Bengals Host Vandals and Eagles this Week

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Bengals men's basketball team will be will be back in Reed Gym this week to host rivals, the University of Idaho Vandals, for their Orange-Out game on Thursday, January 18^th at 7 pm, and then Eastern Washington on Saturday, January 20^th at 6 pm. Idaho State has defeated Idaho in their last 6 straight meetings, and 10 of their last 11. The Bengals downed Eastern Washington in their latest matchup last season, but prior to that Idaho State has fallen in 4 of the last 5 to the Eagles. Dylan Carder will call the game on ESPN+ and Scott Gross will call the game on KISU.

University of Idaho (7-9)
Home (5-5), Away (1-4), Neutral (1-0)
ISU Recent Series vs. UI
2/23/2023     H         W         65 – 55
1/28/2023     A         W         95 – 91
2/10/2022     A         W         79 – 70
1/15/2022     H         W         81 – 74
2/13/2021     H         W         64 – 58 (OT)
 
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The Vandals come into their game with Idaho State with a 7-9 overall record and 1-2 in conference play. Idaho has lost their last three straight to Portland State, St. Thomas, and Eastern Washington.
 
Eastern Washington (9-7)
Home (5-0), Away (4-7), Neutral (0-0)
ISU Recent Series vs. EWU
2/25/2023     H         W         71 – 63
1/26/2023     A         L          68 – 81
2/12/2022     A         L          72 – 75
1/24/2022     H         L          63 – 89
3/5/2021        A         L          62 – 75
 
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Eastern Washington enters the third week of conference play with a 9-7 overall record and the only undefeated team remaining in Big Sky play (3-0). The Eagles have won their last 5 in a row, defeating Portland State, Sac State, South Dakota, North Dakota State, and Idaho over that span.
 
 
Sacramento State Recap
Idaho State and Portland State fought all first half, neither team able to extend their leads larger than four points. After a tight first half that consisted of six ties and five lead changes Idaho State took a one-point advantage into halftime, 35-34.
 
In the second half it was more of the same, hard-nosed basketball as the first half, however, the Hornets would take the largest lead of the game after a 7-0 run to give themselves a 58-51 lead over the Bengals with 7:29 remaining. Idaho State would fight their way back into the game, Maleek Arington would find Isaiah Johnson to cut the Hornet lead to just two, and following a stop on the defensive end, Maleek Arington would find a cutting Miguel Tomley this time to tie the ball game up a 64 apiece with 12.5 seconds left in the game. On the other end the Hornets would hit a heavily contested floater with .2 seconds remaining and go on to down the Bengals by a final score of 66-64. Following the loss, Idaho State falls to 6-11 overall and 1-3 in Big Sky play. With win loss Sacramento State moves to 6-11 overall and 2-2 in Big Sky play.
 
Miguel Tomley led the way for Idaho State tonight, with 16 points, one assist, three rebounds, and one block. Kiree Huie would tally 14 points, three rebounds, and three blocks, and fellow big man, Brayden Parker, finished tonight with nine points, three rebounds, and one steal. Maleek Arington put up nine points, six assists, three steals, and one rebound, and the final starter for Idaho State, Isaiah Griffin, recorded nine points, a team-high five rebounds, and one assist. Coming in off the bench AJ Burgin continued his hot-streak as of late, scoring seven points and going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and recording one steal in 17 minutes of action. Trent Johnson also came in off the bench for ISU, Johnson tallied two steals, one assist, and one rebounds in 16 minutes.
 
With his 9 points tonight, Brayden Parker (1,064) moves past Tarik Cool (1,058) for 21st place on the ISU All-Time Scoring leaderboard. Parker also now sits at 94 career blocks. Just five blocks shy of tying Jeff Cook for 4th on the ISU All-Time Blocks list.
 
The Bengals finished the game shooting 52 percent from the field, and 33.3 percent from three-point land, going 5-of-15 from deep. The Bengals tallied 9 assists, 16 rebounds (a season low) and 7 steals.
 
Sacramento State finished the game shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point territory (4-for-11). The Hornets finished with 38 rebounds, 3 steals, and 13 assists.

The Returning 8
3          Maleek Arington       G         So.      6-3      200     Auburn, WA
10        Miguel Tomley         G         So.      6-3      200     Surrey, BC                
12        Turner Livingston     F          R-Fr.   6-4      195     Spokane, WA
13        AJ Burgin                   G         Jr.       6-3      205     San Diego, CA
14        Jordan Hansen         G         So.      6-6      215     Seattle, WA
20        Briggs Ranstrom      F          R-Fr.   6-6      205     Eagle, ID
25        Brayden Parker        C         Gr.       6-8      250     Preston, ID
44        Louis Stormark         C         R-So.  6-9      250     Alleroed, Denmark                          
 
Hello my name is
0          Kolton Mitchell         G         Fr.       6-1      175     Coeur d' Alene, ID   
4          Jaedyn Brown           G         Fr.       6-4      175     Pullman, WA            
5          Laolu Kalejaiye         G         Fr.       6-0      160     Los Angeles, CA      
15        Kiree Huie                  F          Jr.       6-9      220     Grayson, GA 
21        Isaiah Griffin             F          Jr.       6-6      210     Knightdale, NC                     
22        James Bodily            G         Fr.       6-3      200     Bancroft, ID              
30        Evan Otten                C         Fr.       6-11    220     Redmond, OR
31        Trent Johnson          F          Jr.       6-7      205     Cambridge, ON        
32        Gavin Gilstrap           C         Jr.       6-11    270     Spokane, WA
 
Bengal Bites

• Brayden Parker is now 5^th on the ISU career Blocks list with 94, passing Jesse Smith after recording 2 blocks in the Bengals game vs Portland State on Jan. 11^th
• Brayden Parker became the 25^th player in Idaho State history to reach the 1,000-career point mark after dropping a season-high 24 points in the Bengals' game vs Montana on Dec. 30^th
• Parker moved into 21^st place on the ISU All-Time scoring list, now with 1,064 career points, passing Tarik Cool (1,058) after recording 9 points at Sacramento State on Jan. 13^th
• Brayden Parker leads the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, making 57.4% of his shots (50^th in the country)
• Kiree Huie is 3^rd in the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, making 55% of his attempts (69^th in the country)
• Kiree Huie is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Blocks (23) & BPG (1.35)
• Brayden Parker is 3^rd in the Big Sky in Blocks (20) & 4^th in BPG (1.18)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Assists (74) & APG (4.4)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky & 11^th in the country in Steals (41) & 2^nd in the Big Sky & 16^th in the country in SPG (2.41)
• Miguel Tomley is 7^th in the Big Sky in 3-Point FGM (35)
• Idaho State has been stingy on defense, plucking 7.2 steals per game (2^nd in the Big Sky)
• The Bengals defense is only allowing 68.5 PPG to opposing teams (2^nd in the Big Sky)
• The Bengals 3-point defense is picking up where they left off last season, stifling their opponents from beyond-the-arc, holding them to just 32.1% when attempting 3-pointers (1^st in the Big Sky)

Looking Ahead
Following their two home games this week Idaho State will be back on the road for their longest road-trip of the season, traveling to play Montana State, Weber State, Northern Colorado, and Northern Arizona over that stretch.

Follow the Bengals
Follow along at ISUBengals.com to keep up to date with the team. Fans can also follow the Bengals on social media  (Twitter: @IdahoStateMBB | Instagram:@Idahostatembb | Facebook:@IdahoStateMensBasketball)