MISSOULA, Montana - The Bengals men's basketball squad traveled to Missoula, Montana on a snowy Thursday night for a rematch with the Montana Griz, where in the first meeting this season, the Bengals would down Montana by 25 in Reed Gym.
The Bengals and Grizzlies would battle closely out of the gates, however, Montana quickly stretched their lead to double-digits, as many as 12 points multiple times in the first half. Idaho State went into the locker rooms trailing by nine points, 28-37, at halftime.
Idaho State would face a tough situation in Dahlberg Arena, finding themselves down by 13, 37-50, with 14 minutes and some change to play. However, as they have done all season, the Bengals fought, outscoring Montana 24-13 over the next seven minutes, cutting the Griz lead down to just two, 61-63, with 7:29 to play. Unfortunately for the Bengals, this would be the closest they would come to taking the lead the rest of the game, as UM outscored ISU 18-7 over the final seven minutes of play. And the Bengals would fall 68-81 in Missoula.
Idaho State will fall to 11-12 overall, and 6-6 in Big Sky play. Montana will improve to 18-8 overall & 11-2 in Big Sky Conference play.
Dylan Darling and
Isaiah Griffin led the Bengals in tonight's game, Darling finishing with another career high in scoring, his 3
rd time setting a new career high in scoring in the last 4 games, as he totaled 33 points on 9-18 shooting from the field, 2-4 from deep, and 13-16 from the charity stripe, as well as four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Griffin totaled 21 points on 8-15 shooting from the field, five rebounds, two assists, and a career high two blocks. Darling and Griffin would combine to score 54 (79%) of Idaho State's 68 points in the game, making 17 of the team's 23 made Field Goals.
Jake O'Neil would end the game with two points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal,
Connor Hollenbeck would total four rebounds and one steal, and
Evan Otten would finish with two points, two rebounds, one assist, and one block. The Bengals' three remaining starters would struggle to find their groove in this one, as they would combine to shoot just 2-20 (10%) from the field and 0-6 from three-point range.
Off the bench
AJ Burgin would contribute eight points on 2-7 shooting from beyond the arc, four rebounds, and one assist in 24 minutes of action, and
Jackson Greene would play 21 minutes off the bench, ending his night with two points, six rebounds, and two steals.
Blake Daberkow would also add three rebounds and one steal in seven minutes.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 34.8 percent from the field, and 22.7% from deep for the 2
nd straight game, going just 5-22 from three-point land. Idaho State ended the game with 35 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 steals.
Montana finished the game shooting 56.1 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from three-point territory, going 6-13. The Griz would finish with 15 assists, 38 boards, and 7 steals.
NEXT UP
Next up for the Bengals, they will have a date with Montana State University on Saturday, Feb 15
th.
This games is scheduled to tip on 6 P.M. Saturday evening in Bozeman, MT, and 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
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Fans can keep up with the latest in Bengal Men's Basketball by following us on Facebook (
IdahoStateMensBasketball), Twitter (@
IdahoStateMBB), and Instagram (@
idahostatembb).
