Dec. 15, 2007
Final Stats
Los Angeles, CA --- Thirty years ago Idaho State ended the UCLA basketball dynasty in shocking fashion in the Sweet 16 of the 1977 NCAA Tournament. Thirty years later, history did not repeat itself as the #8 UCLA Bruins took care of Idaho State with an 89-49 win over the Bengals in historic Pauley Pavilion.
UCLA jumped out early to a 10-4 lead at the first media timeout and never looked back. True to how ISU has played this year, they never gave up hope, getting a solid effort from Matt Stucki, who led the Bengals with 15 points. The Bengals struggled offensively against the larger Pac-10 Bruins, as ISU shot just .375 for the game. Idaho State found themselves down 38-21 at the half as the Bruins shot .565 for the half, but the Bengals kept within striking distance by nearly equaling the rebounding battle for the opening half, getting outrebounded just by four 17-13.
While ISU played well against UCLA, the 40-point loss goes down as a tie for the 11th-worst loss in school history, and the worst since losing 77-35 to Eastern Washington at the end of the 2004-05 season. The Bengals opened the second half with a flourish, cutting the halftime deficit to 13 at 38-21, but the Bruins went on a quick 16-0 blitz to put any thoughts of a Bengal comeback to rest.
Idaho State (2-7), along with Stucki's 15, got a 12-point night from Lucas Steijn and 10 from Amorrow Morgan. Demetrius Monroe came off the bench for a solid six-point, eight-rebound effort. ISU was outrebounded 43-24 for the game.
The Bruins, who improved to 9-1 overall, got 20 points from Darren Collison, 17 from Kevin Love, and 16 from Josh Shipp, as UCLA spread the points and the playing time around.
For Idaho State, the road doesn't get any easier, even though they are headed back to Holt Arena. ISU will take on the undefeated and #6 Washington State Cougars on Sunday afternoon at Holt Arena at 2:00 pm. The Bengals still have road games with Utah and Washington before the calendar turns to 2008 and conference play begins, although ISU will sandwich those two road games with a home contest with Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, December 29 on ISU Faculty-Staff Family Appreciation Day, as ISU faculty and staff members can get two free tickets at the ISU ticket office at Holt Arena, and then purchase up to five more for just $2 apiece.
