Men's Basketball Hosts CSUN at Reed Gym

Notes | Audio | Video | Live Stats | Tickets


POCATELLO, Idaho-  Idaho State plays its final nonconference game before Big Sky Conference play on Tuesday, Dec. 29, vs. CSUN. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at ICCU Court inside Reed Gym. The game was moved to Reed Gym because of weather and maintenance issues at Holt Arena. Because of the last minute change all seating will be general admission and all previously purchased tickets will be honored at the door.

 Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger will call the action live on 101.1 KEIR.  To follow the game live online, log onto isubengals.com for live video, audio and stats.

Scouting  CSUN
The Matadors enter Tuesday's game with 4-8 record and a 1-6 road mark. They are averaging 67.3 points a game and giving up 72.4 points. CSUN is shooting .428 percent from the field and .298 percent from the three-point line. The Matadors are shooting .713 percent from the free throw line, averaging 37.9 rebounds, 13.3 assists, 14.8 turnovers and 6.4 steals a game. Jerron Wilbut leads CSUN in scoring at 15 points and Kendall Smith is averaging 14.7 points.

Series vs. CSUN
CSUN leads the series 8-5 but this is the first meeting between the two schools since the 2000-01 season when ISU won 89-84 in Pocatello and lost 90-73 in Northridge. CSUN was a member of the Big Sky Conference from 1996-2001.

Notes from Global Sports Tournament at Utah State
- Geno Luzcando was named to the All-Tournament team. During the three-games in Logan he averaged 17 points and shot .594 percent from the field (19-32).
- Kyle Ingram had a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds in the 76-64 win over UT Rio Grande Valley.
- Kyle Ingram averaged nine points and 6.7 rebounds in the three-games at USU.
- Prior to the tournament at Utah State Stephen Lennox was averaging 8.3 minutes a game. In the three games in Logan he averaged 16.7 and was 5-10 from the field.
- Ben Wilson had two straight double-digit rebound games with 10 at Utah State and 13 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley.
- Erik Nakken tied his career-high of nine points in the victory over UT Rio Grande Valley.
- Geno Luzcando had a career-high 21 points at Utah State.
- The Bengal defense made great improvement in Logan, allowing only 66.7 points a game and forcing opponents to shoot .399 percent from the field and .301 from the three-point line.
- ISU was out rebounded in the three games at Utah State 39.7-34.7.
- The win over UT Rio Grande Valley was the first of the season when shooting between 40-49 percent. ISU had one win shooting 50 percent or greater and two shooting less than 40 percent.
- The win over UT Rio Grande Valley was the first of the season when out rebounding an opponent.
- The win over UT Rio Grande Valley was the first when making 10 3-pointers or less in a game.
- The win over UT Rio Grande Valley was the first time a Bill Evans coached team at ISU won when an opponent turned the ball over less than 10 times in a game.
 
Bengal Bites
- Idaho State is 3-0 this season when hitting 11 3-pointers or more in a game.
- This year's Bengal team is averaging 34.5 rebounds a game. Last year's team averaged 32.4.
- In the last 10 seasons the most road games ISU has won is five in  2005-06.
- ISU is 7-68 in non-conference road/neutral court games over the last seven years. ISU is 21-15 in non-conference home games over that same time period.  
- By the end of nonconference play Idaho State will have played Division I teams from eight different conferences; Pac 12, Summit League, Southland, West Coast, WAC, Missouri Valley, Mountain West and Big West.
- This year Geno Luzcando has scored in double figures in four straight games and in every game but two.

Long Range
Through the 11 games, Idaho State is shooting .369 percent from the 3-point line and has made 101 3's on 274 attempts. Last year through the 11 games ISU was 53-185 from beyond the arc and shooting .286 percent. It took the Bengals 20 games to make 92 3-pointers last year. The 92 3's were made on 293 attempts.

Scoring the Ball
Since the 2004-05 season there have been two teams average more than 70 points a game. The 2005-06 team scored 78.7 points a game and the 2013-14 team netted 70.8 points. This year's team is scoring 73.1 points a contest. The school record for most points averaged per game is 90.5 by the 1965-66 team.

On the flip side, ISU is allowing 79.1 points a game. That mark would rank 12th all-time in ISU history for most points allowed per-game.