2020–21 Idaho State Bengals men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Idaho State Bengals men's basketball team represented Idaho State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bengals, led by second-year head coach Ryan Looney, played their home games at Reed Gym in Pocatello, Idaho as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 13–11, 8–6 in Big Sky play, to finish a tie for fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to Montana State.^[1]

2020–21 Idaho State Bengals men's basketball
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	13–11 (8–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Ryan Looney (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Joe White Chris McMillian Davis Furman
Home arena	Reed Gym
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big Sky men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Southern Utah	12	–	2		.857			20	–	4		.833
Weber State	12	–	3		.800			17	–	6		.739
Eastern Washington†	12	–	3		.800			16	–	8		.667
Montana State	8	–	6		.571			13	–	10		.565
Idaho State	8	–	6		.571			13	–	11		.542
Montana	7	–	9		.438			15	–	13		.536
Northern Colorado	6	–	8		.429			11	–	11		.500
Portland State	6	–	8		.429			9	–	13		.409
Sacramento State	5	–	9		.357			8	–	12		.400
Northern Arizona	4	–	10		.286			6	–	16		.273
Idaho	1	–	17		.056			1	–	21		.045
† Conference tournament winner

Previous season

The Bengals finished the 2019–20 season 8–22, 4–16 Big Sky play, to finish in a tie for tenth place. As the #11 seed in the Big Sky tournament, the Bengals upset the #6 seed Northern Arizona in the first round.^[2] They were scheduled to take on the #3 seed Montana in the quarterfinals, but due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all postseason tournaments were canceled, including the remainder of the Big Sky tournament.^[3]

Roster

2020–21 Idaho State Bengals men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Liam Sorensen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Get Better Academy Haldum, Denmark G 2 Tarik Cool 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Lane Community College Chandler, AZ F 3 Malik Porter 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr College of Southern Idaho Phoenix, AZ G 4 Emmit III Taylor 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr North Idaho College Lapwai, ID G 5 Austin Smellie 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Preston High School Preston, ID G 10 Tommy Ball 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Oak Ridge High School El Dorado Hills, CA F 12 James Carlson 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr North Idaho College Coeur d'Alene, ID F 13 Daxton Carr 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Cal Poly Pocatello, ID F 14 Kyle Karstetter 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Moses Lake High School Moses Lake, WA G 20 Robert III Ford 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Clackamas Community College Portland, OR G 22 Austin Cook 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Damien High School Montclair, CA C 24 Conner Turner 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Fr West Valley High School Yakima, WA C 25 Brayden Parker 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So College of Southern Idaho Preston, ID C 32 Zach Visentin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Fr Springville High School Springville, UT G 33 Noble Cooper 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr North Dakota State College of Science Woodinville, WA F 34 Gedeon Buzangu 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Miles Community College Kinshasa, DR Congo	Head coach Ryan Looney (Eastern Oregon) Assistant coach(es) Joe White (Southern Oregon) Chris McMillian (Wyoming) Davis Furman (Idaho State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 13, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 5:00 p.m.		at Santa Clara Bronco Invitational	L 49–62	0–1	Leavey Center  Santa Clara, CA
November 27, 2020* 5:00 p.m.		vs. Nicholls Bronco Invitational	L 51–70	0–2	Leavey Center  Santa Clara, CA
November 28, 2020* 2:00 p.m.		vs. UC Davis Bronco Invitational	L 61–70	0–3	Leavey Center  Santa Clara, CA
December 5, 2020* 7:00 p.m.		Montana Western	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
December 8, 2020* 4:00 p.m., P12N		at Utah	L 59–75	0–4	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
December 12, 2020* 12:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Bethesda	W 87–48	1–4	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
December 15, 2020* 7:00 p.m.		Eastern Oregon	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
December 17, 2020* 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		SAGU American Indian College	W 89–54	2–4	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
December 18, 2020* 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		SAGU American Indian College	W 113–46	3–4	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
December 19, 2020* 2:00 p.m.		at Utah Valley	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues		UCCU Center  Orem, UT
December 22, 2020 2:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Northern Colorado	L 64–69	3–5 (0–1)	Bank of Colorado Arena  Greeley, CO
December 23, 2020 2:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Northern Colorado	W 71–56	4–5 (1–1)	Bank of Colorado Arena  Greeley, CO
December 31, 2020 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Weber State	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
January 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Weber State	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues		Dee Events Center  Ogden, UT
January 7, 2021 6:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Northern Arizona	W 73–69	5–5 (2–1)	Rolle Activity Center  Flagstaff, AZ
January 9, 2021 12:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Northern Arizona	W 76–70	6–5 (3–1)	Rolle Activity Center  Flagstaff, AZ
January 17, 2021 2:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Sacramento State	W 57–56 OT	7–5 (4–1)	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
January 18, 2021 1:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Sacramento State	L 65–70	7–6 (4–2)	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
January 21, 2021 8:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Portland State	W 64–57	8–6 (5–2)	Viking Pavilion  Portland, OR
January 23, 2021 1:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Portland State	L 43–69	8–7 (5–3)	Viking Pavilion  Portland, OR
January 28, 2021 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Southern Utah	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
January 30, 2021 12:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Southern Utah	Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
January 30, 2021* 4:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Northwest	W 89–48	9–7	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
February 5, 2021* 1:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Eastern Oregon	Canceled		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
February 6, 2021* 11:00 a.m., Pluto TV		Eastern Oregon	Canceled		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
February 11, 2021 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Idaho Battle of the Domes	W 69–43	10–7 (6–3)	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
February 13, 2021 12:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Idaho Battle of the Domes	W 64–58 OT	11–7 (7–3)	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
February 15, 2021* 2:00 p.m., Pluto TV		George Fox	W 84–59	12–7	Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
February 18, 2021 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Montana State	Canceled		Brick Breeden Fieldhouse  Bozeman, MT
February 20, 2021 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Montana State	Canceled		Reed Gym  Pocatello, ID
February 25, 2021 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Montana	L 58–64	12–8 (7–4)	Reed Gym (40) Pocatello, ID
February 27, 2021 12:00 p.m., Pluto TV		Montana	L 58–59	12–9 (7–5)	Reed Gym (50) Pocatello, ID
March 4, 2021 7:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Eastern Washington	W 68–63	13–9 (8–5)	Reese Court (0) Cheney, WA
March 6, 2021 1:00 p.m., Pluto TV		at Eastern Washington	L 62–75	13–10 (8–6)	Reese Court (0) Cheney, WA
Big Sky tournament
March 11, 2021 2:30 p.m., Pluto TV 1050	(4)	vs. (5) Montana State Quarterfinals	L 63–71	13–11	Idaho Central Arena  Boise, ID
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Source:^[4]