BOZEMAN, Mont. — Things got so bad for Idaho State during its 84-68 loss to Montana State that at one point in the first half, the Bengals were playing with only four men on the court.
Things weren't going any better when the Bengals had all five players in the game.
After hanging with Montana State for a half, Idaho State threw away the opening possession of the second half and things went downhill from there as the Bengals ended their season with a blowout loss on Wednesday night at Worthington Arena.
“The motivation was not the same as Monday night was, but this was another opportunity to play basketball,” Idaho State coach Joe O'Brien said. “I think some kids listened to that, but some other guys were less than what we needed. We don't have the luxury of having some guys play well and some guys not playing well.”
As a result, Idaho State (9-20, 4-12 Big Sky) provided the perfect opposition for Montana State's seniors Erik Rush, Bobby Howard and Danny Piepoli, all of whom made their last home game a night they would treasure forever.
Piepoli led the Bobcats (13-17, 7-9) with 22 points, while Howard and Rush each added 20 to combine for 62 points, 17 more than Montana State even scored in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 24.
“We came out of the locker room and just didn't defend,” O'Brien said. “It's a difficult situation when there's not something out there to achieve and shoot for. My hat's off to their three seniors. They played their last home game the way seniors are supposed to, and I'm glad they're gone.”
Broderick Gilchrest closed out his career at Idaho State with 23 points, but still felt responsible for Idaho State's poor finish to the season, even if he never stopped giving his best effort.
“I was going to play hard to the end regardless,” Gilchrest said. “But as a team, I'm sorry for the performance we put on. We weren't playing for anything but pride, but to let that go is unacceptable. That's a lack of caring about the game to hold your pride. I didn't want to go out there and not play with pride, and I was proud of a couple of the younger guys for the way they responded.”
The problem was that the Bengals didn't get enough of those guys to respond, allowing the lead to get as large as 69-44 when Piepoli hit the fifth of his six 3-pointers with 9:51 to play. After that, the only suspense was when Montana State coach Brad Huse would allow his seniors a moment of glory.
Freshman Andre' Hatchett had 11 points for the Bengals and was the only one of the players returning next year to score in double digits. He said O'Brien blamed himself for the finish, but he disagreed because O'Brien wasn't the one playing in the game.
“I felt like there was no energy tonight out there,” Hatchett said. “Some guys just weren't ready to play. We tried to win for the seniors in their last game, but I think mentally, people had given up already after the Northern Colorado game.
“It's been tough going from winning a state championship last year to not making the tournament. We have to stay focused to turn this thing around next year.”
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