krobinett@journalnet.com

There was only one defender between him and the basket, and given Amorrow Morgan's slashing ability, that meant the fans at Reed Gym were about to witness one of his signature off-balance layups.

They had seen it all season, and there was no reason to expect anything different here. But on this occasion, the junior guard never even dribbled toward the rim. He saw Lucas Steijn standing wide open on the baseline, and rather than force a play, Morgan sent a bounce pass to his teammate.

Steijn took the ball and swished a jumper on his way to 13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Northern Arizona.

Moments later, Austin Kilpatrick clapped his hands and asked for a pass at the top of the key. So what if it was early in the possession? He wanted to shoot. He got the ball, let if fly and watched as it clanged off the rim.

Again, everyone at Reed Gym knew what was coming. Traditionally, an ill-advised shot from Kilpatrick is immediately followed by a benching. But on this occasion, ISU coach Joe O'Brien simply reminded him that maybe that wasn't the best time to jack up an outside shot.

Kilpatrick nodded and stayed in the game. He responded by draining five 3-pointers and scoring a team-high 17 points.

Both scenarios came as a welcome surprise to anyone who has followed the Idaho State men's basketball team this season and showed just how far the Bengals have come in the past month.

A few weeks ago, no one in an orange and black uniform seemed interested in making the extra pass, and O'Brien didn't allow his players to learn from their mistakes on the court. Idaho State had a losing conference record and locker room morale was at an all-time low.

Now, the Bengals have won five of their last six, are preparing for a home game in the Big Sky tournament and say their team chemistry has never been better.

With such drastic changes coming in such a short time, many have asked what the difference is. A new-look offense? The resurgent play of Steijn and Kilpatrick? An easier schedule?

Yes, those are all part of it. But at the core of Idaho State's turnaround is its coach.

During the past month, O'Brien has taken a more positive approach with his players by spending less time yelling and more time teaching.

In turn they have responded, and Idaho State interim athletic director Jeff Tingey is no longer hush when asked if O'Brien will be offered a new contract when his current one expires at the end of the season.

"Obviously, I can't speak for him, but if it's up to me, Joe is coming back," Tingey said. "He's done a very good job with this team, and we're all happy with his progress."

When asked if he would be coming back in his office on Wednesday, O'Brien merely leaned back in his chair and laughed.

"I'm not planning on going anywhere, and nobody has given me a pink slip," he said. "When they offer me a contract, we'll talk about it and let everybody know. But right now I'm concentrating on Saturday and what we can tweak to make us just a little bit better."

Based on the past month, Idaho State players will likely buy into whatever O'Brien comes up with immediately.

During the Bengals' late-season charge to a 9-7 conference record, Idaho State players seem to have grown fonder of him by the day.

When asked what he thinks of the current state of the Bengals, Steijn replied: "Things couldn't be better."

That's mostly because O'Brien realized the system and methods he used throughout a 7-17 start to the season weren't perfect, and that the killer road games he put them through against Washington State, Wisconsin, Arizona State and Kansas State were too much for them.

"I got to the point where I told the kids, 'I've pushed and I've pushed and I've pushed,'" he said. "I pushed them through some games they just weren't going to win. Our record through December was just brutal. It was a tough, tough schedule, and it took its toll in January. We didn't have any confidence."

Still, Idaho State managed a 4-2 start in Big Sky play. The future looked promising.

Then came a humiliating road loss to lowly Sacramento State, a team that won just two games all season. That one setback snowballed into four, and the Bengals suddenly found themselves 4-6 in league play.

Bizarre substitution patterns, injuries and the absence of Morgan following the death of his father all had something to do with the losing streak, but more than anything Idaho State just couldn't get back over that winning hump.

"We were trying to pull it off," O'Brien said. "We were close, but we just couldn't do it."

Something had to change.

So instead of screaming at the top of his lunges for results in practices or kicking his players off the court for a lack of effort, as he often does, O'Brien tried a different approach.

He reached out to Kilpatrick in a one-on-one meeting and told him that whether he made 3-pointers or not he could really use him on the court. He gave Steijn, one of only two seniors on the team, the chance to prove himself down the stretch by inserting him into the starting lineup. He urged everyone in the locker room to play with a sense of urgency.

And he quit emphasizing defense at every opportunity and overhauled Idaho State's offense so his players could share the ball more evenly and score more often in transition.

Idaho State first used the strategy in a loss at Northern Colorado, and the Bengals scored more than 70 points in the process. That hadn't happened in weeks. It was the start of a trend.

Senior guard Matt Stucki said he was thrilled when it all happened.

"What I've been impressed with is that he's taken a different approach," senior guard Matt Stucki said. "He's seen that certain guys respond to different styles of coaching. That's really helped Austin, and you can see it paying dividends. He's also freed us up a little on offense. Those little changes have been huge. We're all buying in, and it's been a huge turnaround for our team."

That was most evident in a 74-39 beatdown of Sacramento State last week. The Bengals went from losing to one of the country's worst teams to stomping it by 35.

O'Brien's post-game attitude changed tremendously.

Kilpatrick said his coach deserved to smile.

"He's a very competitive guy, and I think he always wanted it (success)," Kilpatrick said. "But now he's starting to get it."

When O'Brien is told that his players all appreciate his new approach to coaching, he smiles and shakes his head.

"I'm the same coach I've always been," he said. "You've gotta be yourself out there. I push buttons, I get on people's butts and I'm a yeller. That's just my style. Have I been more positive? Well, yeah I guess. But I haven't changed my personality."

With that, the question comes again: So what's the difference?

O'Brien could take the credit for himself or hand it off to his three assistant coaches. After all, with their help he significantly sparked the Bengals' offense.

But he knows better. He's coached for more than 30 years, and he knows that the credit for Idaho State's turnaround belongs only to his players.

"You can try to rethink the game and think of all the things you can do to change what your team is doing, but what it all comes down to is the players," he said. "There are a lot of teams out there, who, if they went through what we went through in the month of December they would have just called it quits. But these kids found a way to rally.

"Sometimes it takes you longer than you want to get your feet on the ground and really play well, but they did it."