2008 Woodie Awards
Valiant Bengal effort cannot keep tournament run going
Courtesy of ISU Athletics
Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: Sports
For ISU head coach Joe O'Brien, who took ISU to the semifinals for the first time since the 2004 season, depth was the key issue for ISU against the Vikings.
"We didn't have the depth they did. They wore us down. In the first half, we defended pretty well. In the second half, they shot the ball 58 percent because we just didn't have that same juice in our legs," O'Brien said. "They can score in a variety of ways. I think we all understand that our team is somewhat limited in how we score. We have to work a whole lot harder to get two points than they do."
Kinghorn, one of two ISU's seniors that played in his final game, agreed on that assessment. "I felt like they got a lot of hands on balls, kind of tipped it around. If it wasn't one guy coming up with it, it was another. They were all over the place." Kinghorn left the indelible image of the season for the Bengals, saluting and waving to the crowd in celebration at the end of ISU's 67-65 win over Montana in the Big Sky Quarterfinals.
Matt Stucki ended the season as the team's leading scorer with an 11.9 scoring average, which was the second lowest total by a leader in the last 55 years, behind Scott Henry's 11.7 average in 2003. Stucki also finished with 110 assists, and he combined with Amorrow Morgan for 200 total. Kinghorn's 157 rebounds led the team as well. ISU dropped to 0-7 against the top seed in the Big Sky Tournament. Kilpatrick ended the season with 99 career 3-pointers.
"We didn't have the depth they did. They wore us down. In the first half, we defended pretty well. In the second half, they shot the ball 58 percent because we just didn't have that same juice in our legs," O'Brien said. "They can score in a variety of ways. I think we all understand that our team is somewhat limited in how we score. We have to work a whole lot harder to get two points than they do."
Kinghorn, one of two ISU's seniors that played in his final game, agreed on that assessment. "I felt like they got a lot of hands on balls, kind of tipped it around. If it wasn't one guy coming up with it, it was another. They were all over the place." Kinghorn left the indelible image of the season for the Bengals, saluting and waving to the crowd in celebration at the end of ISU's 67-65 win over Montana in the Big Sky Quarterfinals.
Matt Stucki ended the season as the team's leading scorer with an 11.9 scoring average, which was the second lowest total by a leader in the last 55 years, behind Scott Henry's 11.7 average in 2003. Stucki also finished with 110 assists, and he combined with Amorrow Morgan for 200 total. Kinghorn's 157 rebounds led the team as well. ISU dropped to 0-7 against the top seed in the Big Sky Tournament. Kilpatrick ended the season with 99 career 3-pointers.
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