Feb. 3, 2007
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- After a string of three close losses in a four games, the Idaho State Bengals put together a superb offensive effort shooting .615 from the field and draining nine threes, and a superb defensive effort forcing a .343 shooting night in an 85-62 win, moving ISU into a three-way tie for second place in the Big Sky Conference.
Idaho State (11-12, 6-4) got a big night from David Schroeder, who started out slow missing his first four shots but ended the night 8-for-15 with six threes on the way to a 23-point night.
After Alex Bausley gave Sacramento State (8-15, 3-7) a 15-14 lead at the 12:36 mark, the Bengals tore off a quick 11-0 run, highlighted by three Schroeder three-pointers, and after that ISU was never threatened, as the Hornets could never get within eight the rest of the way.
The Bengals led by eight at the break, but quickly pushed that lead to 15 just 1:35 into the half. From there, the Bengals kept the Hornets at bay and it was a total team effort. Amorrow Morgan, who had played sparingly over the previous three weeks, came off the bench to run the point for 25 minutes, scoring five points and dishing out three assists.
While Schroeder had 23, Logan Kinghorn again was a major force off the bench with 19 points, going 8-for-9 from the field. Matt Stucki also had a second straight solid game with 16 points, including three threes, and John Ofoegbu scored 14 and added four blocks, part of ISU's nine on the night.
All in all, head coach Joe O'Brien, who returned to the sideline after serving his one-game suspension, was more than pleased with the effort. "It's nice to have that monkey that had turned into a gorilla off our backs," said O'Brien. "We're back to playing good defense, we won the boards by 11, and I just thought it was a very solid team effort.
"Ak (Abdul-Ahad) wasn't Ak tonight, but Amorrow came in and played really well," said O'Brien of his point guard. "Twenty-five minutes at the point position for him was great, even though he didn't have a huge stat line." Entering the game, Abdul-Ahad had played 406 of 410 minutes in conference play, but he played just 16. He left the game in the final two minutes after tweaking his ankle.
For the Hornets, they had a big night from Kris Groce, who led them with 15 points, but he was the only Hornet in double-figures. Sacramento State could never get it going against ISU's constant defensive changes, shooting .343 from the field (23-of-67) and just .214 from three-point range (6-for-28). Sacramento State didn't help themselves fro the line either, going just 10-for-19 (.526)
The win moved Idaho State into a three-way tie with Montana and Montana State for second place at 6-4, just one game behind 9-3 Weber State in the loss column. Northern Arizona, who lost to Weber State tonight, dropped from second all the way down to fifth place.
Idaho State heads on the road for their next four games, starting next week when they take on Northern Colorado in Greeley on Thursday night at 7:05 pm.
NOTES: Kinghorn nearly tied the ISU record for best field goal percentage in a game, as three times an ISU player has gone 9-for-10 ... Idaho State had 19 blocks during the week after having 20 in their previous five games ... Nick Rhodes set a career-high with four assists along with grabbing 10 rebounds ... ISU had 40 points in the paint.
