PORTLAND, Oregon - The Idaho State men's basketball looked to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Sacramento State on Thursday with a big win over the 3
rd ranked team in the Big Sky, the Portland State Vikings. The Bengals came into the game having swept the Vikings last year, however PSU has defeated Idaho State in 8 of their last 11 meetings.
Portland State would jump early on the Bengals, going on a 5-0 run to begin the game, followed by a 14-0 run, taking a 19-5 lead at the 11:24 mark of the first half. Idaho State responded with their own 13-0 run, cutting the Viking lead to just one point, 19-18. Idaho State gained their first lead of the game at 22-21, however after going up 32-28 with just 1:43 left in the first half, the Bengals would allow Portland State to end the half on a 9-0 run, and PSU would head into the locker rooms up 37-32 at the break.
Early in the second half the Bengals would come within one point of PSU multiple times; however, they would never be able to reclaim the lead, and it would be all Vikings the rest of the way. Portland State would stretch their lead to a game high 19 points on two different occasions, but when the final horn blew, the Bengals would fall to PSU by a final score of 76-59.
Idaho State will fall to 8-10 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky play. Portland State will improve to 13-7 overall & 5-2 in Big Sky Conference play.
Two players finished in double figures in scoring for Idaho State.
Dylan Darling led the way with 11 points on 4-11 shooting from the field and 2-5 from deep, four assists, one steal, and one block, and
Isaiah Griffin finished with 10 points on 3-14 shooting, a season high eight rebounds, and one assist.
Jake O'Neil would end today with six points on 3-14 shooting, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one block. The Vikings defense would stymie the Bengals' top three scorers today, holding them to a combined 10-39 shooting from the field.
Connor Hollenbeck tallied five points on 2-8 shooting and three rebounds, and the final Bengal starter,
Evan Otten would finish with four points, six rebounds, and one assist after fouling out in just 16 minutes of play.
Coming off the bench
Jackson Greene put up eight points on 2-5 shooting and three rebounds in 27 minutes, and
Blake Daberkow would score eight points on 3-5 shooting from the field, to go along with three rebounds, one block, and one steal in 17 minutes. Also contributing off the bench,
AJ Burgin would total three points and two rebounds,
Joey Madimba would notch his first career bucket as a Bengal, finishing with two points on 1-3 shooting and a rebound, and
Jaedyn Brown would finish with two points and two rebounds.
The Bengals finished the game shooting just 31.3 percent from the field, and 15 percent from deep (both 3
rd worst in a game this season) finishing 3-15 from three-point land. Idaho State ended the game with 38 rebounds, getting outrebounded for just the second time this entire season, 9 assists, and 3 steals.
Portland State finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field, the Bengals allowing a team to shooting 40% or better for the second game in a row for just the second time this season, and 38.9 percent from three-point territory, going 7-18. The Vikings would finish with 18 assists, 43 boards, and 6 steals.
Next up for Idaho State they will be back home for a three-game homestand, hosting the Eastern Washington Eagles on Thursday, Jan. 30
th, the University of Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 1
st, and Northern Colorado on Monday, Feb. 3
rd.
All three games will be streamed on ESPN+, you can listen along live with Scott Gross on KISU, or you can follow along with LiveStats.
SUPPORT THE BENGALS!
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
FOLLOW THE BENGALS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Bengal Men's Basketball by following us on Facebook (
IdahoStateMensBasketball), Twitter (@
IdahoStateMBB), and Instagram (@
idahostatembb).
