POCATELLO — The first stats Bill Evans looks at after a game are the opponent's field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage.
Both made him happy on Thursday.
Evans and his Idaho State squad held Southern Utah to 35.7 percent shooting and a season-worst 2-for-17 showing from 3-point range in an 88-68 win at Holt Arena. It was the Bengals' second sparkling defensive effort in three games, and it was buoyed by what has become a routine display of offensive fireworks.
“We were pretty good defensively,” Evans said after the win. “My guys tried hard. They played hard, did a great job of guarding the arc. I'm proud of them.”
The Bengals (6-6, 2-1 Big Sky Conference) buried 9 of 18 first-half 3-pointers and shot 51.6 percent overall in the first half en route to a 49-33 halftime advantage. Southern Utah (5-7, 0-3 Big Sky) never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way, and ISU's 11-0 run midway through the second half put the game out of reach at 64-39.
Idaho State's 88 points are a season-high against Division I competition. Brandon Boyd led the way with 20 points, and teammates Balint Mocsan (15), Gary Chivichyan (14) and Chier Maker (12) chipped in double-digit efforts.
ISU is now 29-9 under Evans when scoring at least 80 points.
The Bengals did their offensive damage from beyond the arc, as usual, draining 15 of 33 tries for their sixth 40-plus percent 3-point shooting outing this season.
“We knew they were going to try to ice ball screens, so we drilled that a lot in practice over the week,” Boyd said. “We knew that we could crash the offensive glass. We knew that we could outrebound them and we knew that drives and kicks would be open, too, because they like to suck to the ball. We did a lot of good things.”
SUU went 0 for 8 from the arc after halftime. The Thunderbirds entered the game shooting 33.2 percent from downtown, but that number fell to 32 percent by the end of the game. Their poor second-half shooting negated ISU's sloppy second, when the Bengals' field-goal shooting dipped to 38.5 percent and they committed nine of their 12 turnovers.
SUU senior guard Brandon Better, who shoots 3s at over 40 percent on the season, went 1 for 6 from the arc Thursday and 1 for 9 overall for six points.
Southern Utah missed its final 12 3-point attempts after making 2 of 5 early on.
“I'll take that every night,” Evans said of his team's 3-point defense. “If we could do that every night, I think we'd win every game.”
ISU held an edge in rebounding (38-33), committed fewer turnovers (13-12), shot a better percentage from the free-throw line, had more blocks and steals and assisted on 14 baskets to SUU's three.
Evans praised Mocsan's defense on Better, who entered the game averaging 12.2 points, and Bengals forward Alonzo Walker tied a season-high with a team-leading 11 rebounds.
“The coaching staff did a good job challenging me this game, both to rebound the ball and get the ball moving and sliding my feet and trying to lock up and do what I do best,” Walker said.
Boyd added six rebounds and five assists to his 20-point outing. Mocsan had a team-high three steals. Cameron Oluyitan led Southern Utah with 12 points, and Andre Adams added 10 points and 10 boards.
The Thunderbirds played without starting forward Dwayne Morgan, who is out for the season with an injury. Morgan posted two double-doubles in three meetings with ISU a season ago.
ISU stays home to host Northern Arizona on Saturday. The Lumberjacks (3-10, 1-2 Big Sky) fell 77-52 Thursday at Weber State.
NOTES:
- ISU senior guard Sam Dowd was ejected late in the second half of Thursday's game. Dowd and SUU's Dato Aphkhazava were whistled for double technical fouls after some light pushing, and Dowd was whistled for his second technical after getting called for an offensive foul a few seconds later.
- Before Thursday's game, ISU honored longtime head athletic trainer Jodi Wotowey. Wotowey had been with ISU for 14 years and is headed to be a trainer at the United States Air Force Academy.
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