There is something about Reed Gym.

    Every time the Idaho State men’s basketball team makes its annual move there, good things seem to happen.

    That was the case again Thursday night as the Bengals got a school record nine 3-pointers from Chris Hansen and played lights out defense in a 87-51 victory over Montana State.

    “We have been focusing on getting a lot of shots in practice, we spend so much more time in working on shooting drills and it looks like it’s helping,” ISU senior guard Melvin Morgan said. “We are comfortable, we are shooting the ball with confidence and shots are going in for us.”

    The Bengals came out shooting lights out from the opening tip. In the first 10:33 Morgan and Chris Hansen combined to make six 3-pointers that gave the Bengals a 23-12 lead.

    After that ISU’s zone defense took over.

    The Bobcats went 6-for-20 in the first half and just 1-of-8 from the 3-point line, which allowed ISU to pull away in a 9:16 stretch where the Bobcats were held without a field goal.

    During the time ISU outscored Montana State 16-3 to build a 33-12 lead.

    “We emphasized hitting our spots and when we hit our spots and stay true to the matchups, it is pretty effective,” Hansen said of the team’s zone defense. “Tonight I felt we had some breakdowns a little bit, but for the most part we played with a sense of urgency.”

    “Defensively I thought we played good,” ISU head coach Bill Evans said. “We did a good job hitting our spots and guarding them and I don’t think we gave up any penetration. A lot of times when you give up penetration it leads to open looks, we did not give those up tonight.”

    Montana State (10-13, 7-8 Big Sky) finished the night 5-of-21 from behind the arc.

    While the defense allowed the Bengals to take control of the game, it was the offense that was the star of the show.

    The Bengals shot a season-high 65 percent in the first half, led by Hansen’s 12 points, all of which came from behind the 3-point line.

    It was evident very early that Hansen was going to have a good night as he made three of his first four shots, this just two nights after having his streak of consecutive games with a three snapped by Weber State.

    “I have been pretty frustrated this entire season to be honest with you,” Hansen said. “I won't shoot like this every night, but today felt like it has throughout my career. It was fun to see the ball finally go in.”

    The Bengals led 42-18 at halftime.

    “Coach told us in the locker room that we have seen this before and that in this conference no lead is safe,” Hansen said. “He told this the first four minutes of the second half would dictate the rest of the game. We came out and did what we needed to do.”

    ISU scored the first five points of the second half on a Neveij Walters layup and a three by Hansen, forcing Montana State head coach Brad Huse to call a timeout just 40 seconds in.

    ISU did cool down a bit in the second half, shooting 63 percent in the half, but Hansen added five more 3-pointers.

    Hansen took just 11 shots in the game, all threes, making nine for a new school record for an individual in a game. It broke the previous record of seven which was set by Kenny McGowen.

    “I am happy for Chris, he is one of the best shooters I have seen,” Morgan said. “He made nine threes that’s just crazy. That is a tremendous job shooting the ball.”

    “I have been working with Chris on his shot the last couple of days in practice,” Evans joked after the game. “Chris made shots and he is very capable of doing that.”

    ISU shot a season-high 64 percent from the field and 62 percent from the 3-point line.

    Hansen led the Bengals with a career-high 27 points, Morgan added 15 and Andre Hatchett chipped in 12 points and five rebounds.

    ISU (5-19, 4-11) hosts Montana Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.

    “I told the guys we have another big game Saturday night,” Evans said. “Montana is not going to want to come to Idaho State and leave with a loss after a tough game. We are going to have to be ready.”