Bengals Face Off with Wildcats In Ogden Saturday Night

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team will continue their four-game road trip as they travel to Weber State on Saturday, January 27^th for their game at 7 pm. The Bengals split their season series with Weber State last year, which included the Bengals 71-72 2OT loss to the Wildcats in Pocatello. Idaho State is 2-3 against WSU in their last five matchups. Be sure to follow along as Scott Gross will have the call on KISU and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+.

Weber State (12-8)
Home (8-1), Away (3-5), Neutral (1-2)
ISU Recent Series vs. WSU
2/4/2023        H         L          71 – 72 (2OT)
1/7/2023        A         W         67 – 57
1/20/2022     A         L          63 – 95
1/17/2022     H         L          61 – 78
3/2/2020        A         W         78 – 70
 
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The Wildcats come into their game with Idaho State with an 12-8 overall record and 3-4 record in conference play. Weber State lost their most recent game on Monday night to Montana, 77-62, and have lost 4 of their last 5 games.
 
Montana State Recap
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 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 4^th on the ISU career Blocks list with 103, passing Jeff Cook after recording 5 blocks in the Bengals game vs Eastern Washington on Jan. 20^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 20^th place on the ISU All-Time scoring list, now with 1,103 career points, passing Matt Stucki (1,079) after recording 18 points vs Idaho on Jan. 18^th
• Brayden Parker is 2^nd the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, making 55.6% of his shots (54^th in the country)
• Kiree Huie is 4^th in the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, making 53.4% of his attempts (76^th in the country)
• Brayden Parker is T-1^st in the Big Sky in Blocks (29) & 3^rd in BPG (1.45)
• Kiree Huie is 4^th in the Big Sky in Blocks (26) & 5^th BPG (1.30)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky and 64^th in the nation in Assists (88) & APG (4.4)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky & 10^th in the country in Steals (47) & 2^nd in the Big Sky & 19^th in the country in SPG (2.35)
• Miguel Tomley is 3^rd in the Big Sky in 3-Point FGM (43) & 7^th in 3-Point FGM Per Game (2.15)
• ISU has had a big defensive presence down low, averaging 3.8 blocks per game (Leads the Big Sky)
• Idaho State has been stingy on defense, plucking 7.1 steals per game (2^nd in the Big Sky)
• The Bengals defense is only allowing 69 PPG to opposing teams (2^nd in the Big Sky)

Looking Ahead
Following their game at Weber State on Saturday, Idaho State will be on the road for two more games, part of their longest road-trip of the season, traveling to play Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona next week.

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)