Montana wasn't the only place with drama in the Big Sky on Thursday night. We also had some in Pocatello.
After Tate Unruh hit a lean-in jumper with just under 40 seconds left to play, Northern Colorado led Idaho State 70-68. Idaho State had the ball back, and eventually the ball made its way to guard Tomas Sanchez, who buried a three-ball with just over 10 seconds to play.
Here is the best video I can find, courtesy of Brendan Loy.
As I said last night on twitter, if you had to pick one guy from the Big Sky to take a shot at the end of the game, Sanchez might be that guy. He always seems to be calm at the end of games, and it was huge in this game.
Tevin Svihovec got a good look on the other end but couldn't put the shot down, giving the Bears their third straight defeat, and meaning that if they want to have a chance at a conference title, they need to win in Ogden on Saturday night.
For the Bengals, the win moves them to 5-6, which puts them in a tie for both 7th and 10th, and one game behind 3rd. It's a wacky year in the Big Sky.
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Showing posts with label Tomas Sanchez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tomas Sanchez. Show all posts
Friday, February 7, 2014
Monday, November 18, 2013
Idaho State Upsets San Francsico
These aren't the Idaho State Bengals of last season. Last year, it took the Bengals until January to score at least 60 points against a Division I opponent. On Monday night, they broke the 90 point mark - with a 93-90 OT victory over San Francisco.
In the process, the Bengals got career high totals from Chris Hansen (33 points) and Tomas Sanchez (24 points), while Andre Hatchett (20) tied a career high. Hansen was 5/11 from downtown, while Sanchez and Hatchett combined to make 21 free throws. It was the best offensive effort we've seen from ISU in a long while.
As well as they played, it almost ended in a disappointing manner. With the score tied at 90 with 24.5 seconds left, the Bengals had the ball with the chance to take the final shot. Sanchez was handling the ball up top, but seemed to panic a little bit when he got closer to a five second call. He fired a shot early, and then committed a foul on the putback, sending the Dons to the line. However, USF missed the front end, and Ayikaburo Preh swatted their putback attempt. Sanchez got the ball, and amazingly he got fouled with 2.2 seconds left. He calmly knocked down both freebies, and USF was unable to score. It was a big Bengals win.
ISU played lots of zone defense, as you can probably tell by the fact that the Dons fired 46 threes (making 17 of them). Often, it looked like USF was content to simply pass the ball around the perimeter and take a three. They hit a lot of them and got a lot of good looks, but they did ISU a favor by not trying to penetrate the zone.
By every measure, the Dons were favored to win this game. At times in OT, it looked like they had it under control. But ISU kept at it, and kept attacking. They were the aggressor, and it showed, as they took 35 FT attempts to 12 for USF. They got rewarded with a great road victory over a solid WCC team. It's the biggest sign yet that Bill Evans is on the verge of doing nice things with this program.
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In the process, the Bengals got career high totals from Chris Hansen (33 points) and Tomas Sanchez (24 points), while Andre Hatchett (20) tied a career high. Hansen was 5/11 from downtown, while Sanchez and Hatchett combined to make 21 free throws. It was the best offensive effort we've seen from ISU in a long while.
As well as they played, it almost ended in a disappointing manner. With the score tied at 90 with 24.5 seconds left, the Bengals had the ball with the chance to take the final shot. Sanchez was handling the ball up top, but seemed to panic a little bit when he got closer to a five second call. He fired a shot early, and then committed a foul on the putback, sending the Dons to the line. However, USF missed the front end, and Ayikaburo Preh swatted their putback attempt. Sanchez got the ball, and amazingly he got fouled with 2.2 seconds left. He calmly knocked down both freebies, and USF was unable to score. It was a big Bengals win.
ISU played lots of zone defense, as you can probably tell by the fact that the Dons fired 46 threes (making 17 of them). Often, it looked like USF was content to simply pass the ball around the perimeter and take a three. They hit a lot of them and got a lot of good looks, but they did ISU a favor by not trying to penetrate the zone.
