BOISE, Idaho - The Idaho State men's basketball team traveled to Boise, Idaho for the 2024-25 Big Sky Conference Tournament's 3
rd round, as the Bengals took on the #5 seed, and 3-time reigning tournament champions, the Montana State Bobcats. The Bengals and Bobcats split their season series earlier this year, both teams winning their home contests.
Idaho State took an early 2-0 lead, however, the Bobcats would storm on a 9-1 run to take a 9-3 lead with 15:15 to play in the first half. ISU climbed within one, 12-13, but MSU would respond with a 14-2 run, giving the Bobcats a 27-14 lead with 7:04 to go in the half. Montana State grew their lead to a first half high, 17 points, at 39-22 with 2:40 to go. The Bengals found some life late in the half, outscoring MSU 7-2 over the final two minutes and thirty seconds, and would go in the halftime locker rooms trailing, 29-41.
The Bengals would come out of the locker rooms ice cold, beginning the half 0-7 from the field & 0-2 from three-point range, allowing Montana State to go on a 10-0 run to open the half, falling behind 29-51 with 15:09 to play.
Jake O'Neil would finally get a basket to fall for the Bengals, scoring an and-one with 15:02 to go, putting the score at 32-51. Both teams would score five points apiece before the next media timeout would occur with 11:57 to play, the Bengals now trailing, 37-56. ISU would see more of the same from the Bobcats the rest of the way out, however, finishing the game on an 11-0 run, the Bengals would fall by a final score of 60-80.
Idaho State will finish the season 15-15 overall. Montana State will improve to 15-17 overall & move on to the semi-final round of the Big Sky Tournament to play the top-seeded Northern Colorado Bears tomorrow evening.
Dylan Darling and
Jake O'Neil would both end the game with 16 points apiece. The Conference MVP & Newcomer of the Year,
Dylan Darling, would score 16 on 5-16 shooting, with three rebounds, and two assists. Team captain,
Jake O'Neil, would end the game with 16 points on 7-15 shooting, seven rebounds, one block, and one steal. Big man,
Evan Otten, would end his evening with two points and seven rebounds,
Connor Hollenbeck would put up six points, four rebounds, one steal, and one assist, and
Isaiah Griffin tallied three rebounds and a block.
Off the bench for Idaho State
Blake Daberkow would lead the way, jumping out with 11 quick points in the first half, but would be held scoreless in the second half, ending his night with 11 points on 5-7 shooting and five rebounds in 16 minutes of play.
AJ Burgin would total six points and two rebounds in 22 minutes,
Jackson Greene would total two assists, one rebounds, and one steal in 17 minutes of play.
Following the game, Senior captain,
AJ Burgin, has now appeared in 124 total games for the Orange & Black, tying him for 2
nd All-Time in Total Games Played at Idaho State, tying Donn Holston for 2
nd All-Time.
Evan Otten, will end his Redshirt-Freshman season with 66 blocks on the season, putting him 4
th in a single season in blocks at Idaho State and ties him for the Big Sky's Freshman single season record, tying Eastern Washington's Venky Jois' 2012-13 Freshman year. Otten will also end the year averaging 2.2 Blocks per Game, good enough for 5th in a single season in Bengal history.
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 will finish this year 6
th All-Time in a single season in Assists, with 160 on the season, and 4th in Assists per Game in ISU single season history, averaging 5.71 per game. 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 will end the year with 554 points scored, tying him with Bengal great, Ron Boone from the 1967-68 season, for 14
th on the single season scoring list. Darling finishes the year with 162 made FT's, moving him into 10
th in a single season in ISU history, passing Ron Boone's 1966-67 total of 160.
Jake O'Neil will end the season with 278 total rebounds, good enough for 11
th most in a single season in Bengal history, and the most rebounds by a Bengal in a single season in nearly 50 years. O'Neil will end the year just seven shy of tying Edison Hicks' 1971-72 season total for 10
th.
Connor Hollenbeck would get in on the record action, finishing this season shooting 85.5% (53-62) from the free-throw line, the 8th most accurate season from the stripe when making 50+ free-throw's in a year.
The Bengals would struggle to find the bottom of the net, finished the game shooting a mere 33.3 percent from the field (22-66) and just 21.7% from deep, going 5-23 from three-point range, although they would attempt 14 more shots than Bobcats. Idaho State ended the game with 35 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
Montana State finished the game shooting 63.5% (33-52) from the field and 41.7% from three-point territory, going 10-24. The Lumberjacks would finish with 30 boards, 4 steals, and 21 assists.
With this, the 2024-25 season has come to an end for Idaho State Men's Hoops. The players, coaches, and representatives of Idaho State University express their gratitude for the devoted Bengal fans that supported the team all the way through.
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).
