Nov. 29, 2008
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- Four Cougars scored over 15 points, led by Jonathan Tavarnari who scored 23 points including a couple of big second half threes, as Brigham Young shot .566 for the game to stay undefeated, beating Idaho State 85-65 in a game that was much tighter than the final score would indicate.
The Bengals never got within 10 in the second half, but you would never know it by watching the two teams as play got chippy in the second half with 22 combined fouls, and a couple of loose ball scrums that got a pro-Bengal crowd of 4,374 into the game.
Idaho State jumped out to a 12-8 lead at the first media timeout, but the Cougars went on a 14-2 to take a 22-14 lead on a Jackson Emery layup. ISU eventually whittled the game down to 26-22 wit 6:28 to go on an Amorrow Morgan driving layup, but BYU put together another big run, this time 14-0. It started innocently enough with a couple of free throws, but a Lee Cummard steal led to a fast break dunk by Chris Miles, and then Jimmer Fredette and Cummard hit transition threes, and suddenly it was 40-22 with 2:51 left, and despite ISU cutting that to 40-28 before the break, it was too much work to make up.
"The difference between getting down 15 to Long Beach State and 15 to Brigham Young is that team there (referring to BYU) isn't going to let you back in, because they play in a lead where a lead is a precious gift, and they know how to take care of it."
ISU never really got back in it, and never was really out of it, but the game in the second half definitely kept up the intensity, and despite some fouls in the second half, and some chippy play, O'Brien has nothing but respect for the Cougars and head coach Dave Rose.
"I was just talking to Dave and complimented him on his team, and how he gets them to work hard every possession, and on how hard they do things on offense...every cut they make, it's really where we want to be, and it's what we are working towards, and I think tonight, you saw us play hard for 40 minutes. I don't think you could say that about the other games, in that we took a few minutes off here and there, but tonight, I cannot fault our effort one bit. BYU is just very, very good, and you can see why they've won the Mountain West back-to-back years."
The game was a solid one for Matt Stucki, who broke out with his best game on the season, scoring 19 points, dishing out five assists, and grabbing dour boards, hitting three threes. He was the only Bengal in double-figures, but ISU's scoring was well rounded with Lucas Steijn and Demetrius Monroe hitting eight, and Morgan, Donnie Carson, and Kal Bay scoring seven.
For the Cougars, Tavernari led all with 23, and Fredette hit for 19, including a prayer while falling under the basket that somehow went in. Cummard added 17, and Emery had 15. BYU hit eight threes on the night.
The Bengals suffered 10 turnovers in the first half, but finished the game with just 13. They struggled from the line all night, going just 14-for-26. The Bengals now head to Pullman, Washington to take on the 5-1 Washington State Cougars and they vaunted nationally-ranked defense. Washington State is 5-1, having lost to Pitt on Saturday night 57-43.
NOTES: Demetrius Monroe's streak of double-doubles ended at four, and ISU did not block a shot for the first time this season ... Carson and Felix Caspari led ISU with five boards apiece, and Caspari's were all offensive ... ISU's streak of overtime games ended at three ... the crowd of 4,374 was the largest for an ISU home game since 4,578 watched ISU and Weber State play in Holt Arena on February 12, 1997.
