Nov. 18, 2006
Final Stats
Provo, UT --- Just five days after nearly slaying giant Marquette, losing in overtime, Idaho State suffered the same exact fate, as the Bengals dropped an overtime heartbreaker to Brigham Young 84-78 after getting a three-pointer with 6.1 left from Akbar Abdul-Ahad to tie the game up.
The Bengals suffered a dagger three-pointer when Jimmy Balderson drained a three at the shot clock buzzer with just over 24 seconds left to give BYU (1-1) a 78-72 lead. The Bengals could never quite catch up after that.
The Bengals were down big in the first half, trailing 42-26 before Austin Kilpatrick nailed a three at the halftime buzzer to cut the lead to 13. In the second half, ISU bolted out to a 16-3 start, keyed by a big three-pointer from David Schroeder with 12:20 left to tie the game at 45. Idaho State would eventually take a 58-50 lead after a couple of more threes and a backdoor layup by Cory O'Brien, but Brigham Young responded.
A quick 11-2 run gave the Cougars a 61-60 lead with 4:03 left, but Jon Ofoegbu tied it with a free throw. Balderson hit the first of his big shots with 1:49 left, a three for a 64-61 Cougar lead, although Ofoegbu got two back on a layup. The teams traded free throws, and Balderson made two more with 19.1 left for a 68-65 lead. Abdul-Ahad then nailed the tying shot with 6.1 left, and BYU's last gasp effort at the buzzer was late, forcing the overtime.
"We are going to make our statement with defense," said head coach Joe O'Brien "I'm very proud of their effort, this was a pretty testy atmosphere. We peeled the paint in the locker room a little bit at halftime, but it's good to see the basketball team comeback in the second half."
O'Brien added, "Jon Ofoegbu came back and he showed us what kind of player he can be. We are still working on finding ourselves some depth. BYU was down four in Pauley Pavilion, and they have a lot of seniors and a lot of NCAA tournament experience, and we have a bunch of freshmen on the floor at times."
The Bengals were led by Abdul-Ahad's career-high 26 points, and Ofoegbu had a coming out party with 17 tough points. Logan Kinghorn added 12 and David Schroeder had 11, although he struggled shooting all night, going just 3-for-18 from the field. Schroeder led ISU with six rebounds. For the Cougars, Balderson's 23 led them, and only Keena Young joined him in double-figures with 18.
ISU shot 44.4% for the game, and the Bengals were outrebounded 40-33. ISU heads to Washington State on Tuesday for their second straight game against a team nicknamed the Cougars.
