Nov. 2, 2007
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID - Matt Stucki, making his first career start as a point guard, took a definite shine to the position, scoring 13 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out seven assists as Idaho State took down Rocky Mountain College, and NAIA school from Billings, Montana 84-69 at Reed Gym on Friday night.
Stucki was one of three Bengals to hit double figures in scoring, as ISU really spread it around as 10 of the 11 players that played scored and everyone played between nine and 29 minutes. The game was never in doubt, as the Bengals quickly jumped out to a 15-6 lead just 4:31 into the game after a personal eight-point run by Logan Kinghorn, who hit two threes in the run and eventually led the Bengals with 16 points.
Rocky Mountain eventually chopped that lead down to six at 29-23, but Lucas Steijn hit a free three throw and a dunk, Stucki hit a reverse layup, and Austin Kilpatrick hit a deep three and the lead was bumped back to 14, and at the break it was 39-28 ISU.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Bengals never saw their lead dip into single digits in the second half, and with 3:31 left, ISU took their biggest lead of the game at 76-51. Only a 17-point outburst over the final 2:48 allowed the score to remain fairly close. Rocky Mountain hit three three-pointers over that stretch as well as eight free throws, including two after ISU's Donnie Carson was assessed a technical foul for hanging on the rim with 9.9 seconds left.
"I'm pretty pleased," said Idaho State head coach Joe O'Brien, who will officially begin his second season next Friday night at Iowa, a game broadcast locally on the Big Ten Network in HD. "They (Rocky Mountain) had played three games in Canada last week, so they a few more wrinkles ironed out then us and 120 minutes of game experience under their belt, and we really had no clue as to what they were going to do."
"We came in saying that we were going to do what we do, and we are going to do it better than you, and hope that's enough, and for the first night out, and for the first night out it was because we did have a pretty good size advantage at most positions, and they just had a real hard time getting good looks. I thought we took care of the ball very well, until the last two minutes, and we held them under 40%, which is a stat I always look at first, and that's a goal of ours"
Idaho State shot .507 from the field and .417 from the three-point line. Along with Kinghorn and Stucki, Austin Kilpatrick also hit double-figures with 14 points. For the Bears, Chase Sukut, the brother of former Bengal Chadd Sukut, lead them with 22 points, including several circus-type shots. Nate Miller added 13, Alvin Dowiels 11, and Elijah Swan 10. The Bengals, who held Rocky Mountain to .393 shooting for the game, outrebounded the Bears 47-25.
Idaho State not only surprised some with Matt Stucki starting at the point, but also with Cory O'Brien earning a start, but the elder O'Brien stated that would not necessarily hold true in the opener at Iowa. "We had a really good practice yesterday and that's the five that were on the floor yesterday when were started practicing, and we've been changing it up a bit, but I thought early on here I'd give our guys, our upperclassmen, Logan, Cory, and Matt, our captains, all a chance to play early, as they would be the most composed, and they were."
The Bengals now get a week to iron out some things in practice before heading to Big Ten country and a date with the Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday night. That game, which has a 7:05 Mountain Time tip, will be the first ever Bengal basketball game broadcast in High Definition.
NOTES: Steve Anderson, a freshman out of Caldwell's Vallivue High School, sat the game out as a precaution with an unspecified injury ... the Bengals allowed only four offensive rebounds, and dished out 24 assists ... Austin Kilpartick led the team with two blocks.
