Bengals Continue Road Trip at SUU

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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team plays at Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. Jerry Miller will call the action live on 101.1 KEIR and the game can be followed on line with live stats, audio and video by logging onto isubengals.com.

Series vs. Southern Utah
Southern Utah leads the series 15-10. ISU is 4-3 against the T-Birds in the last seven meetings. SUU swept ISU last year, winning 71-67 in Pocatello and Cedar City. ISU swept SUU during the 2013-14 season, winning 75-65 at SUU and 60-45 in Pocatello. The Bengals won 87-68 in Pocatello on Jan. 28.

Scouting SUU
SUU is 4-20 and 2-12 in Big Sky Conference play. Travon Langton leads the T-Birds in scoring at 11.4 points overall and 9.8 in Big Sky games. Trey Kennedy is scoring 11.9 points overall and 12.4 in conference games while James Mcgee is scoring 12.4 overall and 13.2 in conference games. Race Parsons is averaging 9.8 points and 4.4 rebounds in Big Sky games. SUU is averaging 69.6 points a game and giving up 83.3. SUU averages 29.6 rebounds and shoots .434 percent from the field. In conference play SUU is scoring 69.8 points and shooting .433 percent from the field.

Notes From the Loss vs.  Northern Arizona
- Geno Luzcando made a career-high nine free throws. He is 17-20 from the three throw line in the last two games.
- 28 free throw attempts is the second most attempted on the road. ISU was 22-31 at Lamar in December. Against NAU on Thursday, the Bengals were 22-28.
-  19 made field goals tied for the lowest of the season. ISU also only made 19 in losses at Weber State and North Dakota.
- Idaho State is now 2-19 under Bill Evans when opponents scored 80 points or more.

From the Charity Stripe
 The Bengals have made more throws than the 2014-15 team. This year ISU is 394-535 from the line and the 2014-15 team was 391-601. The 2013-14 team was 500-701 from the foul line.

Bengal Bites
- Idaho State is 10-0 when shooting 45 percent or better from the field. ISU has shot better than 50 percent eight times, seven times coming in Big Sky Conference play.
- Idaho State is 6-0 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 the Bengals have three.
- This year Geno Luzcando has scored in double figures in 15 of the last 17 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.
- Prior to this season, ISU 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.
- Ethan Telfair's 37 points vs. North Dakota ties for the most points scored by a Big Sky Conference player this year.
-  Geno Luzcando's two 10-10 games from the field is the best field goal percentage by a Big Sky player this year.
- Gary Chivichyan's 17 three-point attempts is the most by a Big Sky player.
- Ethan Telfair's six steals at Sacramento State is the second most by a Big Sky player this year.
- The Bengals have had six different players score 30 points or more in a game. Ethan Telfair has done it three times, Geno Luzcando twice and Ali Faruq-Bey once.
- Geno Luzcando has two steals or more in 17 games.
- Ethan Telfair has five assists or more in 18 games.
- Ethan Telfair has scored in double figures in 17 straight games and in every game but two.

Best start by an ISU team since the 1976-77 season through 25 games
1-    1976-77    21-4
2-    1993-94    18-7
3-    1994-95    17-8
4-    1977-78    16-9
5-    1985-86    14-11
6-    1978-79    14-11
7-    1987-88    14-11
8-    2015-16    13-12
9.     1996-97    13-12
10-    1981-82    13-12
11-    2002-03    13-12

Best Conference start since 1993-94 through 12 games
1- 1993-94    9-4
2- 2015-16    8-5

Starting Lineups
ISU coach Bill Evans has used eight different starting lineups this season. The only constant has been Geno Luzcando who has started every game. The line up of  Ethan Telfair, Geno Luzcando, Kyle Ingram, Ben Wilson and Ali Faruq-Bey has started eight games and the lineup of Ingram, Luzcando, Telfair, Wilson and Gary Chivichyan has started eight of the last 10 games.

Telfair to the Line
Ethan Telfair has gone to the free throw line eight times or more in 13 games. In the last 15 games he has gone 103-119 (.866) from the line. For the season he is the teams top free throw shooter at .853 percent (151-177).

Wilson Making an Impact
Ben Wilson has been efficient for the Bengals when he is out on the court. He is averaging 6.8 points a game and a team-best six rebounds. He is playing 31.6 minutes and shooting .500 percent from the field. He has 51  assists to 35 turnovers. In the last 15 games he has appeared in, he is averaging 6.8  points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting .500 percent from the field. ISU is 10-5 during this stretch.

Battle of the Boards
ISU is averaging 34.8 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 37.7 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 16 game stretch ISU has held its opponents to 69, 64, 67, 79, 78, 84, 82, 70, 76, 68, 66, 57, 64, 81 and 77 points.  ISU is 10-7 during the last 15 games.

Nakken to the Court
Walk-on Erik Nakken  had a career-game vs. Northern Arizona, playing 22 minutes and scoring 15 points. He played a career-best 24 minutes in an 88-71 win over Portland State. This year he has played 10 minutes or more in 14 games. In 13  of the last 15 games has has played 19, 14, 14, 12, 10, 17, 16, 24, 21, 20, 18, 19 and 10. Last season Nakken only played double-digits minutes twice, 19 at Montana and 14 vs. Montana Western.

Long Range
Idaho State is getting close to the school record for 3-pointers made and attempted. ISU is 209-562 and shooting .372 percent from behind the arc. The school record for most 3-pointers made in a season is 237 by the 2000-01 team. The school record for most attempts is 599 by the 2000-01 and the 2006-07 teams.
Last year the Bengals made 148 3's on 420 attempts.  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.
 
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 74.5 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 75.6 points a game. That mark would rank 17th all-time in ISU history for most points allowed per-game. .