By every measure, the Dons were favored to win this game. At times in OT, it looked like they had it under control. But ISU kept at it, and kept attacking. They were the aggressor, and it showed, as they took 35 FT attempts to 12 for USF. They got rewarded with a great road victory over a solid WCC team. It's the biggest sign yet that Bill Evans is on the verge of doing nice things with this program.
Follow me on Twitter @bigskybball
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Big Sky's Most Under Appreciated Players
- Jordan Richardson (Weber State) - After the departure of Damian Lillard to the NBA, much of the Weber State PG talk was about Gelaun Wheelwright, the talented sophomore. But quietly, Richardson has been excellent. He is making 49% of his threes, and leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio. Not bad.
- Jayson Cheesman (Southern Utah) - He has been a bad offensive player, shooting just 39% despite taking most of his shots near the rim. But he has excelled defensively and rebounding the basketball. He is fourth in the conference in defensive rebounding percentage, and first in block percentage (as well as top 25 in the country in that stat). He has had a nice debut season for Nick Robinson.
- Jordan Gregory (Montana) - He started at the beginning of the year, and now is a valuable bench player for the Grizzlies. He is showing signs of being a really good offensive player, knocking down outside shots and showing good strength with his ability to drive the basketball. He has work to go as a distributor, but he should slide into the starting spot next year and be a really good player.
- Lateef McMullan (Portland State) - Last season he was a bit of a chucker offensively, making just 31% from down. His TO rate was higher than his assist rate, and he was just an overall inefficient player. This year, he has been huge for the Vikings and showed vast improvement. He is up to 40% on threes, much better inside the arc, and his assist/turnover ratio is a lot better. If he keeps it up, it's not a stretch that he could get all-conference mentions.
- Max Jacobsen (Northern Arizona) - NAU is thin upfront, but Jacobsen has been a very pleasant surprise. He is scoring well in the post, and making over 60% of his shots. He is not a great rebounder, but has been respectable, especially on the offensive glass. One shudders to think of the NAU offensive post game without him this year.
- Tomas Sanchez (Idaho State) - Sanchez has become ISU's best player, with a ton of versatility and ability to help the team in a multitude of ways. He is the team's best outside shooter, leads the team in assists and steals, and is second on the team in rebounding. He hit the game-winner last week against Sacramento State. He is a ton of fun to watch.
Anyone else you think deserves more due?
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Thursday, January 17, 2013
Idaho State Beats Sacramento State on Late Tomas Sanchez Bucket
With Sacramento State coming in to Pocatello to play Idaho State, most everyone could have expected a close, competitive game. That is exactly what happened.
Sacramento State led most of the way, but it was Idaho State making the plays down the stretch to win, 60-59. Let's set the stage.
It was 57-56 Hornets, with the ball and about 50 seconds on the clock. They had a great possession, stalling for much of it before getting the ball into Dylan Garrity's hands late. He showed great poise, passing the ball off to John Dickson for an open lay-in. Hornets lead 59-56, 19.8 seconds left.
After that, a couple coaching decisions shaped the rest of the game. The first was a good decision by Bill Evans. Instead of trying the three, ISU recognized that there was enough time to get a quick two and foul. So, Tomas Sanchez took the ball hard to the rim and scored with 11.8 seconds left, cutting the lead to one.
On the Hornets inbound (which came after a timeout), it was Joe Eberhard in bounding the ball, eventually getting it to Julian Demalleville. This is curious because Eberhard is an 80% free throw shooter on the year, while Demalleville had been 10/16 from the line in his career. You have to get the ball to your best free throw shooters in that situation.
You know what happens next. Demalleville missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Sanchez got the ball, took it the length of the court, and scored on a driving bucket with 2.5 seconds left. Dylan Garrity missed a last second heave (apparently Brian Katz was upset because he thought there should have been a foul called, but I agree with a no-call), and the Bengals win 60-59.
