SACRAMENTO, California - The Bengals men's basketball team traveled to Sacramento, California for their game against the Sacramento State Hornets on Thursday night. The Hornets came into the game having split the season series last year with the Bengals, beating the Bengals on a last second jumper in Sacramento, while ISU would route the Hornets by more than 30 at home in Pocatello.
Sac State would jump early on the Bengals, going on a 6-0 run to begin the game, and stretching their lead to a first half high, eight points, 12-4, just two and a half minutes into the game. Idaho State would respond with a run of their own, outscoring the Hornets 9-2 over the next nine minutes to cut the Sac State lead down to just two, 15-13 with 8:55 to play in the first half. ISU would gain their first lead of the ballgame with 5:33 remaining in the half, 23-21, following two
Dylan Darling free-throws. ISU would lead by as many as four in the first half, however, the Bengals would allow Sac State to end the first half on a 5-0 run, giving the Hornets back the lead, 33-32, as the halftime buzzer sounded.
In the second half the Hornets came out hot, after allowing a quick Bengal bucket, they would go on a 15-1 run, boosting their lead to 13 points, 48-35, with 14:13 to play. After Sac State would stretch the lead to a game high 15 points, Idaho State would outscore the Hornets 26-12 over the next 10 minutes, cutting the Sacramento lead down to just one, 70-69, with 52 seconds remaining. The Bengals would get a chance to tie or win the game late, as
Dylan Darling would bring the ball up with 15 seconds remaining, he would shake his defender and get a good look at a stepback three-point attempt to take the lead with just seven seconds left, however, the shot would hit the front end of the rim and bounce off. Sacramento State would take care of business from the stripe in the end of the game, and hand Idaho State their third loss in conference play with a final score of 71-75.
Idaho State will fall to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in Big Sky play. Sacramento State will earn their 6
th win on the season, improving to 6-13 overall & 2-4 in Big Sky Conference play.
Dylan Darling left his fingerprints all over this one, as he led all scorers, finishing with a game high 25 points, on 6-12 shooting from the field and 12-16 shooting from the free-throw line, a game high seven assists, three rebounds, and one steal in a career high, 39 minutes played.
Jake O'Neil finished with his 10
th double-double on the year (2
nd in the Big Sky & Top 10 in the NCAA) with 16 points on 5-13 shooting from the field and 6-8 from the free-throw line, 12 rebounds, one assist, and one steal in 31 minutes of action.
Evan Otten tallied his 5
th career game in double-figures ending his night with 10 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting from the field and showing the improvement in the long-range shot as he went 1-1 from three-point territory, four rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.
Connor Hollenbeck and
Isaiah Griffin would be the final two Bengal starters tonight. Hollenbeck, the reigning Big Sky Conference's Player of the Week, would drain two three-pointers in the first half, but was held scoreless in the second half, ending his evening with six points on 2-4 shooting from beyond the arc, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while Griffin would put up two points on 1-9 shooting, one rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Jackson Greene would once again play a vital role for
Ryan Looney and Idaho State, coming off the bench and contributing three points on 1-1 shooting from the field, six rebounds (3
rd most in game tonight), and one steal in 25 minutes of action (3
rd most this season). Bengal captain,
AJ Burgin, would come in and put up six points on 2-6 shooting from deep, three rebounds, and one assist in 14 minutes. The final two Bengals seeing the court against Sac State were
Blake Daberkow and
Jaedyn Brown. Daberkow totaling two points on 1-2 shooting from the floor, one rebound, and one block in six minutes of playing time, while Brown would tally one point, two rebounds, and a steal in 11 total minutes.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 38.6 percent from the field, and just 27.3 percent from deep (5
th worst in a game this season) finishing 6-22 from three-point land. Idaho State ended the game with 41 rebounds, 12 assists, and 7 steals.
Sacramento State finished the game shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three-point territory, going 10-22. The Hornets would finish with 16 assists, 31 boards, and 2 steals.
Next up for Idaho State they will travel to Portland, OR to play against the Portland State Vikings on Saturday Jan. 25
th.
The Bengals and Vikings are scheduled to tip off Saturday afternoon at 3 P.M. MT and 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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