Men's Hoops Hosts Northern Colorado Thursday in Holt Arena

Game Notes | Audio | Video | Live Stats | Tickets

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team plays its first two Big Sky Conference home games this week with a Thursday, Jan. 7, contest vs. Northern Colorado and a Saturday, Jan. 9, contest vs. North Dakota. Both games begin at 7 p.m. at ICCU Court in Holt Arena.  To follow both games with live video, audio and stats, fans can log onto isubengals.com. Jerry Miller and Brad Bugger will call the action live on 101.1 KEIR.

Scouting  Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado is 4-10 and 1-1 in Big Sky Conference play. UNC is averaging 75.7 points overall and 83 in two Big Sky games. Anthony Johnson is the top scorer at 15.4 points a game and Jordan Wilson is scoring 14.7 points. In conference play Wilson is averaging 18.5 point and Dallas Anglin is scoring 16 points a game. The Bears are shooting .452 percent overall but that number increases to .525 in the two Big Sky games. UNC has hit 20 3-pointers on 43 attempts in league play (.465 percent). The Bears are averaging 35 rebounds a game overall and 33.5 in league.

Series vs. Northern Colorado
Idaho State leads the series 34-20.  The two teams only met once last year in Greeley, with Northern Colorado coming out on top 79-76. ISU has won the last three meetings vs. Northern Colorado in Pocatello. The Bengals won 73-70 on Feb. 6, 2014, 86-63 on Jan. 5, 2013 and 99-94 (2OT) on Jan. 26, 2012. Northern Colorado has won the last three meetings in Greeley. ISU's last win at Northern Colorado was 57-55 on Jan. 2, 2012.

Series vs. North Dakota
North Dakota leads the series 6-1. UND has won five straight. ISU's only win was a nonconference 76-63 victory on Dec. 3, 2011 in Pocatello.

Scouting  North Dakota
North Dakota is 6-7 and 1-1 in league. It plays at Weber State on Thursday, Jan. 7, before traveling to Pocatello. Quinton Hooker is the top scorer at 18.3 points a game overall and 22.3 points in league play.  Geno Crandall is scoring 14 in Big Sky play and 10.2 overall. North Dakota is shooting .491 percent from the floor in Big Sky play and .425 overall. UND is averaging 75 points in league play and 69.9 overall.

Notes from Big Sky Opener at Weber State
- Novak Topalovic had a career-high eight rebounds.
- Geno Luzcando tied his career-high in rebounds with 8.

Telfair to the Line
Ethan Telfair has gotten to the free throw line eight times or more in six games this season. In the last two games he has gone 20-23 from the line. For the season he is the teams top free throw shooter at .821 percent (69-84).

Wilson Making an Impact
Ben Wilson has been efficient for the Bengals when he is out on the court. He is averaging seven points a game and a team-best 5.9 rebounds. He is playing 30.4 minutes, shooting .485 percent from the field (the second best percentage on the team behind Kyle Ingram's .531) and he has 30 assists to only 17 turnovers. In the last four games he is averaging seven points and 8.8 rebounds.

Battle of the Boards
ISU is averaging 35.1 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 39.7 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 71.2 points a game.  In the five game stretch ISU has held its opponents to 69, 64, 67, 79 and 77 points.

Nakken to the Court
Walk-on Erik Nakken has already had four games playing 10 minutes or more. In the last three games he has played 19 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley and 14 vs. CSUN and Weber State. He also played 10 vs. Dickinson State. Last year Nakken only played double-digit minutes twice, 19 at Montana and 14 vs. Montana Western.