Dec. 31, 2007
Final Stats
Seattle, WA --- Idaho State University got a solid effort from Amorrow Morgan with 13 points, but Idaho State struggled to stop the solid shooting of Washington, who scorched the nets at a .519 clip and hit 11 three-pointers as the Washington Huskies scored a 82-50 win over Idaho State, ending the Bengals non-conference season at 3-10.
Idaho State had no real answer for the solid shooting of Washington. The Huskies, who were the first Bengal opponent since Idaho on December 1 to enter the game not shooting .500 from the field, hit 14-of-27 fields in the first half, and then duplicated that again in the second. Idaho State and Washington were tied just once, at 2-2 after Lucas Steijn hit a turnaround jumper 1:07 in. The Huskies (9-4) answered with back-to-back three-pointers to make it 8-2, and ISU kept the game within reach, keeping Washington's lead in single-digits most of the half.
However, after Demetrius Monroe hit a transition layup with 2:18 to go to make it 33-25, the Bengals did not score again in the half, turning the ball over on their last three possessions of the half, while Washington scored on all three of their, including four free throws, making the lead 14 at the half at 39-25.
In the second, Washington quickly pushed the lead past 20 with a 10-3 run to start the half, and ISU never brought it back under 20 the rest of the way. Washington eventually got the lead up to 34 with 2:54 to go.
While the Bengals suffered their fourth 30-point loss in the last six games, there were plenty of encouraging signs as ISU gets ready to start non-conference play on Thursday at Northern Colorado. Amorrow Morgan again was superb with his 13-point effort, along with a team-high tying four rebounds.
Chron Tatum rebounded from a poor month with a spirited nine-point effort that got the attention of head coach Joe O'Brien. "That was nice to see Chron really play well, and get a little mad out there. One of the officials was trying to calm him down, but I've trying to get him fired up, so that was good to see, because we need a solid effort from Chron in conference play."
Lucas Steijn and Monroe each had eight points, as ISU battled inside and worked to get points in the paint, as ISU got 18 of those. ISU also got a nice game off the bench from freshman Tom Taylor, who also tied for the team-lead with four rebounds in just seven minutes of action.
"I told the team that our record and our situation is not their doing," said O'Brien. "When you have two point guards leave the program like we have had, that's going to take a toll against certain teams that we have played, but I like the effort, and we have to keep the type of effort we got today and keep it going for Big Sky play."
NOTES: Idaho State finished 0-4 against Pac-10 teams this season ... Matt Stucki's streak of five straight games in double-figures came to an end ... Amorrow Morgan led the team in rebounding for the third time in the last four games ... Thursday is ISU's conference opener, but the Northern Colorado Bears are already 1-1 in the league.
