Idaho State cools off in second half, hangs on to beat Sac State, 65-61

Parker, a junior forward, did so many things well in this ISU win. He scored 22 points on five triples, by far a career high. He also snared 13 rebounds for his first double-double in three seasons. He wasn’t just hot in the first half. He was so sizzling that other planets might have started to orbit him. It was remarkable to watch, this 6-foot-8 forward canning pick-and-pop 3s like his name was Larry Bird.

The best part about Parker’s game, though, was that wasn’t the best part of his game. His most meaningful contribution in this game came on defense, when he grabbed that offensive rebound, which allowed ISU to bleed even more clock in the final minute of this game, which was enough time — just enough — to help the Bengals hang on. They led by as many as 28. It dwindled to as little as two inside 10 seconds to play. It just never vanished.

“Number one, when you get a big lead, human nature is to let complacency slip in. I think a little bit of that happened,” Looney said. “As we get further along in the season, we definitely need to make sure we more maturely handle those situations.”

Good luck finding a Big Sky game this season that featured such drastically different showings from a team from the first half to the second. In this first stanza, the Bengals shot a scintillating 65% from the floor, including 7-for-12 from deep. In the second, they hit just 24% of their shots, including a 1-for-11 effort from distance. It was like halftime hit and the Bengals headed to the locker room, where they were ambushed by the Green Goblin, who zapped their powers with a snap of his fingers.

That’s the fun way of explaining things. The realistic way is this: The Hornets adjusted. Callum McCrae, Sac State’s 7-foot-1 giant, swapped drop coverage — sagging into the paint on ISU’s pick-and-pops — for press coverage, stepping out onto the perimeter to discourage Parker from unfurling those triples. The Hornets also paid closer attention to ISU center Kolby Lee, who scored all 10 of his points in the first half, on four separate occasions unsheathing a 12-15 foot push shot — “a quickie,” Parker and Lee agreed to call it. The Hornets took that shot away. With it went the Bengals’ offense.

Which is why ISU (7-12, 4-2 Big Sky) had to sweat this one out. In the final 10 seconds, Sac State guard Cameron Wilbon pulled down an offensive rebound and stuck it back, trimming the hosts’ lead to 63-61 with seven seconds to play. That left it to senior Austin Smellie, back from a knee injury that had sidelined him the past two games, to ice things at the free throw line. He did so calmly. Neither shot touched the rim on the way through the net. He scored all six of his points at the line. Never had his team been more grateful for such a performance.

“Austin is just kinda our glue guy,” Looney said. “We missed him on the road last weekend. We didn't just miss the leadership and toughness that he gives. It's hard as a fan to watch. We got in those moments in those games without him and the people we were replacing him with immediately got in foul trouble too. It's great to have depth but when you’ve got injuries, and then the players who are replacing them are on the bench with foul trouble too, that's really tough to overcome. Austin made some big plays.”

The plays the 1,096 fans in attendance Thursday night will remember, though, came from Parker. To understand why his showing was so striking, you have to understand the kind of basketball he plays: When he’s playing his best basketball, he’s got his back to the basket, backing down opponents and pulling out the right moves, the right spins, the right everything to get to the basket and lay in easy buckets.

That’s why, as he drilled triple after triple after triple, this gym jolted awake and electrified the atmosphere. Parker sunk 5 of 7 treys in the first half. McRae sat in the paint, so the Bengals ran a pick-and-pop with Tomley and Brock Mackenzie, feeding Parker on the perimeter, where he took target practice for the entire first half.

“First possession, he sat at the top of the charge circle, so I just shot it,” Parker said. “That’s when it hit me. He kept sagging so I kept on shooting.”

Can Parker keep it up? Only time will tell, as will matchups. On Thursday night, Parker was open for so many 3s because his defender felt hesitant to venture out of the paint. Future opponents will likely make changes accordingly, including Idaho State’s next foe, Portland State. That game is set for Saturday night inPocatello. The Bengals have between now and then to fend off the Green Goblin — and find ways to spring Parker open.