BOZEMAN, Montana - The Idaho State men's basketball team took on the Montana State Bobcats Saturday evening in Bozeman, Montana. The Bengals looked to complete their first season sweep of the Bobcats since 2008-09.
The Bengals would dig themselves in a hole early, allowing the Bobcats to grow an early 14-3 lead in the first six minutes of play. MSU would stretch their lead to a game high, 14 points, 10-24, before Idaho State would close the gap all the way down to just three, 26-29, following a 16-5 run by the Bengals, capped off by four straight
Evan Otten free-throw's. When the halftime buzzer sounded the Bengals would go into the locker rooms trailing Montana State by six, 30-36.
The Bengals and Bobcats would battle closely the entire second half. Idaho State would take their first lead since the score was 2-1, after a
Dylan Darling step back three-pointer with 8:31 remaining in the game, giving ISU a 53-51lead. As the Bengals led 62-60 with 4:11 to play, Montana State would go on a 7-0 run, giving them a 62-67 advance with just 1:36 to play. The Bengals got within three of MSU, but no closer as the Bobcats would close the door on the Bengals in Worthington Arena, and ISU would face a 69-74 defeat.
Idaho State will fall to 11-13 overall, and 6-7 in Big Sky play. Montana State will improve to 12-15 overall & 7-7 in Big Sky Conference play.
Dylan Darling and
Jake O'Neil led the Bengals in tonight's game, Darling finishing with his 6
th straight 20+ point game, totaling 27 points on 8-23 shooting from the field, 4-6 from deep, and 7-9 from the free-throw line, as well as four rebounds, four assists, and one steal. O'Neil put up 18 points on 8-15 shooting from the field, seven rebounds, three steals, and one assist.
Connor Hollenbeck finished tonight with eight points on 3-7 shooting and five rebounds, and
Evan Otten would end his evening with four points, three rebounds, and one assist. The final Bengal starter,
Isaiah Griffin, would be held scoreless in this one shooting 0-3 from the field, but add two rebounds.
Off the bench
AJ Burgin would see 26 minutes of playing time, his longest action of conference play, and contribute six points on 2-6 shooting from beyond the arc, tying his season high with six rebounds, and one assist, and
Jackson Greene would play 20 minutes, ending his night with four points and six rebounds.
Blake Daberkow would also add two points and three rebounds in 11 minutes.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 37.5 percent from the field, their 3rd game shooting under 40% from the field in their last four tries, while also shooting 42.1% from deep, going 8-19 from three-point land. Idaho State ended the game with 36 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals.
Montana State finished the game shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 28.0 percent from three-point territory, going 7-25. The Bobcats would finish with 26 boards, 7 steals, and 14 assists, the 4
th straight game Idaho State has allowed their opponents to record 10+ assists.
NEXT UP
Next up for the Bengals, they will return from their three game road trip to host Portland STtae and Sacramento State in Reed Gym next week. Idaho State will have the PSU Vikings come to town on Thursday, Feb. 20
th, followed by the Sac State Hornets on Saturday, Feb. 22
nd.
The Bengals' game vs. the Vikings is scheduled to tip at 7 P.M. and the game versus Sacramento State is slated for 6 P.M. Both 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).
