North Dakota 66, Idaho State 62
While the Bengals battled to the last minute with UND, I covered a high school game.
You can find ISU Sports Information's release from the game here.
And check out this great game recap from Tom Miller of the Grand Forks Herald.
Let's get the obvious question out of the way. Did the Bengals get screwed? Andre Hatchett made a layup with less than five seconds left to tie the game.
On the radio, ISU play-by-play announcer Jerry Miller flipped, saying the call was a travesty (that's not a direct quote. I was listening to the game online. I just remember Miller definitely feeling like what he saw was the wrong call).
I've tried, but I can't find any highlights of the play. So I can't comment if the call was bad.
If nothing else (and Miller mentioned this on the radio, too), Idaho State didn't lose because of the (bad?) call. The Bengals lost because they had 23 turnovers. They knew going in that UND was going to bring pressure and they couldn't handle it well enough.
After the game, Evans mentioned the turnovers and he pointed to offensive rebounds, too. ISU gave up 16 of those, tying a season high.
Star of the game: Chris Hansen. Hansen's 24 points, six 3-pointers and eight rebounds were a major positive. On the road, any team needs its studs to play well and to raise their level of play. To drain six 3s and score a game-high 24 is tough to do in a hostile gym.
Reason for concern: The offensive rebounds are an issue (obviously). But those 23 turnovers are killer. It allowed UND to run in the open court, energized their team and the crowd. Idaho State finished with 46 field-goal attempts. North Dakota had 61.
The Bengals overcame 21 turnovers at home against Portland State, but doing it outside of Holt Arena is going to be nearly impossible.
Wrapping up the Big Sky:
Northern Colorado 70, Weber State 51
Derrick Barden is your early-season favorite to win the Big Sky player of the year after scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds against the Wildcats. That's an impressive effort against the vaunted Weber State frontcourt.
The Bengals are going to have to play extremely well Saturday to even keep it close.
UNC is 8-0 at home and has won three league games in Greeley, Colo., by an average of 24 points.
Eastern Washington 69, Montana 62
How about this, Montana is 1-2 in the Big Sky. Check out the Spokesman's gamer here.
Montana State 79, Portland State 76
The storyline emerging from this game (I'm guessing) is that the 'Cats are surprising 3-0 in the league. But keep in mind, they've played Sac State and NAU at home. And Portland State (you heard it here first) looks like it's headed toward a disaster of a season.
Don't get me wrong, a W on the road is a W on the road, but keep in mind that Montana State is undefeated with 17 games left.
Northern Arizona 75, Sacramento State 65
If Barden is in the lead position for player of the year, NAU's Jack Murphy could be the coach of the year. The Lumberjacks have looked great.
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