Bengals Hosts NAU on Saturday in Holt Arena

Notes | Audio | Video | Tickets | Live Stats


POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team concludes its three-game home stand on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. at ICCU Court in Holt Arena vs. Northern Arizona. Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger will call the game live on 101.1 KEIR and fans can follow the game on line with live audio, video and stats at isubengals.com.

Series vs. NAU
Idaho State leads the series 51-45. The two teams split the series last year with ISU winning, 80-66 in Pocatello and losing 72-69 in Flagstaff. Prior to last years win in Pocatello, Northern Arizona had won five straight meetings. In the last 11 meetings, NAU is 6-5 vs. ISU. In those 11 meetings  only two games haves been decided by 10 points or more and eight games have been decided by six points or less.

Scouting NAU
Northern Arizona is 3-16 and 1-7 in Big Sky Conference play. Kris Yanku is the top scorer for the Lumberjacks. He is scoring 17.1 points a game in league and 14.9 overall. NAU is averaging 72.8 points in conference and giving up 83.4. The Lumberjacks are shooting .424 percent in league play while opponents are shooting at a clip of .487 percent.

Notes from the Win vs. Southern Utah
-  ISU had five players score in double figures for the first time this season and only the second-time since Bill Evans has been head coach at Idaho State.
- ISU scored its second most points of the season (87) but accomplished it by taking its fewest shot attempts of the season (47).
- ISU has won three straight games for the first since the 2011-12 season. That year the Bengals won four straight games.
- The Bengals shot a season-best .596 percent from the field, the best since shooting 63.8 percent vs. Montana State on Feb. 16, 2013.
- Clint Nwosuh tied his season-high with 13 points.
- ISU is 4-3 in Big Sky Conference play, the best start through seven games since the 2008-09 team started 4-3.

Telfair to the Line
Ethan Telfair has gone to the free throw line eight times or more in 11 games. In the last eight games he has gone 68-79 from the line. For the season he is the teams top free throw shooter at .836 percent (117-140).

Wilson Making an Impact
Ben Wilson has been efficient for the Bengals when he is out on the court. He is averaging 7.6 points a game and a team-best 5.8 rebounds. He is playing 31.7 minutes, shooting a team-best .540 percent from the field. He has 40  assists to 26 turnovers. In the last eight games he is averaging 9.1 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting a team-best .630 percent from the field.

Battle of the Boards
ISU is averaging 34.4 rebounds a game, the most since averaging 37.7 during the 2005-06 season. On the flip side of things the Bengals are giving up 38.2 rebounds, the most the 2003-04 team gave up 40.4 boards a game.

Improved Defense
After the loss to Utah Valley, the Bengals were giving up 83.8 points a game.  Since the UVU game  ISU has only allowed 73.3 points a game.  In the 11 game stretch ISU has held its opponents to 69, 64, 67, 79, 78, 84, 82, 70, 68 and 77 points.

Bengal Bites
- Idaho State is 3-0 this season when hitting 11 3-pointers or more in a game.
- In the last 10 seasons the most road games ISU has won is five in  2005-06.
- This year Geno Luzcando has scored in double figures in nine of the last 11 games and in every game but four.
- The last time ISU had a winning record in conference was during the 2008-09 season. ISU was 9-7 in league.
- ISU has had 10 wins or more in a season five times in the last 10 years. ISU was 13-14 in 2005-06, 13-17 in 2006-07, 12-19 in 2007-08, 13-19 in 2008-09 and 11-18 in 2013-14.

Long Range
Idaho State has already made and attempted more 3-pointers  this year than it did during the 2014-15 season. ISU has made 153 3's this year on 423 attempts (.362 percent). Last year the Bengals made 148 3's on 420 attempts. ISU is close to surpassing that number for the 2013-14 and 2012-13 seasons. ISu was 166-453 in 2013-14 and 163-515 in 2012-13. The 2011-12 season saw ISU make 193 3's on 562 attempts.