Bengals Play at Washington State on Friday Night

Game Notes | Audio | Live Stats | Pac 12 Network

POCATELLO, Idaho- After opening the season with two home games, the Idaho State men's basketball team plays its next five games on the road, beginning Friday, November 20 at 9 p.m. mountain time vs. Washington State in Pullman. The game will be heard live on 101.1 KEIR and live audio and stats can be found by logging onto isubengals.com. The game will be broadcast live on the Pac 12 Network.

The Bengals enter the 2015-16 season with five returning players with Division I experience. The only returning starter is Ben Wilson.  Evan 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. Washington State
Washington State leads the series 7-1. This is the third meeting between the two schools since the 2012-13 season. ISU lost 74-39 on Dec. 29, 2012 and 80-68 in Pullman on Nov. 21, 2014. The Bengals win over the Cougars was 91-76 in Pocatello during the 1983-94 season.

Scouting  Washington State
Washington State is 1-0 after beating Northern Arizona 82-70 on November 13.  Josh Hawkinson and Viont'e Daniels each scored 15 points. Washington State shot .456 percent from the field while NAU shot .373. The Cougars hit 10 3-pointers on 24 attempts while grabbing 42 rebounds. Hawkinson had 11 boards in the season-opening victory.

Bengals Against the Pac 12
ISU has lost 22 straight to teams in the Pac 12 conference. The Bengals last win was a 62-57 victory at Oregon during the 1986-87 season. The win at Oregon was also the last time ISU beat a team from any Power 5 conference. Idaho State did beat Utah 72-68 in Pocatello during the 2008-09 season but the Utes were a member of the  Mountain West Conference.

ISU Against Power 5 Schools
Since the 2005-06 season, ISU has played the following schools from Power-5 Conferences. Washington State (6 times), Utah (3 times), Arizona State (2 times), Washington (2 times), Oregon (3 times), Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, Iowa (2 times), Iowa State, Notre Dame, USC, Wisconsin, Oregon State, UCLA, Texas A&M, Illinois and Kanas.

Did You Know
The last time Idaho State started a season 2-0 was during the 1995-96 season.  That year ISU beat Western Montana 89-56 and UT-Martin 89-72.  The last time ISU started a season 3-0 ws during the 1994-95 season. Since the 1956-57 season the Bengals have started the season 3-0 five times.

Recapping Game 1 vs. Great Falls
Idaho State rallied from a 16 point deficit to beat Great Falls 78-72 in the season opener in Reed Gym. Ali Faruq-Bey scored 28 points, 25 in the second half. ISU won despite turning the ball over 20 times and shooting 39 percent from the field.

Recapping Game 2 vs.  Dickinson state
Behind a school record 17 3-pointers, ISU cruised to a 110-85 victory over Dickinson State on Nov. 16. The 110 points tied for the 15th most points in a game in program history. ISU shot 52.2 percent from the floor and Ethan Telfair led the Bengals with 23 points. Idaho State led by as many as 36 points during the game.

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 rebounds. Geno Luzcando had a game-high 22 points while Ethan Telfair finished with 20 and Ali Faruq-Bey 10.