BOZEMAN, Montana – The Idaho State men's basketball team traveled to Bozeman, Montana for the second of two meetings this season with MSU. The Bengals fell the Bobcats in their most recent matchup just a few weeks ago, and have lost their last 10 in a row to Montana State.
The Bobcats would pounce on the Bengals early, storming to an early 11-3 lead. Idaho State would make their move, cutting the lead down to just two points, 11-9. Unfortunately for ISU, this would be the closest they would come to taking the lead the rest of the game. Following this Montana State would respond with a 9-2 run to grow their lead to 20-11. As the half went on it seemed for every punch the Bengals threw, the Bobcats would have a response. As the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bobcats would make a layup to increase their lead to nine over Idaho State, 34-25.
The second half would open with the Bengals and Bobcats exchanging buckets, but at the 17:42 mark Montana State would surge to a 10-2 run, blowing the game open, and holding their largest lead of the game, 48-31. Idaho State would push to make their comeback as time began to grow thin, they would cut the lead down to 11 points after a
Kiree Huie layup with 10:40 to go, but MSU found a way to grow their lead back to 17 just minutes later at the 5:33 mark. ISU would find some life late, as they sparked a 13-4 run to thin the Bobcats' to just eight points with 1:43 remaining in the contest. As time dwindled down the Bengals would be unable to get any closer than six points, as Montana State would survive their late comeback attempt, and defeat the Bengals 77-70. With the loss, Idaho State drops to 7-13 overall and 2-5 in Big Sky play. With the win, Montana State improves to 9-10 overall and 4-2 in Big Sky play.
Maleek Arington led the Bengals tonight as he tallied a team-high 15 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals as he would play all 40 minutes for the sixth consecutive game.
Kiree Huie put up 11 points, six rebounds, and one steal, and fellow big man,
Brayden Parker, would tally 10 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one block.
Isaiah Griffin finished with eight points and a team-high seven rebounds, and
Miguel Tomley would end the game with five points, two rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Off the bench for the Bengals,
AJ Burgin continued to make the most of his opportunities, as he came in and dazzled once again. Burgin would score 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. Burgin would also snare down one rebound, dish out two assists, and come up with one steal in a season-high 25 minutes of action.
Briggs Ranstrom would also see some minutes off the bench tonight for ISU. Ranstrom would put up a career-high seven points and three rebounds in 20 minutes played.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field, and 33.3 percent from three-point territory. The Bengals tallied 9 assists, 30 rebounds, and 6 steals.
Montana State finished the game shooting 58.7 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from three-point land (6-for-14). The Eagles finished with 35 rebounds, 2 steals, and 14 assists.
The Idaho State men's basketball team will continue their road trip as they travel to Weber State on Saturday, January 27
th for their game at 7 pm. Be sure to follow along as Scott Gross will have the call on KISU and the game will be available on ESPN+.
