Bengals Host Weber State Saturday Night at 6 P.M.

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team returns home to Reed Gym from their two-game road stint to host the Weber State Wildcats for their first home conference contest of the year. The Bengals will host Weber State on Saturday, January 11^th at 6 P.M. The Wildcats are 6-10 overall and begin Big Sky play 0-2, opening conference play with losses at Northern Colorado & Northern Arizona.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, you can listen along live with Scott Gross on KISU, or you can follow along with LiveStats.

Last season the Bengals went 2-0 vs. WSU, sweeping the Wildcats in their season series for the first time since 2004.

Weber State University (6-10)
Home (4-3), Away (1-7), Neutral (1-0)
ISU Recent Series vs. WSU
2/24/2024     H         W         80-62
1/27/2024     A         W         74-64
2/4/2023        H         L          72-71 (2OT)
1/7/2023        A         W         67-57
1/20/2022     A         L          95-63
 
Idaho State is 56-85 All-Time vs. Weber State and 39-29 when playing at home. The Wildcats bring in a 6-10 overall record on the season, with wins over Bowling Green, Pepperdine, and Utah Tech.
 
WSU is lead in scoring by Blaise Threatt (16.9), former Bengal Miguel Tomley (11.4), and Dyson Koehler (10.1). Nigel Burris (5.5) and Dyson Koehler (5.4) lead the way in rebounding while Blaise Threatt and Vasilije Vucinic both average 4.9 per game.
 
Northern Colorado Recap
From the get-go this game was very reminiscent of last year's 2OT thriller in Greeley when the Bears would come out on top, 91-86.

The Bengals and Bears would battle evenly all first half, Northern Colorado would gain the biggest lead of the first half at seven points, 18-11 with 11:52 to play in the first half. Idaho State would gain some momentum back before halftime, as they would trail by just two heading into the locker room, 36-38.

In the second half both teams would play well. Idaho State would extend their lead to as many as seven points, 63-56, with 9:14 to play in the game. UNC would respond by going on a 6-0 run to cut the Bengal lead to just one point, 63-62. With 4:29 to play the Bengals would gain a six-point lead, 70-64, but once again the Bears would respond, cutting the lead back down to just two, 70-68 with 3:32 to play. Idaho State regained a four-point lead with 2:15 to play following an Evan Otten alley-oop dunk from Jake O'Neil, but the Bears would cut the lead down to two with 1:33 left in the game. The Bears would gain a one-point advantage, 77-76, over ISU with 46 seconds, but with 17 ticks on the clock Jake O'Neil would lay home a driving layup, giving Idaho State the lead, 78-77. On the ensuing Bears possession ISU would foul, and after making one of two free-throws the Bengals and Bears would head into overtime tied up at 78.

In overtime Idaho State would open with a 10-4 run, going up 88-82 after a Dylan Darling step-back three-pointer. As they had done all game, Northern Colorado responded to Idaho State, going on their own 9-2 run to give UNC a 91-90 lead with just 47 seconds left in OT. Evan Otten would get the reverse layup to drop with 27 seconds remaining to regain the lead for ISU, 92-91, but with 13 seconds remaining UNC got a driving layup to fall, giving the lead back to the Bears, 93-92. With just 10 seconds left the Bengals brought the ball up, and Dylan Darling would throw up a heave from just inside halfcourt, and miraculously get it to fall! However, after video review the ball left Darling's hands a fraction of a second too late, and the officials would waive off Darling's would-be game winning shot. Giving Northern Colorado the 93-92 win over Idaho State.

Idaho State will drop to 6-7 overall and 1-1 to begin Big Sky play. Northern Colorado will be move to 10-5 overall & 2-0 to start conference play.

"I am proud of our effort tonight", says Head Coach Ryan Looney. "I thought we were pretty good offensively, we just could not get enough stops on defense to win the game."

Dylan Darling led the Bengals in scoring for the second game in a row since returning to the starting lineup after missing Idaho State's final two non-conference games in December. Darling ended his day with 22 points on 7-19 shooting from the floor, seven assists, two rebounds, and one steal. Jake O'Neil would tally 21 points on an efficient 9-12 shooting from the field and 2-2 from three-point land, eight rebounds, a season high four steals, and three assists. Isaiah Griffin would finish with his first career 20 points game, scoring 20 points on 9-16 shooting from the floor, four rebounds, one block, and one steal. The final two starters were Connor Hollenbeck and Evan Otten. Hollenbeck putting up eight points on 3-5 shooting from the field and 2-3 from beyond the arc, two rebounds, one block, and one steal, and Otten would total seven points on 2-2 shooting, six rebounds, and two blocks in just 22 minutes of action after getting into foul trouble in the first half.

