krobinett@journalnet.com

When the Idaho State men's basketball team amazingly beat Utah earlier this season, the Bengals sandwiched that incredible victory between two five-game losing streaks.

When they beat Idaho and Northern Colorado back-to-back in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion, they followed that up with three straight losses.

When they pulled off an upset and won at Northern Arizona for the first time in seven years, they immediately went to Sacramento State and became one of the only two teams in the country to lose to the Hornets this season.

With those bad memories still fresh in his mind, Idaho State coach Joe O'Brien was in no mood to label the Bengals' 78-69 victory over defending Big Sky champion Portland State on Thursday a ground-breaking one.

Sure, Idaho State (8-17 overall, 5-6 Big Sky) has been able to pick up big wins against quality opponents and teams that it traditionally has struggled against, but it also has some pretty embarrassing losses on its resume.

"If this team plays hard, we can be pretty good," O'Brien said. "But if this team plays less than pretty hard, we've found a lot of ways to get beat."

Teams like Eastern Washington (11-14, 5-8), which Idaho State plays at 4:07 today at Holt Arena, are the opponents the Bengals have typically lost to. Especially coming off a big win.

Whether the Bengals have felt satisfied with their accomplishments, grown over-confident or merely overlooked their mediocre opponent, they have typically fallen flat in games they are favored to win.

The oddsmakers have labeled Idaho State as a seven-point favorite today, and the Bengals are looking to redeem themselves.

They say they want to play hard the whole way and avoid what happened at Sacramento State when the Bengals fell way behind and junior guard Amorrow Morgan later admitted he was nowhere near mentally prepared to play a competitive game.

"The clock is running," O'Brien said. "We've only got five games left. I hope the kids have gotten the message."

Senior guard Matt Stucki, who wants to go out with a bang as much as anyone, says they have.

"For whatever reason, we have had problems playing to the level of our competition," he said. "We've beaten some good teams, and we've lost to some not-so-good ones. We have to prepare, and we can't dwell on (beating Portland State) too much. We don't want to be thinking about how big that win was when we step on the court against Eastern Washington."

To encourage that kind of forward thinking, O'Brien said he reminded his players of how well they played against Montana State two days after beating Montana earlier in the season.

Both games were played at home, the Bengals gave a good effort in both matchups and Idaho State picked up a weekend sweep.

The circumstances are exactly the same as they are now. Idaho State simply needs to follow the blueprint.

Junior guard Donnie Carson said the Bengals are prepared to do so.

"We've figured it out," he said. "The teams in this league aren't beating us, we're beating ourselves. When we come out with our heads on straight, we're pretty much unstoppable in this league."

Eastern Washington (11-14, 5-8) at Idaho State (8-17, 5-6)

When: 4:07 p.m.

Where: Holt Arena

Watch/Listen: Altitude TV/930 AM KSEI

What's at stake:

With a win, Idaho State will get back to .500 in Big Sky play and be in great shape to make the conference tournament. With a loss, the Bengals will fall into seventh place and lose out on all tiebreakers against the Eagles.

Key matchup:

Lucas Steijn vs. Brandon Moore. Eastern Washington's center scored 17 points against the Bengals earlier this season, and ISU coaches all pointed to that as the reason the Eagles won that game. Steijn must do a better job against him defensively today.

Three things about Eastern Washington:

- Eastern Washington's football team was just placed on probation for three years by the NCAA for committing several "major violations." Because of that, the Eagles will not be eligible for the playoffs next year.

- The Eagles have struggled mightily since beating Idaho State in Cheney, Wash., on Jan. 8. They have lost seven of their last nine games.

- Eastern Washington has won 18 of the past 25 meetings against the Bengals, but is just 9-18 all-time in Pocatello.

Happy ending if …

Idaho State once again scores 55 points in a half. No one is beating the Bengals when that happens.

Sad ending if …

The Bengals don't take this game seriously. Eastern Washington is fully capable of defeating Idaho State, and if the Bengals bring anything less than a maximum effort, it might happen.

Bottom line:

Idaho State has proven it can beat good teams. Now it needs to prove that it can beat mediocre ones, too.