Bengals Prepare for First Game of the Big Sky vs Summit League Challenge

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Bengals men's basketball team will be traveling to Denver, Colorado on Wednesday night to face off with the University of Denver Pioneers at 7:30 pm. This will be the first of two matchups vs Summit League opponents for the Bengals, as they take part in the inaugural Big Sky vs Summit League Challenge. The Bengals are 0-3 all-time versus the Pioneers, including Denver's win in last season's thriller in Pocatello after making a go-ahead three-pointer with less than a second left in the game. Scott Gross will call the game on KISU, and the game will be available to stream on MidCoSports.
 
 
University of Denver (9-6)
Home (5-1), Away (3-4), Neutral (1-1)
ISU Recent Series vs. Denver
11/18/2022               H         L          70 – 69
11/25/2015               A         L          79 – 69
11/16/2014               A         L          54 – 38
 
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Denver is coming off of an 89 – 86 overtime loss vs Oral Roberts Sunday afternoon. Prior to their loss against Oral Roberts, the Pioneers were winners of their last three in a row. The Pioneers come into the game against the Bengals with a 9-6 record and 1-1 in Summit League play. Denver has one of the most prolific offenses in the Summit League, if not the nation, leading the Summit League in Assist/Turnover Ratio, Assists Per Game, Free-Throw's (Top 5 in the nation), Scoring Offense (27^th in the nation), Scoring Margin, Turnovers Per Game (8^th in the nation), & Winning Percentage. Denver also has the nation's leading scorer on their team, Tommy Bruner, who is averaging 24.7 PPG. The Pioneers are looking to remain undefeated when going up against the Bengals (3-0 all-time record vs ISU).
 
University of Montana Recap
The Bengals and Griz came out playing physical basketball, pounding the paint, and finding the open man for easy jumpers. Idaho State took an early 7-6 lead at the 15:56 mark in the first half, thanks to a Kiree Huie hook shot, but the Grizzlies would then go on a 10-2 run over the next 5:38 to take the largest lead of the first half for either team, 16-9. ISU would respond, going on their own 7-0 run to tie the game at 16 all. Brayden Parker would lead the Bengals the rest of the half, draining four first half triples en route to 16 first half points. After a hard-fought half Idaho State and Montana would head into halftime knotted up at 35 apiece.
 
The Bengals came out of the gates hot in the second half, going on a 8-3 run in the first 3:15 of the half, growing their largest lead of the game, 43-38. The Grizzlies would prove to be far from done in this one however, going on an 11-2 run to reclaim the lead, 49-45. As the Bengals and Griz scrapped for points Montana would once again find a way to go on a run, this time outscoring the Bengals 9-2 over the next 4:42, surging to 9-point advantage (65-56) with just 4:40 remaining in the game. The Griz would extend their lead to the largest of the game at 13 points, and go on to close the Bengals out by a final score of 76-68. Following the loss, the Bengals fall to 4-9 overall, losing their last five in a row, and begin conference play 0-2. Montana will get back in the win column, moving their record to 8-5 this season, and begin Big Sky play 1-1.
 
Brayden Parker led the way for ISU, dropping a season-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from deep, Parker also snagged six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. The other big man for the Bengals, Kiree Huie, finished tonight's game with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, five rebounds, three blocks, and one steal. Maleek Arington was the final Bengal scoring in double figures tonight, finishing with 12 points, shooting 5-of-9 from the field, four steals, three assists, and one rebound. Isaiah Griffin put up nine points, seven rebounds, and one assist, and the final starter for Idaho State, Miguel Tomley, finished the game with four points, three assists, two steals, and one rebound. Off the bench for ISU Trent Johnson tallied two points, one rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal in 10 minutes, and AJ Burgin snagged two rebounds and one steal in 14 minutes.
 
With his 24 points tonight, Brayden Parker has reached 1,010 career points, becoming the 25th player in Idaho State history to surpass the 1,000-career point mark. Parker moves into 24th place on the ISU All-Time Scoring list, passing Ev Fopma (1,007). With Parker's two block tonight, he also jumps up the ISU All-Time Blocks leaderboard. Parker now has 88 career blocks, moving him into 6th place all-time, passing Deividas Busma (2008-11).
 
The Bengals finished the game shooting 46.4 percent from the field, and 38.9 percent from three-point land, going 7-of-18 from deep. The Bengals tallied 11 assists, 25 rebounds, and 9 steals.
 
Montana finished the game shooting 53.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point territory. The Grizzlies finished with 36 rebounds, 4 steals, and 14 assists. UM forced the ball down low all game having nearly 2/3's of their points coming from the paint, as they finished with 48 to Idaho State's 34.

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                          
 
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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 6^th on the ISU career Blocks list with 88, passing Deividas Busma after recording 2 blocks in the Bengals game versus Montana on Dec. 30^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 24^th place on the ISU All-Time scoring list, now with 1,010 career points, passing Ev Fopma (1,007) in the Bengals' game vs Montana on Dec. 30^th
• The Bengal big man tandem of Brayden Parker and Kiree Huie lead the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, Parker making 62.3% of his shots (22^nd in the country), and Huie making 55.8% of his attempts (66^th in the country)
• Kiree Huie is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Blocks (18) & BPG (1.38)
• Brayden Parker is 5^th in the Big Sky in Blocks (14) & BPG (1.08)
• Maleek Arington is 3^rd in the Big Sky in Assists (50) & APG (3.8)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Steals (26) & SPG (2)
• Idaho State is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Scoring Defense (67.5)
• ISU is 2^nd in the Big Sky & are 72^nd in the country in Field Goal Percentage (47.2%)
• Idaho State has been stingy on defense, plucking 7 steals per game (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 29.4% when attempting 3-pointers (1^st in the Big Sky & 52^nd in the nation)

Looking Ahead
Following their game in Denver, Idaho State will return to Idaho to play their second Big Sky – Summit League Challenge game on Saturday, January 6^th against the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the MACU Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Tip will be at 6 pm.

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)