Off the bench, Blake Daberkow and AJ Burgin would play meaningful minutes for Idaho State. Daberkow continuing his good start to conference play as he would total four points on 2-3 shooting from the floor and two rebounds in a season-high 20 minutes of play, and Burgin would come in and stuff the stat sheet, putting up six points on 2-4 shooting and 2-3 from three-point land, one rebounds, one assist, and one steal all in 18 minutes. Jackson Greene would see eight minutes of playing time, tallying four points on a perfect 1-1 shooting, two rebounds, and one assist.

The Bengals finished the game shooting 54.7 percent from the field, and 44 percent from deep finishing 11-25 from three-point range. Idaho State ended the game with 32 rebounds, 12 assists, and 8 steals.

Northern Colorado finished the game shooting 62.1 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point territory, going 4-16. The Bears would finish with 22 assists, 27 boards, and 7 steals.


The Returning 4
4          Jaedyn Brown           G         R-Fr.   6-4      185     Pullman, WA
12        Isaiah Griffin             F          Sr.       6-6      210     Knightdale, NC
13        AJ Burgin                   G         Sr.       6-3      205     San Diego, Calif.
30        Evan Otten                C         R-Fr.   6-11    235     Redmond, OR                       
 
Hello My Name Is
0          Joey Madimba          G         Jr.       6-5      205     Mansfield, TX          
1          Dylan Darling            G         R-So.  6-1      180     Spokane, WA            
2          Nick Ghetie               G         Fr.       5-11    175     Portland, OR 
3          Quentin Meza           G         So.      6-0      180     West Valley City, UT
5          Cheikh Sow               G         Jr.       6-7      195     Theis, Senegal                     
8          Jake O'Neil                G         Gr.       6-4      210     Fruitland, ID             
10        Connor Hollenbeck  F          Gr.       6-7      225     Rapid City, SD
14        Covy Kelly                 G         Jr.       6-2      182     Garden Valley, ID
21        Jackson Greene       F          Jr.       6-7      215     Atlanta, GA               
24        Justin Graham         F          Sr.       6-7      200     Colorado Springs, CO
32        Blake Daberkow       C         Jr.       6-10    235     Lincoln, NE 


 
Bengal Bites

• The Bengals rank 1^st in the Big Sky in:
  • Free Throw Attempts Per Game (20.5) & Free Throw's Made Per Game (14.8)
  • Rebound Margin (+12.7) (2^nd in NCAA), Offensive Rebounds Per Game (15) (9^th in NCAA), & Rebounds Per Game (41.1) (17^th in NCAA)
• Idaho State is currently 2^nd in the Big Sky & 15^th in the Country in Blocks per Game (5.5)
• The Bengals are 2^nd in the Big Sky in Scoring Defense, holding opposing teams to just 67.2 PPG
• The Bengals are 2^nd in the Big Sky in Field Goal Percentage Defense (42%)
• Idaho State is 3^rd in the Big Sky in Scoring Margin (+8.1)
• Jake O'Neil recorded his 7^th double-double of the season (11 points & 15 rebounds) in Idaho State's Jan. 2^nd win at NAU (2^nd in the Big Sky & 13^th in the NCAA in Double-Doubles)
• Jake O'Neil has been a beast on the glass. O'Neil ranks:
  • 1^st  in the Big Sky and 18^th in the Country in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (3.54)
  • 2^nd in the Big Sky and 11^th in the Country in Rebounds Per Game (10.5)
  • 2^nd the Big Sky and is 27^th in the Country in Total Rebounds (136)
• Jake O'Neil's 19 rebounds vs. Oral Roberts is the most in a single-game in the Big Sky this season, and is the most in a single game for an ISU player since Jeff Solarin in 2014
• Evan Otten ranks 3^rd in the Big Sky in Offensive Rebounds Per Game (2.38) and 5^th in Rebounds Per Game (6.6)
• Evan Otten leads the Big Sky in Blocks and Blocks per Game, Otten ranks 7^th in the entire Country in Total Blocks (37) and is 5^th in the Country in Blocks per Game (2.85)
• The Bengals have 3 players inside the Top-20 in the Big Sky in Points Per Game
  • Dylan Darling – 8^th (14.7)
  • Jake O'Neil – 15^th (13.5)
  • Isaiah Griffin – 16^th (12.6)
• Dylan Darling is 3^rd in the Big Sky in Assists (65) and 2^nd in the BSC and 24^th in the Nation in Assists per Game (5.9)
• Dylan Darling is 2^nd in the Big Sky and 34^th in the NCAA in Assist to Turnover Ratio (2.95)
• Dylan Darling outscored NAU singlehandedly to close out the final 13 minutes of play, 20-16.
• Idaho State's 19-point comeback win over Northern Arizona was the largest under Ryan Looney and the biggest deficit overcome for a win since the 2016-17 team pulled off a 20-point comeback also vs. NAU.

 
Looking Ahead
Following the Bengals' game on Saturday night vs. Weber State, Idaho State will host Montana State on Thursday, Jan. 16^th at 7 P.M. followed by Montana on Saturday, Jan. 18^th at 6 P.M., to complete their three-game homestand.
 
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)