Seiji Wood
Sports Editor
The Idaho State men’s basketball team tipped off its season Nov. 6 at Gonzaga, a game the Bengals lost. The team quickly rebounded with an upset win at Boise State.
The Bengal’s 3-3 start is the best start by an Idaho State team since the 2013-14 team started 3-3 and it’s the second best start since the 2005-06 team started with a 5-1 record.
Last year the Bengals finished 14-16 overall and 9-9 in conference but lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to Southern Utah. Going into this season, Idaho State was picked to finish eighth in both the preseason coaches’ and media polls.
Who’s returning?
ISU has a good amount of players returning from the previous season with eight players coming back.
Returning seniors are Sam Dowd and Blake Truman. The juniors are Brandon Boyd, Balint Mocsan, Jared Stutzman and Gary Chivichyan. The sophomores are Lyle Sutton and Houston Wahlen.
Point guard, Brandon Boyd, led the Bengals in scoring 21 times, assists 15 times and steals 20 times during his career at ISU.
Mocsan, Stutzman and Chivichyan all have over 10 three-pointers on the season and lead the Bengals in this category alongside Boyd.
Who’s new?
Seven players join the team this season.
The freshmen are Andrew Vaughan, Austin Smellie and Matija IIic. The rest are all juniors, Chidi Udengwu, Chier Maker, Alonzo Walker and Kelvin Jones.
Most of the newcomers have found time on the court. Smellie has appeared in every game and has played well with his minutes. Udengwu, Maker, Walker and Jones all play good minutes and are key to this year’s Bengals team.
ISU identity
With a core group of returners and a lot of talented newcomers, the Bengals have a chance to exceed expectations. Idaho State’s shooting will be key to the team’s success.
Idaho State shot 47.5 percent from the field last year and through six games, the Bengals are shooting 46.7 percent this season. Last season was the best field goal percentage by a Bengal team since the 1996-97 team shot 47.5 percent and the 2003-04 team shot 46.3 percent. The school record for best field goal percentage in a season is 51.2 percent by the 1980-81 team.
If ISU can find success and consistency in its shooting, the Bengals can be competitive in every game. The Bengals currently rank fifth in scoring offense at 83 points per game within the Big Sky Conference.
Defense will have to be a key in the Bengals identity. Through the first six games, the Bengals are close to last in the conference in scoring defense.
Successful already?
The Bengals have already found success so far this season with a big win over Boise, 72-70, early in the season.
Chidi Udengwu made two free throws in the final seconds of the game to lift Idaho State past Boise State. The Bengals battled back from an 18-point deficit to snap the Broncos 15-game win streak in home openers.
Four players, Maker, Stutzman, Boyd and Mocsan, scored in double digits to help the Bengals upset the Broncos.
Conference games
Idaho State has four more non-conference games until the Bengals begin conference play. ISU will open conference play on the road against Idaho on Dec. 29 followed by Eastern Washington on Dec. 31.
The next time Idaho State will play at home will also be the first time the Bengals will see conference action at home. That will be on Jan. 3 against the team that ended their season early last year, Southern Utah.