Great coaching from ISU, poor coaching down the stretch from Sac State, big time plays by Tomas Sanchez, and suddenly both teams are 3-4. With the way things are going right now in the conference, that type of 20 second stretch could be the difference between making or missing the Big Sky tournament.
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Sacramento State led most of the way, but it was Idaho State making the plays down the stretch to win, 60-59. Let's set the stage.
It was 57-56 Hornets, with the ball and about 50 seconds on the clock. They had a great possession, stalling for much of it before getting the ball into Dylan Garrity's hands late. He showed great poise, passing the ball off to John Dickson for an open lay-in. Hornets lead 59-56, 19.8 seconds left.
After that, a couple coaching decisions shaped the rest of the game. The first was a good decision by Bill Evans. Instead of trying the three, ISU recognized that there was enough time to get a quick two and foul. So, Tomas Sanchez took the ball hard to the rim and scored with 11.8 seconds left, cutting the lead to one.
On the Hornets inbound (which came after a timeout), it was Joe Eberhard in bounding the ball, eventually getting it to Julian Demalleville. This is curious because Eberhard is an 80% free throw shooter on the year, while Demalleville had been 10/16 from the line in his career. You have to get the ball to your best free throw shooters in that situation.
You know what happens next. Demalleville missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Sanchez got the ball, took it the length of the court, and scored on a driving bucket with 2.5 seconds left. Dylan Garrity missed a last second heave (apparently Brian Katz was upset because he thought there should have been a foul called, but I agree with a no-call), and the Bengals win 60-59.
Great coaching from ISU, poor coaching down the stretch from Sac State, big time plays by Tomas Sanchez, and suddenly both teams are 3-4. With the way things are going right now in the conference, that type of 20 second stretch could be the difference between making or missing the Big Sky tournament.
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Monday, January 14, 2013
Weber State Improves to 6-0 in Big Sky Play
Idaho State kept things tight for a half, but eventually Weber State's powerful and varied offensive personnel was too much for the Bengals. WSU erupted for 42 second half points, shooting 60% from downtown in the second half, to win 70-54 and move to 6-0 in Big Sky play.
Things did not start out pretty for the Wildcats. They had 10 turnovers in the first half, and struggled with Idaho State's zone. The Bengals were controlling the tempo, and WSU seemed a bit lost, and there was a lot of cross court lobs coming from them. They simply didn't look comfortable against the zone, and that is something they will have to fix.
However, they got a big boost in the second half from senior Scott Bamforth, who scored all 17 of his points in the second frame. Davion Berry also finished in double figures with 16 on the night, and he was big in the first half. Also key in the first half was Royce Williams, who had 9 points on 4/4 shooting in 9 minutes. Williams is a guy that plays 12 minutes a night for the Wildcats... and I am convinced he could start at least five Big Sky teams. That is how deep Weber State is right now.
The Bengals drop to 2-4 in Big Sky play, and there is no magic similar to last year - when they knocked off then undefeated Weber State on a last second three ball. ISU got a nice night from Chris Hansen, who finished with 15 points and showed some nice offensive versatility in the first half, but it wasn't enough. Melvin Morgan was 2/10 from the field for eight points, and when he has those types of games, it's very difficult for ISU to win. That is especially true when ISU is playing without Tomas Sanchez (out due to injury), who is their best player right now.
Highlights of the game can be found here.
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Things did not start out pretty for the Wildcats. They had 10 turnovers in the first half, and struggled with Idaho State's zone. The Bengals were controlling the tempo, and WSU seemed a bit lost, and there was a lot of cross court lobs coming from them. They simply didn't look comfortable against the zone, and that is something they will have to fix.
