POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team opened Big Sky Conference play with a 72-55 win at the University of Idaho on Saturday evening at the Cowan Spectrum in Moscow, Idaho. The Bengals improved to 5-5 overall and 1-0 in league while Idaho dropped to 3-9 and 0-1 in league. The win snapped a three-game losing streak in Moscow as the last road win over Idaho was during the 2007-08 season.
"I have mature guys on my team," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "I could tell by the way we warmed up that we were going to play well."
Gary Chivichyan came off the bench to score a game-high 24 points on 7-11 shooting in 29 minutes of play. He was 6-9 from the three-point line, 4-4 from the foul line and had four rebounds.
"He can really get it off quick," Evans said. "He has good range and he has really done a great job. I am proud of him for a lot of reasons. He did a good job of defending. Gary has decided to shoot good shots. He can really shoot."
Jared Stutzman had 10 points.
Brandon Boyd had nine points and a career-high eight assists.
Chier Maker and
Kelvin Jones led the Bengals in rebounding with six while Jones and
Alonzo Walker each had three blocks.
Idaho State shot 41.7 percent from the field and held Idaho to 33.3 percent shooting (18-54). The Vandals were 2-15 from the three-point line while the Bengals were 12-32.
"Coach Verlin is a really good coach and a really good offensive coach," Evans said. "For us to hold them to 33 percent shooting and 13 percent from the three-point line is really good."
Idaho State out rebounded Idaho 42-36.
The Bengals trailed 21-17 with 7:10 left until halftime. Idaho State then went on a 16-0 run to take a 33-21 lead with 3:01 left until the break. Chivichyan scored six points during the run while Stutzman and Maker each hit 3's.
Idaho State closed out the first half on a 25-7 run to lead 42-28 at halftime. ISU shot 51.9 percent in the first half and made seven 3's on 13 attempts.
ISU led 44-28 in the first minute of the second half. Idaho went on a 12-2 run to cut its deficit to 46-40 with 15:36 left in the game. The Vandals would not get any closer as the Bengals led by as many as 21 at 72-51 with 2:06 remaining following a 3-pointer by
Balint Mocsan.
Idaho State plays at Eastern Washington on Monday, Dec. 31. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. mountain time. The Bengals then return home to host Southern Utah on Thursday, January 3 in Holt Arena. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.
Notes
- Idaho State is now 5-0 when holding opponents to under 80 points.
- Three blocks by
Alonzo Walker is a career-high.
-
Brandon Boyd's eight assists is a career-high.
-Â Idaho's 55 points scored is the fewest points ISU has given up in a game to this point in the season.
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