POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State Bengals hit the road this week taking on the Sacramento State Hornets and Portland State Vikings in a pair of critical Big Sky Conference matchups.
First, the Bengals take on the Hornets in Sacramento, Calif., at 7:30 PM MT, Thursday Feb. 8. Then, the Bengals head to Portland to take on the PSU Vikings at 3:00 PM MT Saturday, Feb. 10.
The Bengals are 10-11 (6-4 BSC) heading into the game. In the previous eight games, the Bengals are 6-2 going back to the week of Jan. 11 when the Bengals swept Portland State and Sacramento State at home in Reed Gym.
How to Follow
Game 1 | ISU vs Sac State | Feb. 8 | 7:30 PM MT
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Game 2 | ISU vs PSU | Feb. 10 | 3:00 PM MT
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Quick Look – Sacramento State Hornets
· This is the 2nd time this season the Bengals and Hornets will meet on the hardwood. The first meeting came on Jan. 13 as the Bengals took down the Hornets 62-48.
· The Bengals led from start to finish as Nika Lokica led the Bengals with 16 points, going four-of-six from three-point range. The Hornets outrebounded the Bengals by +1 in the game, but the Orange and Black took advantage of 46.6 percent shooting in the first and 57.14 shooting in the third to secure the conference victory.
· The Bengals now hold a 45-9 all-time series lead on the Hornets. In Sacramento, the Hornets have the majority of their wins, but the overall series sits at 20-6 in Sacramento.
· In the previous 10 meetings, the Bengals are now 7-3
01/31/19 A W 56-42
01/04/20 H W 80-62
02/08/20 A W 75-51
01/14/21 A W 69-57 0
1/16/21 A W 77-70
1/27/22 H L 73-57
2/19/22 A W 67-56
1/19/23 A L 66-52
2/18/23 H L 75-62
1/13/24 H W 62-48
· The Hornets picked up their first Big Sky Conference win of the season this past week against Portland State. The Hornets took down the Vikings 72-65 in Sacramento led by huge games from Solape Amusan and Irune Orio who scored 23 and 22 points in the win.
Quick Look – Portland State Vikings
· This is the 2nd meeting of the Bengals and Vikings this season. The first meeting this season, the Bengals defeated the Vikings 79-43 in the 2nd largest margin of victory over a DI team in program history.
· Kacey Spink led the Bengals with 15 points on six of 10 shooting from the floor. Three other Bengals scored in double digits as the Orange and Black trounced the Vikings.
· The Bengals defense was stifling in the first meeting, holding PSU to just 29.4 percent from the field in the game.
· The Vikings are 5-17 this season and have yet to win a Big Sky Conference game sitting at 0-10.
· The Vikings are averaging 56.4 ppg with a -12.6 scoring margin.
· #12 Esmerelda Morales leads the Vikings scoring 17.4 ppg, Morales is the No. 1 scorer in the Big Sky Conference this season, but is the only Viking to average double-digit scoring for PSU.
· Two of the better things the Vikings do are shoot free throws and three-pointers. As a team they shoot .728 from the FT line and hit a 6th best 6.2 three pointers per game.
Early Look Ahead
The Bengals are back home next week talking on Eastern Washington and Idaho. The game against Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 17 will be the annual 'pink game' as we Play4Kay. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and donate to the Kay Yow foundation as we work to end cancer. Fans can donate at https://kayyow.com/
