Idaho State Faces Off with Northern Colorado in Second Round of Big Sky Tournament

BOISE, Idaho - The Bengals men's basketball unit is advancing to the second round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, and face off with the 2nd seed, Northern Colorado, on Sunday, March 10th at 8 pm. The winner of the game between ISU and NAU will be waiting for the winner between 3rd seeded Montana and 6th seeded Portland State.  Scott Gross will call the game on KISU and the game will also be available to stream on ESPN+.

Northern Colorado (19-12)
Home (11-3), Away (7-8), Neutral (1-1)
ISU Recent Series vs. NAU
3/2/2024                    H         L          79 – 81
2/1/2024                    A         L          86 – 91 (2OT)
2/27/2023                 A         L          72 – 87
12/31/2022               H         W         90 – 83
2/21/2022                 A         L          70 – 77
 
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The Bears come into the contest against Idaho State with a 19-12 overall record and 12-6 in conference play, winning their last two contests versus Northern Arizona and Idaho State. UNC defeated the Bengals in their matchup in Pocatello just a little over a week ago, 81-79.
 
Northern Arizona University Recap
The Bengals and Lumberjacks battled all first half. Idaho State would take the largest lead of the first half for either team, at six points, 17-11, following a Maleek Arington jump shot. Northern Arizona would respond by going on an 11-2 run, en route to the Jacks taking a 22-19 lead with 4:58 to play in the first. After some fancy footwork to free himself up, Brayden Parker would cut the NAU lead down to just two following a made layup, and the Bengals would trail by two heading into halftime, 26-28.
 
Idaho State would be able to knot the game up at 33 to open the second half, followed by a Kiree Huie putback slam with 16:55 on the clock to give ISU the 35-33 lead, and the Bengals would not look back from there. Idaho State would grow their lead to as many as 14 points, and stave off any NAU comeback attempt with tough shot making and tenacious defense. The Bengals would go on to win 68-60. Ending their four-year tournament drought. After the win Idaho State will improve to 13-19 overall and 8-11 in conference play, Following the loss Northern Arizona will drop to 14-19 overall and 7-12 in Big Sky play.
 
Brayden Parker would lead the Bengals in scoring tonight, finishing this one with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and one block. Maleek Arington would stuff the stat sheet, putting up 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor, three assists, three steals, and one rebound, while fellow starting guard, Miguel Tomley, would dazzle on his way to 17 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three, five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. The final two Bengal starters would go to work on the glass tonight. Kiree Huie would total seven points, 10 rebounds, one assist, and one steal, and Isaiah Griffin would end the game with 10 boards. Off the bench for the Bengals, AJ Burgin would record two points and three rebounds in 18 minutes, and Trent Johnson would provide the Bengals with some clutch play on both ends of the floor, knocking down a huge three, some big free-throws, a vicious block, and an emphatic dunk to ice the game for Idaho State. Johnson would finish with seven points, two rebounds, one block, and one steal in 10 minutes of action.
 
After recording 18 points tonight Brayden Parker is now top-10 All-Time in Scoring at Idaho State University. Parker passes Frank Swopes (1,304) as he now sits at 1,309 career points.
 
Following his 3 assists in the game, Maleek Arington now sits at 151 assists on the season, moving him into 8th place on the ISU Single-Season Assist Leaderboard, passing Mike Graefe (1985-86) and Erin Cowan (1992-93). Also, after recording 3 steals tonight, Arington moves into 2nd place on the ISU Single-Season Steals list, passing Ethan Telfair (2015-16).
 
After making 3 three-pointers in tonight's contest, Miguel Tomley, moves up the Idaho State All-Time and Single-Season 3PM record books. Tomley now sits at 78 made three's this season, moving him into 7th place on the ISU Single-Season list, needing just four more to tie Tim Erickson (2000-01) for the most in a Single-Season in Bengal history. Tomley also now sits at 136 career 3PM, tying him with Jeff Gardner (2003-05) for 7th on the ISU All-Time 3PM list.
 
The Bengals finished the game shooting 42.9 percent from the field, and 28.6 percent from three-point territory, going 6-of-21 from deep. Idaho State tallied 8 assists, 37 rebounds, and 8 steals.
 
Northern Arizona finished the game shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from three-point land (6-for-17). The Lumberjacks ended the game with 33 rebounds, 6 steals, and 7 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 3^rd on the ISU career Blocks list with 120, passing Nate Green after recording 2 blocks in the Bengals game vs Northern Arizona on Feb. 29^th
• Brayden Parker became the 25^th player in Idaho State history to reach the 1,000-career point mark after dropping 24 points in the Bengals' game vs Montana on Dec. 30^th
• Parker moved into 10^th place on the ISU All-Time Scoring list with 1,309 career points. Passing Frank Swopes (1,304) after recording 18 points vs Northern Arizona on March 9^th
• Maleek Arington is now 9^th All-Time in Steals at Idaho State with 114, passing Jim Potter (1991-95) following his 4 steals vs Northern Colorado on March 2^nd
• Brayden Parker is 4^th in the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage, making 53.8% of his shot attempts (65^th in the country)
• Miguel Tomley has moved into the All-Time record books at Idaho State as he now sits at 136 career 3PM, tying him with Jeff Gardner (2003-05) for 7^th on the ISU All-Time 3PM list
• Brayden Parker is 3^rd in the Big Sky in Blocks (46) & 4^th BPG (1.44)
• Kiree Huie is 5^th in the Big Sky in Blocks (39) & BPG (1.22)
• Kiree Huie is 3^rd in the Big Sky in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (2.28)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky and 55^th in the nation in Assists (151) & 3^rd in the Big Sky in APG (4.7)
• Maleek Arington is 2^nd in the Big Sky in Steals with 75 (9^th in the nation) & 2^nd in the Big Sky in SPG with 2.34 (12^th in the country)
• After Maleek Arington's second 50-minute game of the season on Feb. 29^th vs Northern Arizona he now leads the Big Sky and 7^th in the nation in Minutes Per Game (37:01)
• Maleek Arington is 4^th in the Big Sky in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.91)
• Miguel Tomley is 1^st in the Big Sky in 3-Point FGM (78) & 2^nd in 3-Point FGM Per Game (2.44)
• ISU has had a big defensive presence down low, averaging 3.7 blocks per game (1^st in the Big Sky)
• Idaho State has been stingy on defense, plucking 7.1 steals per game (3^rd in the Big Sky)
• The Bengals defense is only allowing 69.8 PPG to opposing teams (2^nd in the Big Sky)
• Multiple Bengals have climbed into the single-season record books
  • Maleek Arington has passed passing Mike Graefe (1985-86) and Erin Cowan (1992-93) for 8^th most assists in a Single-Season in ISU history with 151
  • Arington has accumulated 75 steals this season, moving him to 2^nd on the ISU Single-Season Steals list, passing Ethan Telfair (2015-16)
  • Brayden Parker is 7^th on the Single-Season Blocks list, currently with 46 & 9^th on the Single-Season BPG list, averaging 1.44 blocks per game
  • Miguel Tomley has now made 78 three-pointers this year, moving him into 7^th place All-Time in a Single-Season. Tomley needs just 4 more to tie Tim Erickson (2000-01) for the most 3PM in a Single-Season in Bengal history.
  • Kiree Huie moved into 10^th place on the Single-Season Blocks list, passing Scott Henry (2003-04) after recording a career-high 4 blocks vs Northern Colorado on March 2^nd.

Looking Ahead
Following their game against #2 Northern Colorado, the winner between the Bengals and Bears will face off against the winner of #3 Montana vs #6 Portland State in the semi-finals.

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)