Men's Basketball Plays at UVU on Tuesday

Men's Basketball | 12/22/2014 10:53:00 AM

Game Notes | Audio | Live Stats | Video

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team continues play in the state of Utah with a Tuesday, December 23 contest at Utah Valley University. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in the UCCU Center. The game will be heard live on 930 AM and 102.5 FM with Jerry Miller calling the action. To follow the game with live stats, video and  and audio log onto isubengals.com.

Idaho State leads the series 4-2 but the Wolverines won the last meeting on November 26 in Pocatello. ISU lost 60-57 at Reed Gym. Prior to this year the last meeting between the Bengals and Wolverines was in the 2006-07 season, a 76-62 ISU win in Pocatello.

UVU is 3-7 and led in scoring by Mitch Bruneel's 12.4 points and 6.4 rebounds and Zach Nelson's 9.2 points. UVU is scoring 57.8 points a game and shooting .397 percent from the field. Utah Valley is shooting .686 percent from the free throw line. The Wolverines compete in the Western Athletic Conference and won the regular season championship last year.

Hansen Putting up the Points
Chris Hansen became the 20th Bengal in ISU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000 point mark. He scored nine points vs. Bakersfield and he now has 1,003 points in his career. Here is where he ranks on the all-time scoring list.
1. Les Roh        1952-56    1964
2. Steve Hayes        1973-77    1933
3. Donn Holston        1982-87    1819
4. Jim Potter        1991-95    1810
5. Arthur Crump        1961-64    1557
6. Willie Humes        1969-71    1510
7. Lloyd Harris        1955-58    1489
8. Lawrence Butler        1977-79    1420
9. Frank Swopes        1959-62    1304
10. David Schroeder    2002-03, 2004-07    1265
11. Amorrow Morgan    2006-10    1221
12. Ron Boone        1965-68    1221
13. Jim Rodgers        1956-59    1186
14. Dave Wagnon        1964-66    1183
15. Nate Green        1993-97    1141
16. Matt Stucki        2005-09    1079
17. Brand Robinson    1975-79    1023
18. Sam Beckham        1951-54    1021
19. Ev Fopma        1971-73    1007
20. Chris Hansen        2011-13    1003

Redshirt Year Pays Off for Ezenwa
As a junior during the 2012-13 season, Nnamdi Ezenwa played in  all 30 games but averaged 18 minutes, 2.3 points, .4 rebounds and shot .358 percent from the field. After redshirting during the 2013-14 season, Ezenwa is now playing 30.5 points, averaging 9.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and shooting .466 percent from the field. He had a career-high 18 points on Nov. 26 against UVU.

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 11 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 20 of the 39 games he has appeared in as a Bengal.

Long Range
Chris Hansen enters his senior season ranked third all-time for 3-pointers made and attempted. He has made 176 three-pointers on 474 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.

Playing it Close
Idaho State looks to change its fortune in the 2014-15 season and win the close games. Last year 16 of the Bengals 18 losses were by eight points or less during the 2013-14 season. The only double-digit losses are at Arizona State (88-60) and Washington (85-66). Here is a closer look at just how close ISU has been.
Losses by 8 points: at Utah, at Eastern Washington
Losses by 7 points: at Northern Colorado
Losses by 6 points: at Weber State, at Sacramento State, at Montana State
Losses by 5 points: vs. North Dakota, vs. Montana
Losses by 4 points: at North Dakota, at Idaho, vs. Bakersfield, at Portland State
Losses by 2 points: at Bakersfield, at NAU
Losses by 1 point: at Montana, vs. NAU

Close in the First Half
Did you know that ISU has trailed by six points or less at halftime in six of their eight losses. ISU trailed 31-29 at Denver, 32-31 at Washington State and 28-25 vs. Utah Valley. ISU trailed 30-25 at halftime against South Dakota State.  ISU trailed 32-29 at halftime to Bakersfield.

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 5-62 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 65.3 points a game and only allowing teams to shoot .407 percent from the field. The .407 percent is the top mark in the league while the 65.3 points is the second-best mark in the league.
- Chris Hansen is fifth in the conference in scoring at 16.4 points a game.
- Jeff Solarin is second in the conference in rebounding at 8.8.
- Jeff Solarin ranks fifth n field goal percentage at .594 percent.
- Ben Wilson is eighth in the conference in assists at 3.1. Chris Hansen is 10th in assists at 2.8.
- Nnamdi Ezenwa is fourth in the league in steals at 1.5 and Chris Hansen is fourth in 3-pointers made per game at 2.5.
- Marcus Bradley ranks eighth in blocks at 1.1 and Jeff Solarin's 3.5 offensive rebounds a game is the best mark in the league.
- Ben Wilson ranks sixth in the conference in minutes played at 33.4.