Idaho State zone defense causes Weber to fall on road

POCATELLO, Idaho — When Bill Evans took over as Idaho State’s head coach, teams in the Big Sky Conference knew the challenge the Bengals would soon provide.

Evans, who is well-known for leading Southern Utah University to the NCAA tournament a decade ago, had spent many years as an assistant with Montana and knew the Big Sky landscape as well as any coach in the country — including who to beat to give momentum to your program.

Monday night, a 78-75 overtime victory over Big Sky leader Weber State provided a great deal of momentum, not only for the Bengals, who are trying to qualify for the conference postseason tournament, but for the entire conference. With the loss, Weber State’s lead in the conference is down to just two games heading into a critical two-game road trip with Montana and Montana State.

The Bengals’ win followed a game plan they set during a 65-59 loss in Ogden in January: deny post players Joel Bolomboy and Kyle Tresnak possessions; make Big Sky MVP contender Davion Berry take a large number of shots to get his points; and make the most of offensive opportunities. In summary, Idaho State executed the game plan perfectly, Monday night.

Weber State was outscored 32-22 in the paint — which has been a rarity in Big Sky play for the Wildcats. That category proved to be one of the tactics that crushed Weber’s hopes Monday, as Idaho State was able to pick up some easy points.

“They (the Bengals) were playing a zone and it’s hard to get the ball inside,” said Weber State coach Randy Rahe. “I thought we executed really well against the zone; we showed patience. I thought we started to get some penetration.”

While Davion Berry finished with 20 points, he made only 6 of 19 shots, missing all six of his three-point attempts. Much in the way NBA teams defended Kobe Bryant during his prime, it’s not a matter of if a scorer will get points, but a matter of how many shots it takes to get those points. Weber shot poorly from behind the arc, making only 7 of 25 shots.

Despite the missed shots, Rahe said the shot attempts were acceptable.

“I was really pleased with the looks we got,” Rahe said. “I didn’t have any problem with them. There, for a while, we were shooting 50 percent. But, it’s a zone for a reason.”

Idaho State took advantage of available shots during the game, shooting 52.7 percent from the floor, to Weber’s 41.4 percent. The Bengals converted 61.5 percent of their three-point shots, making 8 of 13 attempts. Those numbers allowed Idaho State to climb past Weber, in spite of the Wildcats earning more free throw attempts, more offensive rebounds, and more bench points.

Idaho State guard Chris Hansen starred on the night, finishing with 27 points, including four three-point shots.

“He hit a couple really tough shots,” Rahe noted. “You can’t defend him any better, and that last one he hit is exactly the shot you want him to take. But, we let them get going a bit and get their confidence early in the game.”

In retrospect, Rahe said the lack of defense early created confidence in the Bengals and is something that will have to change as the Wildcats head to Montana.

“We didn’t defend them tonight,” he said. “We didn’t guard them the way we’ve been guarding, and we let them get off to a good start. … I thought we rebounded with them on their court, and I thought we did a lot of good things; we played well enough offensively to win. But, we just did not guard well enough.”

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