 (9th in the nation) & 2nd in the Big Sky in SPG with 2.3 (13th in the country)
- After Maleek Arington's second 50-minute game of the season on Feb. 29th vs Northern Arizona he now leads the Big Sky and 7th in the nation in Minutes Per Game (37:06)
- Maleek Arington is 4th in the Big Sky in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.99)
- Miguel Tomley is 1st in the Big Sky in 3-Point FGM (81) & 2nd in 3-Point FGM Per Game (2.45)
- ISU has had a big defensive presence down low, averaging 3.6 blocks per game (1st in the Big Sky)
- Idaho State has been stingy on defense, plucking 7.1 steals per game (3rd in the Big Sky)
- The Bengals defense is only allowing 70 PPG to opposing teams (2nd in the Big Sky)
- Multiple Bengals have climbed into the single-season record books
- Maleek Arington has passed Tony Malveaux (1983-84), Jordie McTavish (2000-01), and Tyrone Buckman (1991-92) for 5th most assists in a Single-Season in ISU history with 159
- Arington has accumulated 76 steals this season, moving him to 2nd on the ISU Single-Season Steals list
- Brayden Parker is T-5th with Jeff Cook (1977-78) on the Single-Season Blocks list, currently with 47 & 9th on the Single-Season BPG list, averaging 1.42 blocks per game
- Miguel Tomley has now made 81 three-pointers this year, moving him into 2nd place All-Time in a Single-Season. Tomley needs just 1 more to tie, and 2 more to pass Tim Erickson (2000-01) for the most 3PM in a Single-Season in Bengal history.
- Kiree Huie moved into 10th place on the Single-Season Blocks list, passing Scott Henry (2003-04) after recording a career-high 4 blocks vs Northern Colorado on March 2nd.
Looking Ahead
Following their game against #3 Montana, the winner between the Bengals and Griz will advance to the Big Sky Tournament Championship on Wednesday, March 13th at 9:30 pm and face the winner of #10 Sacramento State vs #5 Montana State.
Follow the Bengals
Follow along at ISUBengals.com to keep up to date with the team. Fans can also follow the Bengals on social media (Twitter: @IdahoStateMBB | Instagram:@Idahostatembb | Facebook:@IdahoStateMensBasketball)