Jan. 25, 2008
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- It wasn't a perfect second half, but it was pretty darn close. Idaho State shot .826 from the field in the second half, including 3-for-3 from three-point range, as ISU scored their highest point total this season in an 86-63 blistering of Sacramento State on Friday night, setting up a first place showdown with Northern Arizona which seemed improbable just three weeks ago.
The Bengals (7-12, 4-2) opened up an eight-point halftime lead, paced by Austin Kilpatrick's three early three-pointers. From there, the Bengals absolutely lit the nets on fire. They ended the first half with a stick-back by Lucas Steijn, and then ISU hit their first eight shots in the second half, opening up a 21-point lead in the process. Then as if to prove the first streak wasn't a fluke, the Bengals hit 10 straight shots from the 10:35 mark until the final 10 seconds, when ISU missed a shot prior to the shot clock expiring.
"It sure helps when you shoot 82% from the field," said Kilpatrick after the contest, who had a season-high 15 points."
Said Logan Kinghorn of Austin's early salvo, "It's great to get him going, and we know he can shoot the ball like that. It's been tougher for him since teams are keying on him a little, but he came out and hit those first two and you could see he was ready to go."
Idaho State never allowed Sacramento State (3-16, 1-7) a chance to get going, holding them to just .361 from the field, and outrebounding them 36-29. The Hornets, who make a living off of points of turnovers, got just 11 on ISU's 15 turnovers.
The Bengals had four in double-figures, and while Kilpatrick was scoring early, Kinghorn was the master of the boards, tying a career-high with 10 in just the first half, and finishing with his third double-double with 11 points and 14 boards.
In the second half, Donnie Carson added another eight points to set a career-high in scoring for the fifth time this year, this time with 16, and Corey O'Brien scored all eight of his points in the second half, setting a career-high for himself as well. Sacramento State forced 12 second half turnovers, but most of those came late with the game well in hand.
"This has been a gut check week for us after getting blown out Montana State Saturday night ... but we came out and won by 23 and it was a team effort," said head coach Joe O'Brien. "We had a lot of balance scoring, and defensively we did what we set out to do every night. That's what we needed...we needed some assurance that we are as good as we think we can be."
And now the Bengals with a 4-2 conference record, are one loss behind Northern Arizona, who defeated Weber State on Friday night to improve to 6-1, and they are the last conference team with just one loss. The game will be broadcast Sunday afternoon on Altitude Sports, and it is a rematch of the game of the year last year, in which NAU defeated Idaho State 102-98 in double-overtime. After a good crowd of 2,343 on Friday night, the team hopes the fans will enjoy the Super Bowl bye week at Holt Arena.
Said O'Brien, "What we've done is set up a national TV showdown for first place on Sunday, and that's really exciting for us. We really need a nice crowd here, because Holt can be a really tough place for an opponent, and we need a good crowd to really make it fun for the players."
The players are also looking forward to the battle for first place at the halfway mark of the conference season. "I'm real excited," said Austin Kilpatrick. "We have some revenge to get from last season too, so hopefully we can come out and play well."
Said Kinghorn, "We played a great schedule in the preseason, with some tough, tough teams, but conference is different ever since I've been here, as it is full of crazy outcomes. "It's still early, but we need to play well in this middle part of the conference, but this is a great opportunity for us. I mean playing in Pocatello in front of our fans for first place ... this is exactly what we and what our fans wanted."
Along with Carson, Kinghorn and Kilpatrick, Matt Stucki was the only other Bengal in double-figures with 15. Loren Leath led all scorers with 21, although after scoring the first 10 points of the game for the Hornets he was held a little more in check. Justin Williams added 15 and Alonzo Young had 10.
NOTES: Idaho State is now 5-0 when scoring 70 or more this season and 7-0 when outrebounding their opponents ... the double-double was Kinghorn's third this year ... Tom Taylor had two blocks in three minutes, and Cory O'Brien picked up his first career block in the game as well ... ISU has now won two straight over the Hornets in Pocatello after dropping two straight ... ISU's point guard tandem of Amorrow Morgan and Matt Stucki had 14 assists combined with just two turnovers.
