North Dakota at Idaho State pregame

North Dakota at Idaho State
Today, 7:05 p.m., Holt Arena

Radio — 930 CBS Sports Radio or Rock 102.5
Web — isubengals.com (live stats)
Free live video stream — watchbigsky.com
Records — Idaho State is 8-12 and 5-6 in the Big Sky. North Dakota is 9-12 overall and 6-5 in the conference.
Series — North Dakota leads 4-1
Last outing — Idaho State beat Northern Colorado 73-70. On the road, North Dakota fell 84-72 to Weber State.
Up next — Idaho State travels to Southern Utah Feb. 15.

Probable starters
North Dakota:
G/F Troy Huff, 6-5, Sr., 19.7 ppg
C Ryan Salmonson, 6-9, Jr., 2.7 ppg
G Josh Schuler, 6-3, Sr., 5.6 ppg
G Aaron Anderson, 5-10, Sr., 10.6 ppg
G Quinton Hooker, 6-0, Fr., 4.7 ppg

Idaho State:
G/F Chris Hansen, 6-4, Jr. 16.9 ppg
F Jeffrey Solarin, 6-4, Jr. 8.9 ppg
C Avibakuro Preh, 6-9, Sr. 3.0 ppg
G Andre Hatchett, 6-4, Sr. 15.0 ppg
G Tomas Sanchez, 6-3, Sr. 15.2 ppg

Game notes: Idaho State, North Dakota

Here's the Journal's game preview for ISU vs. North Dakota. The Idaho State Bengals are drawing inspiration from the Super Bowl champs — or at least the Seahawks’ use of a simple question to spur confidence. Why not us?

Here's a couple sections of that preview ...

Hatchett, ISU’s backup point guard
    Off the bench, sophomore Evann Hall is more of a true shooting guard than a point guard.
    Hall has excelled in that role. He’s the Bengals fifth-leading scorer at 6.4 points a game. It has meant, though, that ISU lacks a backup for Sanchez, the starting point guard.
    Sanchez has logged at least 36 minutes in 16 of the Bengals’ 20 games. Opposing coaches have taken notice. Sanchez is constantly hounded in the full court by laser-quick guards’ pestering, darting hands, forcing the senior to weave his way back and forth down the floor just to set up Idaho State’s offense.
    “Constant pressure all night, it will take its toll,” Hatchett said. “He has the best stamina on the team, but it can get tiring making him turn and use so much energy.”
    In response, Idaho State has begun to use Hatchett to relieve the ball pressure.
    “It gives Sanchez a rest,” Evans said. “Usually, the guys guarding Andre are a little bit bigger. I think it’s probably easier for him to get the ball up the floor sometimes. He’s versatile. That’s one of the things he’s good at.”

Anyone’s race
    The Big Sky Conference standings were tight entering last Thursday’s slate of games, and after Idaho State, Montana, Sacramento State and Eastern Washington all won, it’s become an even more condensed mess from second to 10th place.
    At 7-4 in the league, Northern Colorado is in second place behind Weber State. But the Bears are a mere one game ahead of four teams at 6-5 and two games in front of another group of four at 5-6.
    Southern Utah is firmly ensconced in last place with an 0-10 conference record and Weber State is comfortably at the top. But it’s a wide-open race beyond those two with nine games left.