Commentary by Tim Flagstad

The BYU men's basketball team was bigger, faster and stronger than its counterpart from the Gate City on Saturday. That much was obvious from the start.

At every opportunity, the Cougars did their best to intimidate Idaho State, whether it be a subtle shove, a hand in the air after a made basket or overall physical play. Rather than folding, though, the Bengals did the exact opposite. When BYU pushed, Idaho State pushed back - literally - and never gave in to the top dogs in the Intermountain Region from Provo, Utah.

Even though the Bengals lost 85-65 in front of an announced crowd of 4,364 on Saturday night at Holt Arena, Idaho State showed far more in the 20-point loss than it did in any of its previous three overtime losses.

"I don't like to get pushed around," said Idaho State junior guard Donnie Carson. "I don't care who you are, I'm not going to let anyone push me around."

Several times, BYU appeared poised to sprint out to an insurmountable lead, but each time, Idaho State refused to back down and kept the game within striking distance rather than silently taking a beating.

With a little under 11 minutes to go in the game, Carson grabbed a rebound that was bouncing in traffic. Idaho State trailed by 14 at the time, but rather than allow two BYU players to tie him up, Carson ripped the ball away and followed it up with a jump shot at the other end. A player on a weaker-willed team would've had no problem settling for the jump ball and taking his chances with the possession arrow.

Even though the Cougars constantly sent several players to the basket for offensive rebounds and had plenty more bigger bodies to do so, the Bengals allowed only eight offensive rebounds and lost the overall battle of the boards 33-31. That's an outstanding feat considering BYU misses at times appeared rarer than trips by Cougar teams to the Gate City, which hadn't happened in 31 years before Saturday.

A soft team or one that lacks heart wouldn't have been able to withstand such aggressive play by an opponent.

"They were really physical," said BYU's star, Lee Cummard. "We were crashing the boards, and they were getting after it, too. As you can see, they had 14 offensive rebounds, so they got after it hard."

Indeed, they did, which is why neither coach Joe O'Brien nor his players seemed too down after the loss.

They stuck right with a perennial NCAA tournament team and never cowered even when BYU did its best to play the bully.

No, the Bengals can't be completely satisfied with their effort. Their free-throw shooting - they shot 53.8 percent from the line - was abysmal and would be even for a junior high team. They still gave away too many possessions with turnovers and looked frantic at times on offense.

Still, the game was a definite step forward for Idaho State.

Even though it sports a terrible 1-4 record, this team should be ready when Big Sky play rolls around, which is the entire point of O'Brien's brutal scheduling.

"If we can play with these guys, I know we can play with everyone in our conference," Carson said. "You have to look long-term, not short-term."

With their effort Saturday night, the Bengals showed that fans should take a similar approach.

Tim Flagstad's column normally appears Mondays. With comments or story ideas, contact him at 239-3124 or by e-mail at tflagstad@journalnet.com.