Men's Hoops Hosts Montana Saturday in Holt Arena

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POCATELLO, Idaho- Idaho State hosts Montana on Saturday, January 10. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at ICCU Court in Holt Arena. Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger will call the action live on 930 AM and 102.5 FM. To follow the game live online with live video, audio and stats log onto isubengals.com

Montana leads the series 97-46. Montana has won the last nine meetings, with ISU's last win being a 67-65 victory on December 31, 2009.  

Montana is 5-8 and 2-1 in Big Sky play. Martin Breunig leads UM in scoring at 18.5 points a game and 6.5 rebounds, while Jordan Gregory is averaging 16.9 points. The  Griz are scoring 68.8 points a game and shooting .443 percent from the field. Montana averages 31.1 rebounds and is shooting .679 percent from the free throw line.

Bobcat Killer
Chris Hansen has had some of his best games of his career vs. Montana State. In five games against MSU he is averaging 21.6 points and 5.6 rebounds. In three home games vs. the Bobcats he has scored 28, 27 and 26 points. In five games against MSU he is 28-49 from the field, 20-34 from the three-point line, 32-38 from the free throw line while grabbing 28 rebounds and scoring 108 points.

A Game of Firsts
Thursday's win over Montana State was the first time ISU has won a game this season when trailing at halftime, being out rebounded by an opponent, committing less than 10 turnovers and shooting better than 80 percent from the free throw line. Thursday was also the first time all season the Bengals have shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line.

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 on Dec. 20 to reach the mark and he now has 1,076 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. Chris Hansen        2011-13    1076

Long Range
Chris Hansen has moved to No. 2 in the ISU career record books for 3-pointers made and attempted.
Career 3-pointers Made
1- David Schroeder 211
2- Chris Hansen 187
3- Austin Kilpatrick 183

Career 3-pointers Attempted
1- Austin Kilpatrick 510
2- Chris Hansen 497

Playing it Close
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, 22 of Idaho State's 29 losses have been by nine points or loss. In 2013-14, 16 of ISU's 18 losses were by eight points or less and this year ISU has lost six games by nine points or less.
Losses by 9 points: vs. Bakersfield
Losses by 8 points: at Utah, at Eastern Washington (13-14); at Eastern Washington (2014-15)
Losses by 7 points: at Northern Colorado
Losses by 6 points: at Weber State, at Sacramento State, at Montana State, vs. Pacific
Losses by 5 points: vs. North Dakota, vs. Montana
Losses by 4 points: at North Dakota, at Idaho, vs. Bakersfield, at Portland State; at UVU
Losses by 3 points: vs. UVU, vs. South Dakota State
Losses by 2 points: at Bakersfield, at NAU
Losses by 1 point: at Montana, vs. NAU

Bengal Bites
-  Chris Hansen's 17 free throws made and attempted vs. Montana State on January 8 was the most by any Big Sky Conference player this season.
- Jeffrey Solarin is 22nd in the nation in field goal percentage at 58 percent and 15th in the nation in offensive rebounding at 3.67 a game.
- Chris Hansen's 17 free throws was two away from tying the school record of 19 set by Willie Humes vs. NAU in 1971 and Dave Wagnon vs. Seattle in 1966.
- In the last nine seasons the most road games ISU has won in a season is five in  2005-06.
- 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 five double-doubles this year.

Here is a look where the Bengals rank in the conference stats for all- games played.
- Scoring 12th, 60.0
- Scoring Defense, 1st, 64.8
- Free throw percentage, 12th, 65.3
- Field goal percentage, 10th, 40.7
- Field goal percentage defense, 1st, 40.9
- 3-point field goal percentage, 12th, 28.9
- 3-point field goal percentage defense, 3rd, 33.1
- Rebounding, 4th, 33.9
- Blocks, 7th, 2.9
- Assists, 11th, 10.1
- Steals, 4th, 7.1
- Offensive Rebounds, 5th, 10.9
- Defensive Rebounds, 5th, 23.0
- 3-pointers made per game, 12th, 4.5

Here is where the Bengals rank in the individual conference stats for all-games played.
- Chris Hansen, 6th, scoring 16.9 points.
- Jeffrey Solarin, 2nd, rebounding, 8.8
- Jeffrey Solarin, 4th, field goal percenrage 58.0
- Ben Wilson, 9th, assists, 3.3
- Chris Hansen, 4th, free throw percentage, 85.9
- Nnamdi Ezenwa, 6th, steals, 1.5
- Chris Hansen, 9th, steals, 1.4
- Chris Hansen 3-pointers made per game, 6th, 2.5
- Jeffrey Solarin, 9th, blocks, 1.0
- Jeffrey Solarin, 1st, offensive rebounds, 3.7
- Jeffrey Solarin, 4th, defensive rebounds, 5.1
- Ben Wilson, 5th, Minutes Played, 33.7
- Chris Hansen, 6th, minutes played, 33.0

Team Conference Stats Only
- Scoring, 11th, 60.3
- Scoring defense, 5th, 67.7
- Free Throw Percentage, 2nd, .790
- Field Goal Percentage, 11th, .400
- Field Goal Percentage defense, 3rd, .424
- 3-point field goal percentage, 11th , .343
- 3-point field goal percentage defense, 8th, .405
- Rebounding, 6th, 32.0
- Blocks, 4th, 3.7
- Assists, 12th, 9.0
- Steals, 2nd, 6.3
- Offensive rebounds, 8th, 9.0
- 3-pointers made per game, 11th, 4.0

Conference Only Individual Stats
- Chris Hansen, 4th, Scoring, 21 points
- Jeffrey Solarin, 3rd rebounding, 8.3 rebounds
- Chris Hansen, 1st, free throws, 1.000
- Jeffrey Solarin, 7th, steals, 1.3
- Chris Hansen, 7th, steals, 1.3
- Chris Hansen, 3-point FG made, 6th, 3.0
- Jeffrey Solarin, 4th, blocks, 1.7
- Ajak Magot, 7th, blocks 1.0