Bengals Open Conference Play at Idaho and Eastern Washington

Men's Basketball | 12/30/2014 3:27:00 PM

Game Notes | Audio | Video

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team opens Big Sky Conference play on January 1 at Idaho and on January 3 at Eastern Washington. Tipoff at Idaho is 8 p.m. (MDT) and the Eastern Washington tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. (MDT). Jerry Miller will be broadcast the game live on 102.5 FM and 930 AM. To follow the game online log onto isubengals.com.

Idaho State vs. Idaho
Idaho leads the series 57-44. The Vandals beat ISU, 69-65, in Boise last year and 75-69 in Pocatello on Feb. 23, 2013. Prior to those two meetings, Idaho State won the previous five meetings from 2004-09.

Scouting the Vandals
Idaho is 5-6 and 4-1 at home. Mike Scott leads Idaho in scoring at 15.5 points a game while Connor Hill is scoring 14.4 points. The Vandals are scoring 76.8 points a game and shooting .456 percent from the field. Idaho averages 37.5 rebounds a game while shooting .406 percent from the 3-point line.

Idaho State vs. Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington leads the series 41-28. The two teams split the series last year, with ISU winning 83-72 in Pocatello and losing 77-69 in Cheney. ISU has lost 12 straight games in Cheney, with the last win being a 65-63 victory during the 2002-03 season.

Scouting the Eagles
Eastern Washington is 9-4 and averaging 80.6 points a game. The Eagle are shooting 49.4 percent from the field and 41.3 percent from the 3-point line. Eastern Washington averages 33.9 rebounds, 13.1 assists a game while shooting 69.7 percent from the free throw line. Tyler Harvey leads EWU in scoring at 22.8 points a game while Venky Jois is scoring 19.4 points and averaging eight rebounds a game.

1,000 Point Club
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 1,013 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. Chris Hansen        2011-13    1013

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 12 games of the 2014-15 season he is averaging 8.9 boards a game. He had a season-high 14 rebounds at Denver and vs. Northwest Nazarene.  Solarin has eight rebounds or more in 21 of the 40 games he has appeared in as a Bengal.

Bradley Provides Spark off the Bench
In the last seven games Marcus Bradley has appeared in, he has come off the bench for the Bengals to play 15.9 minutes a game and score nine points a game. He is the third-leading scorer for ISU during this stretch. He is shooting .448 percent from the field and he has nine blocks. He scored a season-high 16 points, all coming in the second-half. He did not play against Northwest Nazarene. He had a season-high five blocks against South Dakota State. Bradley is seven-for-eight from the free throw line during the last seven games he has appeared in.

Playing it Close
ISU has five losses by nine points or less this season. 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

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 5-63 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.
- Jeffrey Solarin has a league-best four double-doubles this year.
- The Bengal defense is giving up 64.1 points a game and only allowing teams to shoot .404 percent from the field. Both marks are the best in the Big Sky Conference.
- The Bengal defense is second in 3-point field goal percentage defense at .309.
- The Bengals are fourth in the conference in steals at 7.3.
- Chris Hansen is seventh in the conference in scoring at 15.8 points a game.
- Jeff Solarin is second in the conference in rebounding at 8.9.
- Jeff Solarin ranks fifth in field goal percentage at .584 percent.
- Ben Wilson is sevneth in the conference in assists at 3.3.
- Nnamdi Ezenwa is fourth in the league in steals at 1.7 and Chris Hansen is sixth in 3-pointers made per game at 2.4.
- Marcus Bradley ranks seventh in blocks at 1.0 and Jeff Solarin's 3.8 offensive rebounds a game is the best mark in the league.
- Ben Wilson ranks fifth in the conference in minutes played at 33.6.