Idaho State got thrashed on Tuesday. After the game, Bengals head coach Ryan Looney sat down in his black polo and smiled.

For the last week-and-a-half, all Looney and the Bengals wanted to do was play. BYU has recently reinvigorated the “Anybody, anytime, anywhere” mantra. The Bengals should consider borrowing it.

They took a bus to Salt Lake City on Tuesday, leaving with a loss and a pocket full of cash — just as many projected. ISU’s second and final buy game was unceremonious. Utah’s talent, its height and its Pac-12 bravado overwhelmed the Bengals in the Utes’ 75-59 victory.

Idaho State wasn’t supposed to win on Tuesday. Heck, no team is really ever supposed to come out victorious when they’re being paid for an easy matchup. But Looney smiled because his team outrebounded the bigger team, because guards Tarik Cool (18 points) and Robert Ford III (10 second-half points) excelled — and because the Bengals played.

COVID has ensured that simple measure is not be taken for granted.

On Monday, the program announced it had scheduled a home game against Bethesda College set for Saturday. Hope that game actually tips off is optimistic at best. And if anyone within the Idaho State program were to speak with some pessimism, how could you blame them?

In one 24-hour span last week, Idaho State had four separate teams scheduled as its home-opener opponent. All four fell through. That’s the life of a college basketball team in 2020, where anxiety is high and hope is low.

“It’s nuts,” Looney said. “It feels like you’re getting hit from every angle.”

If not from every angle, by every means possible.

Let’s start at the beginning.

While forming ISU’s nonconference schedule a few months ago — the one that had to be put together on the fly after the NCAA announced college basketball wouldn’t begin until Nov. 25 — Looney figured he’d do a favor for his alma mater, Eastern Oregon, and get them to Pocatello for a game.

That went out the window when Oregon’s governor, Kate Brown, said that EOU’s players and coaches couldn’t travel outside the state without having to endure a 14-day quarantine when they returned.

No problem. Looney got on the phone with Montana Western and scheduled them for Dec. 5. The contract was signed and Idaho State even tweeted out the news.

Montana Western was driving to Boise for its Dec. 4 contest against Boise State. It hadn’t even made it west of Pocatello when the Bulldogs’ coach phoned Looney and told him they just learned of a positive COVID case and were turning around.

“I actually found that out five minutes before practice and didn’t say a word to anybody,” Looney said with a giggle. “We had a great day of practice.”

When that stress-free practice ended, Looney and his coaches huddled around a table at Reed Gym. A few hours later, Dickinson State was all set to get on the schedule and play in Pocatello. They completed the contract immediately and began testing their players.

At 9 p.m., Dickinson State coach Derek Selvig called Looney. You can guess what he said.

No problem, though. Colorado Christian was actually in Salt Lake playing a game, and reached out to Looney. They saw on Twitter the Bengals had to cancel their opener against Montana Western and wanted to fill in. Boom. The paperwork was all filled out and Colorado Christian was going to drive to Pocatello the next morning.

At 7 a.m., they called Looney. This time it wasn’t COVID. Colorado Christian said its health committee wouldn’t let them stay on the road another day, so they were turning around.

Now, it’s Bethesda College slated to be the visitors for the Bengals’ home opener. But fate has not been kind to the other quartet who carried that title for even the briefest of moments.

“It’s contingent on us having negative COVID tests and them doing the same,” Looney said.

And the Bengals haven’t been all that fortunate when it comes to COVID testing this season. Forget the negative tests from Montana Western and Dickinson State. The virus hit Looney’s locker room in October.

Just after the Bengals’ first preseason practice, one player tested positive and forced three other players who were in close contact to also quarantine. When they emerged from quarantine 14 days later, it was a light practice — mostly shooting. It was also a testing day.

When the tests from that day came in, Looney learned one of the players who had been practicing the whole time had COVID, which meant another 14-day quarantine — this time for 12 players and the entire coaching staff.

“Most of us were not together for 14 days. Four of our guys were off the court for 28 days, because they didn’t have access to a coach,” Looney said. “It put us behind, without a question.

“All of it, combined together, is — I don’t want to use the word frustrating — it’s extremely challenging. And it’s really challenging for us right now as a young, inexperienced team. Win or lose, right now, we need to get on the floor to play and get better.”

It’s that last part that made Tuesday so important. Forget the odds. Forget the team. Forget the blowout. Idaho State played — and that was a win.