Bengals Play SUU in Round 1 of Big Sky Tournament on Tuesday

Men's Basketball | 3/5/2018 11:38:00 AM

Notes | Audio | Video | Live Stats

RENO, Nev.- The Idaho State men's basketball team opens the Big Sky Conference tournament as the No. 7 seed with a 9-9 league record, against No. 10 seed SUU. Tipoff is at 6:30 mountain time in Reno, Nevada. Jerry Miller will call the action live on 102.5 KMGI with the pregame show beginning 30 minutes prior to tipoff. Live stats, audio and video will be available through isubengals.com and Pluto TV.

Scouting Southern Utah
Southern Utah finished the regular season 11-18 and 5-13 in Big Sky Conference play.  Jamal Aytes leads SUU in scoring with an average of 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds. He is shooting .591 percent the field. Dwayne Morgan is scoring 12.6 points and averaging 6.8 rebounds. Brandon Better scores 12.3 points and Jadon Cohee is scoring 12.2 points. SUU averages 75.1 points a game and gives up 81.2 points. The T-Birds shoot .431 percent from the field, .351 percent from the three-point line and .732 percent from the foul line.  Southern Utah averages 34.2 rebounds, 11.9 assists, 12.7 turnovers and 5.2 steals a game.

In conference play Aytes averaged 13.4 points and shot .617 percent from the field. Morgan scored 12.6 points and averaged 6.8 rebounds. SUU scored 72.1 in league and gave up 79.4. The T-Birds shot .427 percent from the field and .344 percent from the three-point line.

Southern Utah (13-16)             
9-6 Home 4-10 Away             
2/3/2018         A     L     80-84                 
1/4/2018         H     W     93-78                 
2/4/2017         H     W     94-68                 
2/20/2016     A     W     89-71                 
1/28/2016     H     W     87-68                 
2/14/2015     H     L     71-67                 
1/15/2015     A     L     71-67                 
2/15/2014     A     W     75-65                 
1/16/2014     H     W     60-45                 
2/7/2013         H     L     81-79     OT             
1/12/2013     A     W     54-53     

Bengals in the Big Sky Tournament
The Bengals are 15-23 in the Big Sky Conference tournament. In 2008 and 2009 the Bengals hosted first round games in Pocatello and beat Montana 67-65 in 2008 and
Northern Colorado 67-60 in 2009. The Bengals then lost in the semi-finals to Portland State both years, 72-61 in 2008 and 61-53 in 2009.  This is the last time ISU has won a conference tournament game. The last time ISU won the conference tournament was during the 1986-87 season. The Bengals finished the regular season 5-9 in league and tied for fifth and won the tournament by beating Nevada 92-81 in the title game.

Big Sky Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, March 6 (First Round)
Pluto TV 231 | Watch Big Sky
GAME 1
#8 North Dakota vs. #9 Montana State - 12:05 p.m. (PT)
GAME 2
#5 Northern Colorado vs. #12 Northern Arizona - 2:35 p.m. (PT)
GAME 3
#7 Idaho State vs. #10 Southern Utah - 5:35 p.m. (PT)
GAME 4
#6 Portland State vs. #11 Sacramento State - 8:05 p.m. (PT)

Thursday, March 8 (Quarterfinals)
Eleven Sports | Pluto TV 231 | Watch Big Sky
GAME 5
#1 Montana vs. Game 1 Winner - 12:05 p.m. (PT)
GAME 6
#4 Weber State vs. Game 2 Winner - 2:35 p.m. (PT)
GAME 7
#2 Idaho vs. Game 3 Winner - 5:35 p.m. (PT)
GAME 8
#3 Eastern Washington vs. Game 4 Winner - 8:05 p.m. (PT)

Friday, March 9 (Semifinals)
Eleven Sports | Pluto TV 231 | Watch Big Sky
GAME 9
Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - 5:35 p.m. (PT)
GAME 10
Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner - 8:05 p.m. (PT)

Saturday, March 10 (Championship)
ESPNU
GAME 11
GAME 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner - 5:05 p.m. (PT)

Notes Following the Loss to Montana
- Jared Stutzman had a career-high 4 blocks.
- Saturday's loss ended a stretch where the Bengals had shot 50 percent or better from the field and three-point line in three straight games.
- ISU finished 9-9 in Big Sky Conference play and earned the seventh seed in the Big Sky tournament.

Hot Shooting From the Field
Idaho State is shooting 47.6 percent from the field at this point in the season. It is the best field goal percentage by a Bengal team since the 1996-97 team shot .475 percent and the 2003-04 team shot .463 percent. The school record for best field goal percentage in a season is .512 percent by the 1980-81 team.
Best Field Goal Percentage in last 20 years
2017-18: .476
1996-97: .475
2003-04: .463
2008-09: .461
2009-10: .453

Did You Know
- Idaho State has made a 3-pointer in 239 straight games. The last time ISU did not make a 3-pointer in a game was a 61-53 loss to Portland State on March 10, 2009.
- Geno Luzcando has scored in double figures in 59 games dating back to the start of his sophomore season.
- Since his sophomore year, Geno Luzcando has 53 games with two steals or more.
- Novak Topalovic has recorded five rebounds or more in 67 games since the 2015-16 season.
- Under Bill Evans ISU is 9-0 when scoring 90 points or more.
- 9 of ISU's 14 wins have come when four or more players have scored in double figures.

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