Men's Basketball Set to Play Three Games in Three Days

Game Notes | Audio | Video vs. Utah State | Live Stats SDSU | Live Stats USU | Live Stats Bakersfield

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team travels to Logan, Utah, to participate in the World Vision Classic Sponsored by Gossner Foods. The Bengals play South Dakota State on December 18 at 5:30 p.m., Utah State on December 19 at 8 p.m. and Bakersfield on December 20 at 5:30 p.m. All games will be played in the Spectrum on the campus of Utah State. Jerry Miller will call all three games live on 102.5 FM and 930 AM. For information on how to follow the game online log onto isubengals.com.

Idaho State vs. South Dakota State
The series is tied 1-1. ISU lost 79-47 at South Dakota State in the 2010-11 season and beat the Jackrabbits 89-72 in Pocatello during the 2005-06 season. South Dakota State is 6-3 and scoring 75.8 points a game. The Jackrabbits are shooting .471 percent from the field. Deondre Parks is scoring 14.6 points a game. Cody Larsen is scoring 13.9 points and averaging 7.1 rebounds.

Idaho State vs. Utah State
Utah State leads the series 37-15. The Aggies have won the last 14 meetings. The last meeting between the two schools was a 56-48 USU victory on Nov. 10, 2012. The last time Idaho State beat the Aggies was 74-70 in Logan during the 1981-82 season.  Utah State is 4-4 and scoring 67.5 points as game and shooting 41.8 percent from the field. Jalen Moore is scoring 15 points and averaging 7.3 rebounds a game to lead the Aggies. David Collette is scoring 13.9 points.

Idaho State vs. Bakersfield
Bakersfield leads the series 4-1. Idaho State's only win came in the 1976-77 season. Last year ISU lost to Bakersfield, 61-57 in Pocatello and 71-69 in Bakersfield. Bakersfield is 1-8 and led in scoring by Aly Ahmed's 14 points a game. The Roadrunners are shooting .388 percent from the field, averaging 61.6 points a game and grabbing 37.8 rebounds a contest.

Hansen Putting up the Points
Chris Hansen is on pace to become the 20th Bengal in program history to reach the 1,000 point mark for a career. In two plus seasons he has scored 965 points.  He scored 342 as a sophomore and 481 as a junior last season.  He has scored 142 points through the first seven games.

Cleaning the Glass
Jeffrey Solarin proved to be one the best rebounders in the Big Sky Conference last year as he averaged 8.5 rebounds a game. In the first eight games of the 2014-15 season he is averaging 8.8 boards a game. He had a season-high 14 rebounds at Denver and vs. Northwest Nazarene.  Solarin has eight rebounds or more in 19 of the 37 games he has appeared in as a Bengal.

Bradley Provides Spark Off the Bench
In the last three games Marcus Bradley has appeared in, he has come off the bench for the Bengals to play 17.3 minutes a game and score 12 points a game. He is the second-leading scorer for ISU during this stretch. He is shooting 60 percent from the field (15-25) and he has four blocks, 2.3 rebounds a game and he has made all three free throw attempts. He scored a season-high 16 points, all coming in the second-half. He did not play against Northwest Nazarene

Take Care of the Ball
Since Bill Evans has been head coach at Idaho State a trait of his team has been the ability to take care of the basketball.  The Bengals went through the entire 2012-13 season without committing 20 turnovers in a game. It was the first time that had happened since the 1974-75 season. The Bengals had a season-low five turnovers in a game vs. Eastern Washington. The Bengals turned the ball over 20 times or more twice last year but did have nine games with 10 turnovers or less.  This year,  ISU have had less than 10 turnovers in four of the last five games after turning it over 20 times at Denver. The Bengals had a low of five vs. UVU, tying the mark for the second fewest in a game since the 2006 when ISU had four against Carroll College.

Long Range
Chris Hansen enters his senior season ranked third all-time for 3-pointers made and attempted. He has made 171 three-pointers on 450 attempts. David Schroeder holds the record for most 3-pointers made in a career with 211 and Austin Kilpatrick holds the top mark for three-pointers attempted with 510. Kilpatrick is second in the career record books for 3-pointers made with 183 and Schroeder is second in 3-pointers attempted with 490.

Preseason Rankings
This year the Bengals were picked 10th by the media and coaches. Weber State was picked to win the league in both polls.

Close in the First Half
Did you know that ISU has trailed by three points or less at halftime in three of their five losses. ISU trailed 31-29 at Denver, 32-31 at Washington State and 28-25 vs. Utah Valley.

Bengal Bites
- In the last nine seasons the most road games ISU has won in a season is five in  2005-06.
- Assistant Coaches Andy Ward and Jay Collins played for Bill Evans at SUU.
- ISU is 5-60 in non-conference road/neutral court games over the last six years. ISU is 19-14 in non-conference home games over that same time period.  Before the 93-90 overtime win at USF, the last road non conference win was Nov. 28, 2009, a 68-65 at UMKC. The Bengals beat Troy, 77-73 on Dec. 22, 2010 at Utah State.
- The Bengal defense is giving up 64.4 points a game and only allowing teams to shoot .402 percent from the field. Those marks are the best in the league.
- Chris Hansen is fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.8 points a game.
- Jeff Solarin is third in the conference in rebounding at 8.8 boards as game.
- Jeff Solarin ranks first in field goal percentage at .662 percent.
- Ben Wilson is 10th in the conference in assists at 2.9.
- Chris Hansen is sixth in the conference in free throw percentage at .837.
- Nnamdi Ezenwa is second in the conference in steals per game at 1.8.
- Chris Hansen is third in the conference in 3-pointers made per game at 2.8.
- Chris Hansen has scored in double figures in 49 of the 66 games he has appeared in as a Bengal. He has scored in double figures in all eight games this year and 26 of the 29 games last season.