CHENEY, Washington - The Idaho State men's basketball team wrapped up their final road trip of the regular season this today, taking on the Eastern Washington Eagles in Cheney, Washington. Idaho State came into the game defeating EWU, 78-70, in Pocatello in the two teams' previous matchup this season, ISU is searching for their first season sweep of the Eagles since 2002-03.
To begin the game, Idaho State would take an early 11-4 lead, and never look back, growing their lead to a first half high, 13 points, at 37-24. Idaho State would go into the locker rooms leading the Eagles by 11, 40-29.
The Bengals would seize control early in the second half and look all but dominant. The Bengals allowed Eastern Washington to get within eight, 51-43, with 9:09 to play. However, Idaho State would outscore EWU 27-11 the rest of the game, and finish off the Eagles with a final score of 78-54.
Idaho State will improve to 15-13 overall, and 10-7 in Big Sky Conference play. Eastern Washington will fall to 10-20 overall & 6-11 in Big Sky play.
This marks Head Coach
Ryan Looney's first career season with Idaho State with 10 or more conference wins in a single season.
Dylan Darling would end the game with a game high, 24 points, on 9-17 shooting, six assists, three rebounds, and four steals.
Connor Hollenbeck had his first career double-double with Idaho State, dropping 11 points, 12 rebounds, and one assist.
Isaiah Griffin would end his day with 12 points and six rebounds, and
Jake O'Neil would put up 10 points on 4-7 shooting, three rebounds, and two assists. The final Bengal starter,
Evan Otten, would grab eight rebounds, Otten's most in nearly a month of play, two points, and one block.
Off the bench for Idaho State,
Blake Daberkow would continue his impressive play as of late, scoring six points, to go along with two rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.
Jackson Greene would total four points, two rebounds, and two steals in 16 minutes, and
AJ Burgin would tally three points, two rebounds, and one steal in 20 minutes.
Jaedyn Brown would come in late and score three points to add to his two rebounds, and
Quentin Meza would also add three points and one rebound.
Following the game, Senior captain,
AJ Burgin, has now appeared in 122 total games for the Orange & Black, putting him in 3
rd All-Time in Total Games Played at Idaho State, passing Geno Luzcando with 121 (2014-18). If Burgin is just two games away from tying Donn Holston for 2
nd All-Time at 124 games played.
Redshirt-Freshman,
Evan Otten, has now blocked 64 shots this season, the 4
th most in a single season in Bengal history. Otten sits 10 blocks back of tying Steve Hays' 1974-75 season total of 74.
Dylan Darling has become the 3
rd ever Bengal to record 500+ Points and 150+ Assists in a single season, joining Ethan Telfair in 2015-16, and Marquis Poole in 2003-04. Darling has moved into 9
th All-Time in a single season in Assists now with 152, passing Mike Graefe (1985-86) & Erin Cowan (1992-93) who each had 150. Darling has also joined the ISU single season scoring list, becoming just the 27
th player in ISU history to score 500+ points in a single season. Darling currently is 27
th on the single season scoring list, with 504 points. He sits just one point away from tying David Schroeder (2006-07) & Donn Holston (1985-86) for 25
th with 505 points. Darling now sits at 150 made FT's this season, just 10 shy of tying Ron Boone's 1966-67 total of 160 for 10
th most made FT's by an ISU player in a single season.
Jake O'Neil has now recorded 264 total rebounds this season, marking him just 21 shy of tying Edison Hicks' 1971-72 season total of 285 for 10
th place in a single season in Bengal history.
The Bengals finished the game shooting 42.6 percent from the field and 23.5% from deep, going 4-17 from three-point range. Idaho State ended the game with 44 rebounds, 11 assists, and 7 steals.
A big factor for the Bengals' win was ISU's 25-2 edge in second chance points, as well as outrebounding the Eagles 44-25, and 18-6 on the offensive glass.
Eastern Washington finished the game shooting 38.0 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from three-point territory, going 4-16. The Eagles would finish with 25 boards, 6 steals, and 15 assists.
NEXT UP
Next up for the Bengals, they host Northern Arizona for Senior Day and their 2024-25 regular season finale.
Idaho State's game against NAU will be Monday, March 3
rd at 7 P.M. in Reed Gym. The game 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!
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IdahoStateMensBasketball), Twitter (@
IdahoStateMBB), and Instagram (@
idahostatembb).
