Taylor Meeks

Sports Editor

The Idaho State University men’s basketball team defeated Eastern Oregon University last Wednesday night in Reed Gym with a 78-53 victory, marking not only the start of the 2019-20 season but also the beginning of head coach Ryan Looney’s era.

The exhibition against the Mountaineers was the second time Looney had battled against a school he’s previously coached at. However, this matchup was somewhat more nostalgic for the first time Division I coach considering he began his head coaching career at his alma mater in 2004.

“Sometimes it brings back all kinds of feelings,” Looney said. “Honestly, it was another game opportunity for our team to step out on the floor in an exhibition environment and hopefully give us an opportunity to get better.”

Overall, ISU shot 47% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc, putting three players into double digits. The Bengals also outrebounded the Mountaineers 43 to 29, a goal that Looney pushed the team to achieve.

Chier Maker led the team with 22 points and six rebounds and Jared Stutzman was close behind, putting up 18 points as well as six rebounds.

ISU kept the lead for nearly the entire game, only allowing Eastern Oregon to jump ahead for 26 seconds.

“I think we have a few things we need to clean up in the future,” Maker said. “It was a good win for us and good to get that first game out of the way.”

The exhibition match not only gave the coaching staff and the players a glimpse at this year’s team, but it also gave fans and onlookers an idea of how the new Bengal squad is going to look like.

There are seven people returning from last year, including Balint Mocsan, Maker and Stutzman, all of whom started for ISU last season. Others include Austin Smellie, Chidi Udengwu, Lyle Sutton and Houston Wahlen.

10 newcomers join the Bengals this season including junior college transfers Tarik Cool, Malik Porter, Nico Aguirre, Daxton Carr, Coreyoun Rushin, Jaxon Edelmayer, Nick Huston, Brayden Parker and Will Reichelt. Landon Bowman is the only freshman to join the team.

“At the end of the day, this is the first time out on the floor for all of us, coaches included,” Looney said. “We got a lot of areas where we have to get on the same page. I think just putting the uniform on, getting some of the jitters out, should help us down the line moving forward.”

In the Bengals debut Wednesday night, according to Looney, crucial pieces to the team weren’t present on the court, including Mocsan, Carr and Parker. The return of these players is yet to be determined.

ISU was ranked 10th in the Big Sky Conference preseason poll after posting a losing record of 11-19 last season under the direction of former coach Bill Evans. With a completely new coaching staff led by Looney, the program is expected to have a huge turnaround.

Looney boasts an impressive overall record of 330-132 (.714 winning percentage) and a 198-82 record in conference games (.707 winning percentage). The success will hopefully transfer over to the Bengals program.

A part of Looney’s coaching philosophy is a two-word motto the team uses to stay on task which is ‘saw wood.’ According to the first-year coach, the catch phrase triggers the players to do better whenever they aren’t working hard enough, whether that’s on the court or in the classroom.

“In time, we want our players to be consistent, work hard, and be in good rhythm and honestly, those are things you’d need to do if you were sawing wood,” Looney said. “If a guy is not playing hard enough in practice, we tell him to saw wood. If he’s struggling in class, we tell him to go meet with his professor and do the same thing.”