Men's Basketball Plays at Montana

Game Notes | Audio | Video | Live Stats

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team begins a three-game road trip starting Thursday night at the University of Montana. The Bengals tipoff at 7 p.m. in Missoula before playing at Montana State on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. ISU then has a week off before playing at Weber State at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28. To follow the game on line with video, live stats and audio log onto isubengals.com. Jerry Miller will call the action live for all three games on 102.5 FM and 930 AM.

Idaho State vs. Montana
Montana leads the series 98-46. Montana has won the last 10 meetings, with ISU's last win
being a 67-65 victory on December 31, 2009. Montana defeated the Bengals 90-64 in Pocatello on January 10.

Scouting the Griz
Montana is 14-10 and 10-3 in Big Sky Conference play. Jordan Gregory leads Montana in scoring at 16.8 points a game and Martin Breunig is scoring 16.6 points a game. Montana is scoring 70.2 points a game and the defense is allowing 65.6 points. Montana is shooting .460 percent from the field and only allowing opponents to shoot .432 percent. The Griz shoot .696 percent from the free throw line.

Idaho State vs. Montana State
Montana State leads the series 105-84. ISU has won four of the last five meetings in Pocatello.
Last year the Bengals beat the Bobcats 69-64 in Reed Gym. Montana State is 4-1 against ISU in the last five meetings in Bozeman. Four of the five meetings have been decided by six points or less. ISU's win in Bozeman was 87-86 on Feb. 2, 2012. Last year Idaho State lost 66-60 in Bozeman.

Scouting the Bobcats
Montana State is 6-19 and 3-10 in Big Sky Conference play. Michael Dison leads the Bobcats in scoring at 13.7 points a game and Marcus Colbert is scoring 11.5 points. MSU is scoring 63.4 points a game and giving up 71.3. Montana State shoots .398 percent from the field.

Rebounding machine
In two seasons, Jeffrey Solarin has established himself as one the best rebounders ever to wear the orange and black. He currently has 462 rebounds and is 11 rebounds away from passing Brand Robinson's (1975-79) 472 career rebounds to move into 10th place for total rebounds in the ISU career record book. Last year he averaged 8.5 rebounds a game. In the first 25 games of the 2014-15 season he is averaging 8.9 boards a game. He had a season-high 15 rebounds vs. Weber State on Feb. 7. Solarin has eight rebounds or more in 30 of the 52 games he has appeared in as a Bengal.

Redshirt Year Pays off for Ezenwa
As a junior during the 2012-13 season, Nnamdi Ezenwa played in  all 30 games but averaged 18 minutes, 2.3 points, .4 rebounds and shot .358 percent from the field. After redshirting during the 2013-14 season, Ezenwa is now playing 31.4 minutes a game, averaging 9.5 points, shooting .459 percent from the field and grabbing 4.9 rebounds a game. He had a career-high 18 points on Nov. 26 against UVU and nine rebounds in a loss to Montana.

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 1,251 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.  Chris Hansen        2011-15    1251

A game of firsts
The 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. The MSU win was also the first time all season the Bengals have shot 80 percent or better from the free throw line.  The loss at Northern Arizona was also the first time the Bengals had lost a game when leading at halftime and shooting 50 percent in a game. The win over Portland State was the first time ISU has won a game when an opponent shot 40 percent or greater and it was the first Bengal win this year when giving up 70 points or more.

King of the Three-Point Line
Chris Hansen became the ISU career 3-point leader vs. Northern Arizona. He now has made a school record 214 3-pointers on a record 559 attempts. David Schroeder held the previous record for 3-pointers made with 211 and Austin Kilpatrick held the previous mark for attempts with 510.

Playing it Close
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, 28 of Idaho State's 36 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, vs. Weber State
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; at SUU, vs. SUU
Losses by 3 points: vs. UVU, vs. South Dakota State, at NAU; vs. Sacramento State; ISU at Northern Colorado
Losses by 2 points: at Bakersfield, at NAU
Losses by 1 point: at Montana, vs. NAU

Here is a look where the Bengals rank in the conference stats for all- games played.
- Scoring 11th, 64.1
- Scoring Defense, 5th, 68.4
- Free throw percentage, 12th, 65.4
- Field goal percentage, 9th, 43.8
- Field goal percentage defense, 2nd, .434
- 3-point field goal percentage, 11th, 34.1
- 3-point field goal percentage defense, 5th, 36.1
- Rebounding, 5th, 33.0
- Blocks, 8th, 2.7
- Assists, 12th, 11.0
- Steals, 5th, 6.6
- Offensive Rebounds, 4th 10.1
- Defensive Rebounds, 9th, 22.8
- 3-pointers made per game, 12th, 4.8

Here is where the Bengals rank in the individual conference stats for all-games played.
- Chris Hansen, 3rd, scoring 17.1 points.
- Jeffrey Solarin, 2nd, rebounding, 8.9
- Jeffrey Solarin, 9th, field goal percenrage 54.7
- Ben Wilson, 9th, assists, 3.6
- Chris Hansen, 5th, free throw percentage, 84.0
- Ben Wilson, 7th, steals, 1.2
- Nnamdo Ezenwa, 7th, 3-point field goal percentage, .433
- Chris Hansen 3-pointers made per game, 4th, 2.6
- Jeffrey Solarin, 10th, blocks, .8
- Ben Wilson, 5th, Assist to turnover ratio, 1.9
- Jeffrey Solarin, 2nd, offensive rebounds, 3.6
- Jeffrey Solarin, 4th defensive rebounds, 5.3
- Ben Wilson, 5th, Minutes Played, 34.3

Team Conference Stats Only
- Scoring, 10th, 67.3
- Scoring defense, 6th, 72.3
- Free Throw Percentage, 9th, 68.7
- Field Goal Percentage, 7th, .465
- Field Goal Percentage defense, 7th, .460
- 3-point field goal percentage, 4th .423
- 3-point field goal percentage defense, 8th, .411
- Rebounding, 10th, 31.7
- Blocks, 9th, 2.7
- Assists, 11th, 11.6
- Steals, 4th, 6.1
- Offensive rebounds, 7th, 9.2
- Defensive rebounds, 10th, 22.5
- 3-pointers made per game, 12th, 4.8

Conference Only Individual Stats
- Chris Hansen, 3rd Scoring, 18.3 points
- Jeffrey Solarin, 2nd rebounding, 8.9 rebounds
- Ben Wilson, 8th, assists, 3.9
- Chris Hansen, 2nd, free throws, .867
- Ben Wilson, 7th steals, 1.3
- Nnamdo Ezenwa, 5th, 3-point field goal percentage, .484
- Chris Hansen, 3-point FG made, 5th, 2.8
- Ben Wilson, assist to turnover ratio, 10th, 1.9
- Ajak Magot, 7th, blocks 1.2
- Jeffrey Solarin, 2nd, offensive rebounds, 3.5
- Jeffrey Solarin, 3rddefensive rebounds, 5.4
- Ben Wilson, 8th minutes played, 34.9