The time is now. It’s a final dress rehearsal, the last opportunity to right wrongs and flush away past transgressions.

    Idaho State’s defense, or the lack of it, has been the main culprit of the current Bengal three-game losing streak, and it’s now or never to reverse negative defensive trends that have planted Idaho State at or near the bottom of major defensive shooting categories in the Big Sky Conference.

    The Bengals’ chances for an upset at Utah faded away in Salt Lake City when the Utes sank 14 of 21 second-half shots. And after Washington and Idaho combined to hit 55 percent from the field against the porous ISU defense, Idaho State’s 3-5 record became a permanent reality.

    Today that defense has another test as Idaho State hosts Cal State Bakersfield (6-7) in Holt Arena at 7:05 p.m.

    Before tipoff against the Roadrunners, ISU head coach Bill Evans wants his players to understand one ever-present truth.

    “I don’t know if we appreciate the urgency of doing the little things that will help make us better defensively,” Evans said.

    It’s not for laziness or lack of effort that the Bengals haven’t defended well, according to Evans.

    “Maybe I’m not holding them as accountable as I need to,” he said “Maybe they’re not accepting the responsibility. I think it’s probably a combination of both.”

    Whatever is allowing Idaho State opponents to shoot 48.7 percent (last in the Big Sky) from the field has to stop.

    In comparison to last season, Idaho State is better offensively (scoring 74.4 points a game in 2013-14 compared to 57 points a night in 2012-13) and has held firm on the boards, actually out rebounding opponents on average.

    But any areas of improvement wash away under the force of a defense that cannot get stops, and once conference play starts the first week of January against Portland State and Eastern Washington, the ability to improve internally is difficult.

    “It is harder to get it fixed because the practice time is more limited,” Evans said. “You’re spending more time working on your opponent and not as much time on you. I think we’ve been prepared for every team we’ve played, but we’ve worked harder to get ourselves ready.”

    It’s with that backdrop the Bengals welcome the Roadrunners, a rematch from a game the Bengals lost Nov. 23 in Bakersfield 71-69.

    Bakersfield shot 50 percent from the floor (24-for-48), and junior guard Javonte Maynor came off the bench to score 21 points. Maynor poured in seven 3-pointers in a game that featured 13 lead changes.

    “We just let him get going. And he had the confidence, and he felt like everything was going in,” said ISU point guard Tomas Sanchez. “And it was. We can’t let that happen again.”

    Against the Bengals, Bakersfield’s bench scored 40 of the team’s 71 points, not uncommon for a program with 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes a game. Nine different Roadrunners have started, and their leading scorer, 5-foot-11 senior guard Issiah Grayson, puts in 14.4 points a night. Then there’s seven guys averaging between 5.6 and 8.9 points.

    Third-year head coach Rod Barnes likes to dip into his bench and apply heavy defensive pressure for 40 minutes.

    “They’re very good defensively,” Evans said. “They really play hard. They’ve got some tough guys — bad combination.”

    But a good chance for Idaho State to figure out if its defense can find itself tonight before conference play starts.  Because when league action begins it’s a 20-game stretch where every minute of each game is weighted with importance. The difference between reaching the postseason tournament (or not) can come down to the smallest detail.

    “We better get better defensively,” Evans said. “We better understand that we need to do that.”

CSU Bakersfield at Idaho State

Saturday, 7:05 p.m.

Holt Arena

Radio — 930 CBS Sports or Rock 102.5

Web — isubengals.com (live stats)

Records — Idaho State is 3-5. Bakersfield is 6-7.

Last outing — Idaho State lost to Idaho in Boise 69-65. Bakersfield lost in overtime to UT Arlington 79-75.

Up next — Idaho State hosts Portland State Thursday in its Big Sky opener.