Eastern Washington at Idaho State postgame blog

Idaho State 83, Eastern Washington 72

Check out the Journal's game recap here.

And a photo gallery from the game is here.

Find a full box score from the game here.

Star of the game: Andre Hatchett. Hatchet poured in 27 points in 34 minutes on 9 of 13 shooting, and he converted on 9 of 12 free-throws.

Hatchett was the best player on the floor. It wasn't just his scoring. Eastern Washington had no way to stop the senior from penetrating at will against its defense. And when Hatchett drove, he either finished at the rim, stopped and popped for a jumper or created an open shot for a teammate (sometimes providing the first pass that led to another pass for a good look — i.e. the hockey assist).

Tyler Harvery, EWU's leading scorer, is a heck of a player. But he had no answer for Hatchett. Harvey finished with 19 points, but he was helpless defensively and the Bengals game plan took advantage. (It's only fair to note that Harvey's role for EWU is to make shots and he can't do that by falling into foul trouble. That has to have some effect on his willingness to take chances playing defense.)

Star of the game No. 2: Jeffrey Solarin. In his best game of the season, Solarin recorded his third double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) of the season. Of his 11 boards, six were of the offensive variety (it's the fourth time this year he's nabbed at least five offensive boards).

Like Hatchett, Solarin played with great energy — with a zeal for the game. And that really defined the entire team's efforts.

Idaho State played harder than Eastern. It's as simple as that. ISU led by double digits nine minutes into the game. Eastern had its moments but the Eagles looked sluggish/disinterested for long stretches. EWU head coach Jim Hayford tried to inspire his squad — yelling at them to get tougher, pleading for them to defend — but it was just the Bengals' night.

Wrapping up the Big Sky: 

Montana State 68, Northern Arizona 66

Michael Dison hit a runner in the lane at the buzzer to down the feisty Lumberjacks. Check out the Bozeman Chronicle's game recap.

Northern Colorado 91, Southern Utah 55

Thirteen different Bears had time on the floor, 11 of them scored and no starter spent more than 24 minutes in the game as Northern Colorado rolled to a 2-0 start in the Big Sky.

Montana 82, Sacramento State 70
Four Grizzlies scored in double figures, stud senior Kareem Jamar didn't have to do everything and Montana is back on track after the surprising stumble against Northern Arizona in the Big Sky opener.

Weber State 79, Portland State 62
Remember Aaron Moore Bengal fans? He's the guy who showed off two middle fingers to the crowd last Thursday night. He's actually a heck of a player. For the season, Moore was averaging 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Vikings.

But he didn't play Saturday against Weber State, and Jonathan Reed of Big Sky Basketball reported Saturday night that Moore might have been dismissed from the team. That's unconfirmed.

End result, Weber State is right where we thought they'd all be after the first week of Big Sky play, 2-0 and tied for first place in the conference standings.