POCATELLO, Idaho - The Bengals men's basketball team hosted the Utah Valley Wolverines on Wednesday night, falling to UVU by a final score of 70-56.
The Bengals and Wolverines would battle closely all first half. Idaho State would jump out to an early 14-9 lead at the 11:50 mark, however, UVU would respond with a 13-3 run over the next four and a half minutes, taking a 22-17 advantage. The Wolverines stretched their lead to a first-half high, eight points, on two different occasions. But, the Bengals would cut into the lead before half, trailing by just four, 35-31, as both teams headed into the locker rooms for the halftime break.
In the second half Idaho State would open on a 7-0 run in the first two minutes, regaining the lead 38-35. For every punch the Bengals threw, Utah Valley would have an answer, as the Wolverines would surge to a seven point lead at the 8:50 mark in the second half, 55-48. As ISU looked to make their late game run, they cut the lead down to just two points, 55-53, but UVU would close the game on a 15-3 run, running away with the win in Pocatello by a final score of 70-56. Idaho State will fall to 5-6 following the loss and Utah Valley improves to 6-6 after the win.
Idaho State had three players finishing in double figures for scoring tonight,
Jake O'Neil led the way grabbing his 6
th double-double on the season as he had a team-high 21 points on 7-17 shooting from the field, 14 rebounds, one assist, and one block. Also in double figures for scoring were
Isaiah Griffin and
AJ Burgin. Griffin totaled 11 points on 4-9 shooting from the floor and four rebounds, while Burgin would tally 10 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and 2-4 from three-point territory, four assists, two rebounds, and one steal. The final two starters for Idaho State were
Evan Otten and
Connor Hollenbeck. Otten would total two points, five rebounds, four blocks, and two assists after fouling out in just 18 minutes of play, and Hollenbeck would end his night with four points, two rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal. Off the bench
Jackson Greene would see a season-high 28 minutes of action, making the most of his extended minutes as he would finish with five points, a season-high eight rebounds, and three blocks.
Quentin Meza would be the final Bengal to get in the scoring column, recording three points in 12 minutes of play.
Jaedyn Brown would tally one rebound and one assist in 10 minutes of playing time and
Blake Daberkow would record one steal in nine minutes.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 35.2 percent from the field, and 28.6 percent from deep finishing 4-14 from three-point range. Idaho State ended the game with 39 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals.
Utah Valley finished the game shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 22.2 percent from three-point territory, going 4-18. The Wolverines would finish with 14 assists, 36 boards, and 5 steals.
The Idaho State men's basketball team will look to their Big Sky Conference slate now. Their first two destinations will be traveling to two of the best teams in the Big Sky in Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. The Bengals will take on the NAU Lumberjacks on Thursday, January 2
nd at 6 P.M. and their game in Greeley, CO against the UNC Bears will be on Saturday, January 4
th at 2 P.M. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+, you can listen along live with Scott Gross on KISU, or you can follow along with LiveStats.
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Fans can purchase tickets for various Idaho State athletic events by visiting idahostate.evenue.net/list/Athl. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 208-282-4093 or by email at joyerin@isu.edu
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