Bengal Basketball Mid-Season Report

At Idaho State, basketball is a game that has taken on two faces: rebuilding and winning. Unfortunately these two things are completely independent of each other because they are happening on two different teams. One stands at the very top of the Big Sky Conference and is undefeated in league play, while the other is near the bottom of the standings.

ISU women's basketball at Idaho State has been hugely successful over the past decade. At the very top of the Big Sky and with recent NCAA tournament success, things look good for them to finish the last half of the season strong and win the Big Sky championship.

Their free-flowing offense has put up over 65 points nine times this season while their defense has limited teams to 35 percent shooting. This combination of offense and defense has been devastating in and out of conference play and has made them a favorite in the Big Sky. When teams are scouting the Bengals, there is not just one player that they can single out; ISU has four players that score in double digits. There also isn't a particular offensive strategy that will result in success against them, as ISU has one of the NCAA's best defenses. They don't have a huge post presence, but they make up for it with a smart team that has a large mix of athletic players.

In contrast, men's basketball at Idaho State has been suffering. With only three wins they have the worst overall record in their division and the second worst in conference play.

The Bengal's record, however, isn't as bad as it would first appear; their schedule has been packed with teams that are consistently among the best in the country such as teams like Oklahoma, Utah and New Mexico. It has been a brutal road that also included a Loyola Marymount team that upset several ranked teams – including UCLA and Saint Louis – and a Montana team that still retains much of its core from their NCAA tournament run two seasons ago.

The challenging schedule hasn't been the only cause of the bad start though, as Head Coach Joe O'Brien resigned midway through the season. Despite the turbulence, Idaho State still has the opportunity and talent to do well in their last 13 games; if they win the division there is a chance of seeing them play in March – it would be their first appearance since 1987.

There are facets of their game that will need to improve if they are to succeed. Assist numbers have been extremely low, with no point guard averaging more than three assists. The post game has been far from inspirational; three-point shooting has been abysmal and turnovers are rampant and rebounding. 

Some of these problems can be solved by increasing playing time for 7-4 center Jakub Kuzmieruk in order to clog the middle and Sherrod Baldwin to spread the floor. Fix those issues, and this could be a very good and competitive team.