Jan. 6, 2007
Final Stats
Sacramento, CA --- With a dominating effort on the boards, led by a pair of double-doubles from John Ofoegbu and Nicholas Rhodes, the Idaho State Bengals swept their first conference road series sweep since the 2001 season with a 73-58 win over the Hornets in Sacramento, pushing the Bengals to a perfect 2-0 in the Big Sky Conference, alone in first place heading into a Thursday night showdown with high-flying Eastern Washington.
The Bengals outrebounded Sacramento State 49-18, easily the largest rebounding margin of the season. Idaho State was getting outrebounded by four for the season coming into the game. Idaho State dominated in the post, with John Ofoegbu going for 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Nick Rhodes setting a career-high with 13 points, and grabbing 11 rebounds, his third straight game with 10 or more.
Certainly though, the opening five minutes didn't look anything like a runaway, as Idaho State turned the ball over on their first five possessions and didn't hit a basket until Rhodes hit a layup at the 14:59 mark, but the Bengals hit 6-of-8 to open with, and ISU bolted to a 29-13 lead. Sacramento State did answer, going on an extended 15-4 run to end the half.
However, ISU bolted out of the second half gate, opening the half by outscoring Sacramento State 20-4, setting up the win. The lead got up to 21 at 61-40 on another Rhodes layup, and only a barrage of late threes kept Sacramento State close, as they cut it to 66-56 with 1:26 left, but ISU hit 7-of-9 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The big day for Rhodes came in front of the Sacramento natives family and friends. Rhodes, who had hit just one free throw in the last two years, went 3-for-7 from the line. Idaho State offensively played solid, despite 22 turnovers. Ofeogbu scored 15, leading a balanced attack that saw David Schroeder score 14, Rhodes 13, and Akbar Abdul-Ahad 12. Rhodes and Ofoegbu by themselves outrebounded Sacramento State 22-18, and the Hornet nabbed just seven offensive boards and went to the line eight times, well below their averages for the year.
The last time the Bengals swept a conference road trip was February 16 and 17, 2001, when ISU beat Montana 79-75 in overtime, and Montana State 72-70 in overtime as well. The Bengals, sitting alone in first at 2-0, 7-8 overall, now face 2-2, 8-8 Eastern Washington on Thursday night at 7:05 in Holt Arena.
The Hornets had just one in double-figure scoring, Loren Leath, who netted 19 off the bench.
NOTES: Alex Bausley for Sacramento State went over the 1,000-point mark at the 4:24 mark, the third Hornet to do so in the Division I era ... ISU's 22 turnovers were the second most they committed this season, behind the 25 at Marquette ... The Bengals shot .542 from the field, to just .367 for the Hornets ... ISU hasn't started 3-0 in league play since 1996, when they started 3-0 on the way to a 7-7, fifth place finish.
