News Story - Idaho State Journal

What's at stake:

Idaho State has the chance to energize its entire fan base with a win today. Beat BYU, and it will go down as the highlight of the year.

Key Matchup:

BYU's bench vs. Idaho State's bench. The Cougars don't have a single player on their roster who averages more than 30 minutes of playing time per game. The Bengals have two who average 40. That means BYU players should be more energetic at the end of the game. To even things out, O'Brien may have to go to his bench more than usual. If that turns out to be the case, his reserves will need to contribute.

Three things about BYU

-- Good thing Idaho State gets BYU at home. The Cougars own the nation's longest home-court winning streak. They have won 51 in a row at the Marriott Center.

-- The Cougars have four players who are currently shooting better than 33 percent from 3-point range.

-- Two BYU players -- Trent Plaisted and Lee Cummard -- declared themselves eligible for the NBA draft early last summer, but Cummard withdrew his name and came back to school. Good thing, too. He leads BYU in scoring with 19 per game.

Happy ending if ...

Austin Kilpatrick and Kal Bay make a few 3-pointers. The Bengals' best outside shooters haven't hit many treys this year. Change that trend against BYU, and Idaho State will have a chance.

Sad ending if ...

Idaho State fails to quickly adjust to BYU's physical style of play. The Cougars are stronger and deeper than any team the Bengals have played thus far, and they won't mind using that to their advantage.

Bottom line:

Three straight overtime losses have been tough to take, but few will complain if Idaho State loses this game close. Many would likely consider it a moral victory. It will be Idaho State's most difficult game yet.

This document was originally published online on Saturday, November 29, 2008

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Reader Comments

The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of our paper.

steve wrote on Nov 29, 2008 11:23 PM:

" O'Brien should be proud of his stellar coaching job and ability to stay poised. Come on, you challenge the opposing coach to a fight? Get real...you're at Idaho State dude.... "

OB1Kanobe wrote on Dec 1, 2008 10:06 PM:

" OB was going nuts. Does the word "psycho" come to mind? I could picture him getting into a brawl at a Little League game the way he came off Saturday night. "

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