Dec. 2, 2008
Final Stats
Pullman, WA --- Minus a pretty big cog in their offense, Idaho State struggled offensively for much of the game, but the Bengals had a solid night defensively of their own, and in the end it added up to a 60-41 victory for the Washington State Cougars of the Pac-10 conference.
Idaho State was missing senior guard Matt Stucki, who stayed back in Pocatello for the birth of his first baby with his wife Chelsea. The Bengals however did a pretty good job of slowing down Washington State, as they were down just 18-9 with 6:30 to go in the first half, having held the Cougars without a field goal for nearly seven minutes until the Cougars hit back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead into double-figures, and ISU would never get closer than that the rest of the way.
ISU had their moments during the WSU scoring drought, but ISU struggled on the first half, netting just 15 points, hitting on just six of their 19 first half field goals.
In the second half, Washington State couldn't keep ISU from getting off shots, but the Bengals had just one field goal, that from Devidias Busma over the first 13:14 of the half until Amorrow jumped up and hit a 19-footer from the left side. That however seemed to remove the lid off the basket, and the Bengals got hot from there, closing a 31-point gap down to 19 at the end.
While no Bengal hit in double-figures, Austin Kilpatrick might have shot himself out of a slump, hitting a pair of long threes after starting the season 1-for-20 from the field. Morgan and Donnie Carson led ISU with nine points, and Kilpatrick added seven. Felix Caspari came off the bench to lead ISU in rebounding for the second straight game with five.
Washington State got a game-high 14 from sweet shooting true freshman Klay Thompson, the son of former first round draft pick Mychel Thompson. Aron Baynes was the only other Cougar in double-figures with 11, and he and DeAngelo Casto each had eight boards.
The Bengals, who drop to 1-5, continue their murderers row of scheduling as the Bengals host the Utah Utes in only their second trip to Pocatello in the last 50 years.
NOTES: ISU committed a season-low 11 turnovers, but had just seven assists ... the Bengals were outrebounded 36-24 ... the all-time low for scoring in the shot-clock era is 35, done twice in the 2004-05 season ... Washington State's student section showed up two hours prior to the game to claim their lower level seating.
