Bengals Ready for Second Game of the Season in the MACU Center, Taking on Nebraska-Omaha

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Bengals men's basketball team will be returning to the MACU Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho on Saturday evening to square off with the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks at 6 pm. This will be the second of two matchups vs Summit League opponents for the Bengals, as they take part in the inaugural Big Sky vs Summit League Challenge. This will be the first ever meeting between the Bengals and Mavericks. Dylan Carder will call the game on ESPN+ and Scott Gross will call the game on KISU.
 
University of Nebraska-Omaha (8-8)
Home (6-1), Away (1-6), Neutral (1-1)
 
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The University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks are coming into the game as winners of their last two games in a row, and an 8-8 overall record.
 
University of Denver Recap
Both the Bengals and Pioneers came out of the gates strong. The Bengals jumped to an early 6-2 lead, but the Pioneers would respond, going on a 6-0 run to take the lead early, 8-6. After being down 36-35 with 5:05 left in the first half Idaho State would end the half on an 11-4 run, taking a 46-40 lead into halftime.
 
The Bengals would grow this lead in the second half to as many as 10 points at the 15:19 mark, but Denver would close that gap quickly and knot the contest up at 59 in a blink of an eye, coming with 9:34 remaining in the game. Idaho State would immediately respond, going on a 7-0 run, but once again Denver had an answer for the Bengal lead, taking a two-point advantage with just six seconds left. After a hard drive to the rim and just .8 seconds remaining on the clock Maleek Arington would need to make two clutch free-throws in order to send this game into overtime, and with ice in his veins he did just that.
 
In the overtime period the Pioneers came out scorching hot, going 4-for-4 from the field, making three three-pointers en route to an 88-77 lead. The Bengals could not find the touch in OT and would be outscored 18-5, dropping the contest by a final score of 95-82. Following the loss, the Bengals fall to 4-10 overall, losing their sixth game in a row. Denver will get back in the win column, moving their record to 10-6 this season.
 
Brayden Parker led the way for the Bengals in this one, dropping 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and 2-of-6 from deep, Parker also snagged five rebounds, a career-high four steals, four blocks, and two assists. Miguel Tomley tied his season-high in scoring with 19 points, a season-high eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Maleek Arington scored a career-high of 18 points, six assists, three rebounds, and three steals. Isaiah Griffin tallied nine points, three rebounds, and one steal, and the final starter for the Bengals, Kiree Huie, scored seven points and snatched down five rebounds. Off the bench for ISU Trent Johnson put up five points, five rebounds, and one steal in 20 minutes, and AJ Burgin tallied four points, two rebounds, and one assist in 12 minutes.
 
With his 20 points tonight, Brayden Parker has reached 1,030 career points, moving him into 22nd place on the ISU All-Time Scoring list, passing Sam Beckham (1,021) and Brand Robinson (1,023). With Parker's four blocks tonight, he now sits at 92 career blocks, sitting just 1 block shy of tying Jesse Smith for 5th place all-time with 93.
 
The Bengals finished the game shooting 45.5 percent from the field, and 32 percent from three-point land, going 8-of-25 from deep. The Bengals tallied 11 assists, 32 rebounds, and 10 steals.
 
Denver finished the game shooting 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point territory. The Pioneers finished with 33 rebounds, 7 steals, and 15 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 6^th on the ISU career Blocks list with 92, passing Deividas Busma after recording 2 blocks in the Bengals game vs 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 22^nd place on the ISU All-Time scoring list, now with 1,030 career points, passing Sam Beckham (1,021) and Brand Robinson (1,023) after dropping 20 points against Denver on January 3^rd
• The Bengal big man tandem of Brayden Parker and Kiree Huie lead the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, Parker making 60.6% of his shots (27^th in the country), and Huie making 55.2% of his attempts (75^th in the country)
• Kiree Huie & Brayden Parker are tied for 2^nd in the Big Sky in Blocks (18) & BPG (1.29)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Assists (56) & APG (4)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Steals (29 steals & 41^st in the nation) & SPG (2.07)
• ISU is 3^rd in the Big Sky & are 80^th in the country in Field Goal Percentage (47.1%)
• Idaho State has been stingy on defense, plucking 7.2 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 30.8% when attempting 3-pointers (1^st in the Big Sky & 92^nd in the nation)

Looking Ahead
Following their game in Idaho Falls, Idaho State will be back on the road and return to conference play, traveling to play Portland State on January 11^th and Sacramento State on January 13^th.

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)