krobinett@journalnet.com

MISSOULA, Mont. - One of the biggest reasons for Idaho State's recent improvement is offense is the play of Lucas Steijn.

The senior center has gone from splitting time at his position to dominating it. Against Montana on Saturday, he scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds for his fourth straight quality game.

Montana coach Wayne Tinkle was so impressed that he said: "Steijn was a monster against us."

Steijn attributes his improved play to having a sense of urgency.

"The season is coming to an end, and so is my career. It's almost over. A few weeks ago I looked at myself in the mirror and said, 'You know what, I can be playing so much better and doing so much more.' I realized I could practice harder, and everything has gone well since."

Teammate Austin Kilpatrick is impressed.

"He's being more aggressive," he said. "I've been getting on him for two years about shooting that 15-footer. He can shoot free throws better than I can. Now that he's taking them, and making them it's opened everything else up. He helps us a lot."

Coach Joe O'Brien is too.

"He's playing with an awful lot of confidence on the offensive end of the floor," he said. "He's done such a good job these last few games."

Fourth place could be theirs

The way the cards have fallen, if Idaho State wins its two remaining games, a home date with Sacramento State on Thursday and another one on Saturday against Northern Arizona, it will at worst clinch fourth place in the Big Sky standings and earn a postseason home game.

For that much O'Brien was happy.

"This game didn't cause a whole lot of damage."

Baldwin was hurt

O'Brien said he wanted to once again start Sherrod Baldwin at point guard, but because he sprained an ankle in a loss to Montana State on Thursday, he didn't play him at all.

"I could have probably put him out there, but I didn't want to have him hobbling around against these guys," he said.

Carson cools

After a run of brilliant play, Donnie Carson finally cooled off against Montana.

The junior guard scored just three points and grabbed three rebounds in the loss.