ISU Opens 2015-16 Season at Home vs. Great Falls in Reed Gym

Men's Basketball | 11/11/2015 11:44:00 PM

Game Notes | Audio | Video | Live Stats | Tickets


POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team opens the 2015-16 season on Friday, November 13 at 8 p.m. vs. Great Falls in Reed Gym. The game is a double header as the women play at 6 p.m. The gym will have to be cleared between games. Fans can follow the contest online with live video, audio and stats by logging onto isubengals.com. Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger will call the action live on 101.1 KEIR.

The Bengals enter the 2015-16 season with five returning players with Division I experience. The only returning starter is Ben Wilson.  Evann Hall, Geno Luzcando, Erik Nakken and Justin Smith are the returning Bengals with playing experience.

Spencer Nicolds and Novak Topalovic were on the team last year but redshirted while Clint Nwosuh, Ethan Telfair, Gary Chivichyan, Brandon Boyd, Ali Faruq-Bey, Stephen Lennox, Xavier Banks and Kyle Ingram will see their first Division I action as Bengals.

Idaho State vs. Great Falls
Idaho State leads the series 4-0. The most recent meeting was a 78-68 victory on Nov. 19, 2010. All four games have been played in Pocatello with the  first meeting between the two schools or coming during the 1979-80 season.

Scouting  Great Falls
Great Falls comes into Friday nights game with a 5-1 record. Great Falls is averaging 85.5 points a game and allowing only 58.5. Great Falls has shot 44.7 percent from the field through its first six games. Jarrett Givens is averaging 15.5 points a game and Sigman Farmer III is averaging 10.6 points and 7.4 rebounds. Great Falls is an NAIA school that plays in the Frontier Conference.

Opening the Season at Home
In the last 12 years, this is only the third time ISU has opened the season at home. ISU has opened the season at home in 2008-09, 2013-14 and 2015-16. The other nine seasons ISU has opened the year again

Bengals in Home and Season Openers
Idaho State is 17-3 in home openers in the last 20 years. Of the 20 games in home openers, only six have been against Division I teams. The Bengals are 3-3 in those six games. ISU is 4-16 in season openers. All four of those wins have come when the Bengals have opened the season at home vs. a non Division I team.

Idaho State vs. Non Division I Schools
The last time Idaho State lost to a non Division I team was an 86-83 overtime loss in Pocatello to
BYU-Hawaii on Dec. 18, 1991. During the Joe O'Brien era, Idaho State played nine non Division 1
games and won by an average score of 75-65. Of the nine games, five were won by single digits.
During the Doug Oliver era, ISU played 15 non Division I games in eight years and the Bengals
won by an average score of 88.2-62.6. All but three games were won by 10 points or more. In the
Bill Evans era, ISU won all four game non-Division I game by an average score of 80.2-57.4. Under Evans, ISU has outscored Non Division I opponents 401-287.

Recapping Exhibition Game 1 vs. Montana Tech
Idaho State beat Montana Tech 103-65 on Oct. 30. Ethan Telfair led four players in double figures with 25 points and eight assists. Gary Chivichyan scored 16 points off the bench while Clint Nwosuh had 14 and Ali Faruq-Bey 12. Justin Smith had nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. ISU shot 50 percent from the field and held Montana Tech to 32 percent shooting.

Recapping Exhibition Game 2 vs. Westminster
Idaho State beat Westminster 73-71 in the final exhibition contest. The Bengals won the game despite shooting 25.4 percent from the field. Idaho State was 39-50 from the free throw line and Westminster was 18-30. The Bengals out rebounded the Griffins 53-38. Ben Wilson led the Bengals with 13. Geno Luzcando had a game-high 22 points while Ethan Telfair finished with 20 and Ali Faruq-Bey 10.