Pocatello is a familiar place to football fans. In the Big Sky, the basketball team is in the middle of the pack, a spot they are used to. This season, they were projected to be 5th in the conference. Head Coach Ryan Looney is in his 7th season and brought a 68-112 (.378) record with the Bengals this season. The series stands at 1-3 with the only Aggie win coming the last time they played in 2020, the COVID season. They’re pretty tough at home with a 5-1 record, although the opposition has not been strong to include lower division schools Montana Western, Park University Gilbert and Justice College. They also crushed CSUN 82-50. On the road, they’ve lost to some pretty good teams, such as Santa Clara and Utah Valley. They also lost to Seattle, 74-83, in Seattle, so there’s some basis for comparison there, given that the Ags came close to beating the Redhawks.

Idaho State has a good frontcourt with forwards Caleb Van De Griend (6’8”, 14.3 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Connor Hollenbeck (6’7”, 13.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg) the two leading scorers. Van De Griend does not start but comes off the bench for Evan Otten (6’11”) and is on the court a lot more. Hollenbeck is their 3-point threat as he hits 41% beyond the arc. They run a three guard backcourt with Jamison Guerra at the point with Martin Keheil and Lachlan Brewer. Chiek Sow, a 6’7” guard from Senegal also gets a lot of minutes. Their 5 leading scorers account for about 75% of their 74.5 ppg. Statistically, they match up very evenly with UC Davis. For example, they shoot 46.1% as do the Ags and they from the floor and 32.8% from 3 compared to the Aggies 33.3%. Given that this is an away game, I tend to think the Ags might be hard pressed to win this one. UC Davis is 1-4 in away games so far.