Jan. 25, 2009
Final Stats
Sacramento, CA --- Now ISU knows how the Hornet football team felt. Idaho State was sleepwalking through most of the first half, and by the time they woke up in the second half it was too late, as ISU whittled an 18-point deficit to just three, but no close as Sacramento State defeated Idaho State 72-69 in Hornet Gym, ending the nation's longest losing streak at 14 just two days after inheriting it.
The win was school-to-school payback after Idaho State defeated the Hornets in football in November, ending their 15-game losing streak with a 36-33 overtime win at Holt Arena.
The Hornets to their credit didn't let a Deividas Busma dunk just 13 seconds into the game phase them, taking the lead for good at the 10:21 mark on a Loren Leath three-pointer, one of his four on the night. That Leath shot started an offensive barrage in which the Hornets hit 12 of their final 13 shots, and their only miss resulted in two free throws.
ISU's trademark defense, which had allowed a school-record 162 in their last three games, but allowed 42 by halftime as ISU was down 42-27. The Hornets scored on their final 14 possessions of the half, netting 29 points in 10:21 seconds. They ran that streak to 15 when Leath hit a crazy three to open the half, making it 45-27 Hornets.
At that point, ISU started a comeback, but they had to far to climb. Chron Tatum and Matt Stucki scored, and Donnie Carson added four more to quickly cut the lead to 10, forcing a timeout. Morgan hit a basket to bring the lead into single digits for good, and Stucki drained ISU's only three to cut it to six with 14:40 left.
However, ISU struggled to cut it further, and if things weren't going well, ISU played stellar defense to force a horrid three-point attempt by Stigall, but his crazy shot rainbowed in off the glass, pushing the lead to seven with 6:56 left. Morgan, who led ISU with 19 points, tried to will ISU back, hitting baskets and free throws three times to make it a three point game but they could never get closer. After making it 62-59 with two free throws, ISU had two chances to cut it further, but Carson missed a 19-footer, and then with 1:35 left, Morgan committed his sixth turnover of the game, leading to a layup. ISU would then hit baskets four times to cut it to three, but the Hornets answered everytime until Demetrius Monroe scored at the buzzer to account for the final score of 72-69.
"I was surprised because we had been playing well, but at the same time, I'm not surprised because we tend to let other teams get out to big leads," said head coach Joe O'Brien. "I didn't recognize that team that was out there in the first half, and I told them that. We did things defensively that I hadn't seen us do all year. It was like they were just making some things up."
Morgan had 19 to lead ISU, Carson had a season-high 14, and Demetrius Monroe had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sacramento State's Loren Leath scored 22, Randy Adams had 15, and Justin Eller had 12 points and 12 boards. Idaho State outrebounded the Hornets 35-26 and shot .520 from the field, and they only had 10 turnovers, but Sacramento State committed a paltry four for the game, and just one in the first half.
Idaho State remained in third place at 4-3, but they will drop to fourth all by themselves tomorrow after 4-3 Northern Colorado and 4-3 Montana play on Altitude on Sunday afternoon.
NOTES: Idaho State hit just 16-of-25 free throws, but twice after missing two they scored on an offensive putback ... ISU was credited with just four assists ... ISU scored 20 second chance points to just four for the Hornets ... ISU had their five-game winning streak against Sacramento State snapped.
