POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State men's basketball team squared off with Weber State for the second time this season this evening. In their first matchup in Ogden, Utah the Bengals walked out with a double-digit win, and will search to complete their first season sweep of the Wildcats for the first time since 2003-04 season.
The Bengals jumped out to an early 8-5 lead, thanks in part to two early triples from
Miguel Tomley. Idaho State would stretch their lead to the largest of the first-half at eight points, 26-18, following a
Brayden Parker three-point basket. Following two Weber State free-throws the teams would head into the locker rooms for halftime with Idaho State on top by six, 32-26.
Idaho State would come out of the halftime break on fire, bursting to a 6-0 run and extending their lead to the largest of the game at 12, 38-26 after a
Kiree Huie layup coming with 18:09 remaining in the game. The Bengals would then go on a 7-0 run, moving their lead to 17 points, 54-37, after a
Brayden Parker fadeaway jumper with 11:28 remaining in the contest. The Wildcats would cut the defeciet down to 11 points, but would never get closer than that. As ISU would lead by as many as 21 points in this one, they would go on to win by 18, 80-62. Earning the Bengals their first season sweep over Weber State in 20 years. After the win, Idaho State improves to 12-16 overall and 7-8 in Big Sky play. The Wildcats' winning streak will end at five, as they drop to 18-10 overall and 9-6 in Big Sky play.
Miguel Tomley led the way for Idaho State tonight, as he would have his best game of the season, putting up a season-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and making a career-high 6-of-11 three-pointers, six rebounds, and two assists.
Brayden Parker would tally his third double-double on the season, putting up 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from deep, tying a season-high 11 rebounds, and three blocks, while
Maleek Arington would put up his first career double-double, totaling 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor, a career-high 10 assists, four steals, and two rebounds.
Isaiah Griffin would end the game with six points and five rebounds, and the final starter for ISU,
Kiree Huie, would end the contest with four points, two rebounds, one block, and one steal. Off the bench for the Bengals
Briggs Ranstrom,
AJ Burgin, and
Trent Johnson would all play big roles. Most notably tonight was
Briggs Ranstrom, as Ranstrom put up five points, four rebounds, and one assist in 23 minutes of action, but Ranstrom also provided Idaho State with many different hustle plays that did not show up in the stat sheet tonight, that helped the Bengals earn the win.
Following his 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks,
Brayden Parker has cemented himself as one of the best Bengal big-men to ever dawn the Orange & Black. Parker now sits at 1,250 career points, just 10 shy of passing Brandon Boyd (2015-19) for 12
th on the ISU All-Time Scoring list, 114 career blocks, tying Nate Green (1993-97) for 3
rd on the ISU All-Time Blocks list, and 526 career rebounds, passing Logan Kinghorn (2004-08) & Jeffrey Solarin (2013-15) for 9
th on the ISU All-Time Rebounding list. Parker also ranks 10th on the ISU All-Time Field Goals Made list, with 493, just six away from tying Jim Rodgers (1956-59) for 9
th All-Time. With just three more games remaining in the regular season and one guaranteed conference tournament game, Parker currently sits 8
th on the ISU All-Time Field Goal Percentage list, with 52.3%, and 8
th on the ISU All-Time Blocked Shots Per Game list, with an average of 1.01 blocks per game.
Idaho State finished the game shooting 59.6 percent from the field, and 47.6 percent from three-point territory, going 10-of-21 from behind the arc. The Bengals tallied 13 assists, 32 rebounds, and 5 steals.
Weber State finished the game shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three-point land (5-for-16). The Wildcats finished the game with 24 rebounds, 8 steals, and 6 assists.
The Bengals men's basketball team will return to the court on Leap Day, Thursday, February 29
th as they play their second to last home game of the season, hosting the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks at 7 pm in Reed Gym.
