Men's Basketball Hosts Utah Valley Wednesday Night for Final Non-Conference Contest

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team will play their final non-conference game of their 2024-25 schedule, hosting the Utah Valley Wolverines on Wednesday, December 18th at 7 P.M. in Reed Gym. Idaho State is searching for their first-ever win over UVU, 0-6 All-Time. The last time these two teams met in Dec. of 2018, the Wolverines would come away with the win 88-77.
This game will be streamed on ESPN+, you can listen along live with Scott Gross on KISU, or you can follow along with LiveStats.

Utah Valley University (5-6)
Home (3-0), Away (1-5), Neutral (1-1)
Utah Valley is 5-6 on the season, with wins over Murray State, UTEP, and North Dakota. UVU has 3 players averaging double figures in scoring, and 2 players who average 5+ rebounds per game.
 
Walla Walla Recap
The Bengals would go on an early 15-0 run to open up the game. At the halftime buzzer Idaho State would ride a 24-point advantage into the locker rooms, 43-19.

The second half saw Idaho State continue to play well, as the Bengals would have three players finish with double-doubles. At the final buzzer the Bengals would win by a final score of 97-43, improving Idaho State's overall record to 5-5.

Four Bengals finished the night scoring in double digits for the ISU squad, leading the way was Jaedyn Brown, who came in off the bench and finished with his first career double-double, a career-high 20 points on 7-12 shooting from the field and 6-10 from beyond the arc, 10 rebounds, two assists, and one steal in just 16 minutes of action. Jake O'Neil tallied another double-double, scoring 17 of his 18 points in the second half one 6-11 shooting from the field and 3-5 shooting from deep, while also adding 10 rebounds, five assists, and one block. Isaiah Griffin finished with 14 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor, four rebounds, three assists, and one block. Evan Otten would record his first career double-double tonight, finishing with 11 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting from the field, 10 rebounds, two steals, and one block. Captain, AJ Burgin, would record his first start of the season, tallying a new career-high in assists with 10, while also putting up eight points, six rebounds, and one steal, and the final starter for the Bengals, Connor Hollenbeck, would end his night with eight points on 3-4 shooting from the field and 2-3 from three-point range, two rebounds, and two assists. Also off the bench for Idaho State Quentin Meza and Blake Daberkow would leave their marks all over this one. Meza finishing with eight points on 3-6 shooting from the field and 2-5 from deep, a career-high seven assists, three steals, and two rebounds in 22 minutes, and Daberkow would stuff the stat sheet, finishing with a season-high eight points on 4-8 shooting from the floor, two rebounds, two blocks, one assist, and one steal in just 14 minutes of play. Also seeing some action for the Bengals, Jackson Greene would finish with two points, five rebounds, one block, and one steal in 18 minutes, and Covy Kelly would record one rebound and one assist in three minutes of play. Following the win Idaho State will improve to 5-5 on the season.

The Bengals finished the game shooting 50.7 percent from the field, and 41.7 percent from deep finishing 15-36 from three-point range. Idaho State ended the game with 55 rebounds, 33 assists, and 9 steals.

Walla Walla finished the game shooting 29.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point territory, going 5-15. The Wolves would finish with 11 assists, 27 boards, and 7 steals.


The Returning 4
4          Jaedyn Brown           G         R-Fr.   6-4      185     Pullman, WA
12        Isaiah Griffin             F          Sr.       6-6      210     Knightdale, NC
13        AJ Burgin                   G         Sr.       6-3      205     San Diego, Calif.
30        Evan Otten                C         R-Fr.   6-11    235     Redmond, OR                       
 
Hello My Name Is
0          Joey Madimba          G         Jr.       6-5      205     Mansfield, TX          
1          Dylan Darling            G         R-So.  6-1      180     Spokane, WA            
2          Nick Ghetie               G         Fr.       5-11    175     Portland, OR 
3          Quentin Meza           G         So.      6-0      180     West Valley City, UT
5          Cheikh Sow               G         Jr.       6-7      195     Theis, Senegal                     
8          Jake O'Neil                G         Gr.       6-4      210     Fruitland, ID             
10        Connor Hollenbeck  F          Gr.       6-7      225     Rapid City, SD
11        Cam Slaymaker        G         Jr.       6-4      195     Coquitlam, BC, CA   
14        Covy Kelly                 G         Jr.       6-2      182     Garden Valley, ID
21        Jackson Greene       F          Jr.       6-7      215     Atlanta, GA               
24        Justin Graham         F          Sr.       6-7      200     Colorado Springs, CO
32        Blake Daberkow       C         Jr.       6-10    235     Lincoln, NE 


 
Bengal Bites

• Idaho State brings in 12 new players for the 2024-25 campaign (1 of only 27 schools in NCAA D1)
• Jake O'Neil recorded his 5^th double-double of the season (18 points & 10 rebounds) in Idaho State's win over Walla Walla at home on Dec. 14^th (2^nd in the Big Sky & 8^th in the NCAA in Double-Doubles)
• Dylan Darling recorded his first career double-double (10 points & 10 assists) vs. Embry-Riddle on Nov. 25^th
• Evan Otten (11 points 10 rebounds) & Jaedyn Brown (20 points 10 rebounds) each recorded their first career double-double's vs. Walla Walla on Dec. 14^th
• Dylan Darling became the first ISU player since Brandon Boyd in 2018 to record 20+ points and 5+ assists in the same game in the Bengals' near upset of USC on Nov. 7^th
• Idaho State's 33 assists vs. Walla Walla is the 2^nd most assists in a single game in ISU history
• Following their blowout win over Walla Walla the Bengals now rank 1^st in the Big Sky in:
  • Field Goal Percentage Defense (40%) (57^th in the NCAA)
  • Free Throw's Made Per Game (15.2) & Free-Throw Percentage (75.6%)
  • Rebound Margin (+14.9) (1^st in NCAA), Offensive Rebounds Per Game (16) (4^th in NCAA), & Rebounds Per Game (42.2) (16^th in NCAA)
  • Scoring Defense (64.3) (29^th in NCAA) & Scoring Margin (+11.5) (68^th in NCAA)
• Idaho State is currently 2^nd in the Big Sky & 18^th in the Country in Blocks per Game (5.4)
• Jake O'Neil has been a beast on the glass. O'Neil ranks:
  • 1^st in the Big Sky and 15^th in the Country in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (3.8)
  • 2^nd in the Big Sky and 14^th in the Country in Rebounds Per Game (9.9)
  • 2^nd the Big Sky and is 16^th in the Country in Total Rebounds (99)
• Jake O'Neil's 19 rebounds vs. Oral Roberts is the most in a single-game in the Big Sky this season, and is the most in a single game for an ISU player since Jeff Solarin in 2014
• Evan Otten leads the Big Sky in Blocks and Blocks per Game, Otten ranks 8^th in the entire Country in Total Blocks (28) and is 6^th in the Country in Blocks per Game (2.8)
• Dylan Darling is 3^rd in the Big Sky and 58^th in the Nation in Assists (51) and 2^nd in the BSC and 33^rd in the Nation in Assists per Game (5.7)

 
Looking Ahead
Following the Bengals' home contest vs. Utah Valley on Wednesday, Dec. 18^th at 7 p.m., Idaho State will have a 15-day break before opening Big Sky Conference play on the road in Flagstaff, AZ, facing off with the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Thursday, January 2^nd.
 
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)