POCATELLO, Idaho — A different Idaho State team showed up at Holt Arena on Saturday night than the one North Dakota saw earlier this season in Grand Forks. The Bengals (2-5) snapped a three-game losing streak by posting a 76-63 victory over the visiting Fighting Sioux (4-3).

 

It was Idaho State's bench and a 42-28 edge in rebounding that pushed the home team to just its second win of the season. Kenny McGowan (18 points) and Garret Swanson (15 points) combined for 33 points in reserve roles as the Bengals' subs outscored UND's 35-4.

ISU forward Abner Moreira led all players with 14 rebounds and Swanson, who did not play in the Bengals' 63-47 loss to the Sioux on Nov. 14, added seven boards. Swanson had seen action in just two games and scored five points before busting out in this one.

UND sophomore Aaron Anderson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) equaled his career-high with 20 points and made all four of his 3-point attempts, but the Sioux could never get in a rhythm offensively, shooting just 39.7 percent for the game (23-for-58).

Senior Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) also made four 3-pointers for the Sioux and finished with 15 points, while sophomore Troy Huff (Milwaukee, Wis.) rounded out a trio of UND players in double figures with 14.

“I thought we played at a pretty high level. We played well and had energy, but we just did not rebound the ball well enough on the road to win and we did not make foul shots,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “It's tough to win on the road if you cannot rebound the ball, which (is) Idaho State's second strength outside of transition offense.”

Idaho State, who came in shooting just over 40 percent as a team from the field, buried 60 percent of its shots in the first half, connecting on 18-of-30 attempts. In contrast, the Bengals made just five first-half field goals in Grand Forks and finished the game with 15 makes. 

Both teams started out hot from the floor as UND made seven of its first 10 shots, while the Bengals went 8-for-11 to arrive at an 18-18 score just over six minutes into the contest. 

The Sioux cooled down quickly, however, missing their next seven shots during a six-plus minute span that saw Idaho State build a 25-19 advantage. Anderson snapped the drought with his second trey of the half, but UND would never regain the lead.

The Bengals took a 43-37 advantage at the break as  Anderson and Melvin Morgan, who the Sioux held scoreless in their first meeting, both had 13 points to lead their respective teams. Anderson hit all five of his shots from the floor, including a trio of 3-pointers, as the Sioux shot 48.9 percent as a team (14-for-29).

ISU struggled from the field to open the second half, making just one of its first seven attempts, but UND failed to take advantage due to its own struggles from both the field and the foul line. The Sioux made just two of their first 12 shots as the Bengals regained an eight-point lead. UND also converted only eight of 17 free-throw attempts that dampened any hopes of a comeback.

The Bengals built their first double-digit lead on a putback dunk by Moreira, but Mitchell quickly followed with UND's first field goal in nearly six minutes, drilling a 3-pointer to put the Sioux within seven.  After an ISU turnover, sophomore Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) made a 3-pointer to cut deficit back to four, but that would be as close as the Sioux would get.

“They don't (typically) shoot the ball well, but they obviously did tonight and they were in their own venue,” Jones added. “Statistically, they don't usually do that and they got a lot of their own misses. We showed some lack of discipline on the offensive end in crunch time and need to show some growth there.” 

Sophomore Brandon Brekke finished with seven points and made all three of his shots from the floor. He has now made 14 straight shots from the field dating back to the season-opening win vs. Waldorf.

UND will stay on the road with a trip to Kansas City on Wednesday where the Sioux will take on UMKC at 7 p.m.