However, they got a big boost in the second half from senior Scott Bamforth, who scored all 17 of his points in the second frame. Davion Berry also finished in double figures with 16 on the night, and he was big in the first half. Also key in the first half was Royce Williams, who had 9 points on 4/4 shooting in 9 minutes. Williams is a guy that plays 12 minutes a night for the Wildcats... and I am convinced he could start at least five Big Sky teams. That is how deep Weber State is right now.
The Bengals drop to 2-4 in Big Sky play, and there is no magic similar to last year - when they knocked off then undefeated Weber State on a last second three ball. ISU got a nice night from Chris Hansen, who finished with 15 points and showed some nice offensive versatility in the first half, but it wasn't enough. Melvin Morgan was 2/10 from the field for eight points, and when he has those types of games, it's very difficult for ISU to win. That is especially true when ISU is playing without Tomas Sanchez (out due to injury), who is their best player right now.
Highlights of the game can be found here.
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Friday, December 14, 2012
North Dakota Wins; Idaho State Needs Offensive Answers
There were two Big Sky games on Thursday night, and the losing teams of the two games combined to score 85 points.
First, North Dakota took down Presentation College by the score of 74-32. Just a few stats, since gaudy numbers are to be expected in a game like this.
At the half, the score was 28-10, as Presentation was just 4/18 from the field. UND shot 55% from the floor for the game, led by Alonzo Traylor scoring 17 points on 8/8 shooting. Amazingly, there were only 13 fouls called in the game, and Presentation was 0/2 from the stripe. From that standpoint, that was about as clean of a game as you could get.
One area of concern for UND continues to be the turnovers of Jamal Webb. He committed six of them in this game, and the starting guard now averages 4.6 giveaways per game.
Now, the important thing.... who is Presentation College? Their nickname is the Saints, and they are now 4-6 on the year with losses to teams like Minnesota-Morris, Trinity Bible College, Valley City State, and Oglala Lakota College. It appears they compete in the D3 ranks. In other words, this probably won't do wonders for UND's RPI, but it is a win.
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In the other game of the night, Idaho State went to play Cal State Fullerton and lost by a score of 66-53. The loss drops them to 1-7 on the year.
As has been the case all year, their struggles were mostly with putting the ball in the basket. They shot 38%, including 4/14 from downtown. Tomas Sanchez was their only real threat, as he scored 17 points on 6/10 shooting. He also had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Apart from Sanchez and Andre Hatchett, the rest of the team shot 7/27 from the floor. Starting PG Melvin Morgan was 1/9 from the floor, with one assist to three turnovers. Guard Chris Hansen was supposed to provide long-range shooting, but he is just 16/44 from downtown this year. The team as a whole is shooting 27% from three-pointers on the young season. If they are going to be more than a bottom Big Sky team, that number has to improve.
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First, North Dakota took down Presentation College by the score of 74-32. Just a few stats, since gaudy numbers are to be expected in a game like this.
At the half, the score was 28-10, as Presentation was just 4/18 from the field. UND shot 55% from the floor for the game, led by Alonzo Traylor scoring 17 points on 8/8 shooting. Amazingly, there were only 13 fouls called in the game, and Presentation was 0/2 from the stripe. From that standpoint, that was about as clean of a game as you could get.
One area of concern for UND continues to be the turnovers of Jamal Webb. He committed six of them in this game, and the starting guard now averages 4.6 giveaways per game.
Now, the important thing.... who is Presentation College? Their nickname is the Saints, and they are now 4-6 on the year with losses to teams like Minnesota-Morris, Trinity Bible College, Valley City State, and Oglala Lakota College. It appears they compete in the D3 ranks. In other words, this probably won't do wonders for UND's RPI, but it is a win.
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In the other game of the night, Idaho State went to play Cal State Fullerton and lost by a score of 66-53. The loss drops them to 1-7 on the year.
As has been the case all year, their struggles were mostly with putting the ball in the basket. They shot 38%, including 4/14 from downtown. Tomas Sanchez was their only real threat, as he scored 17 points on 6/10 shooting. He also had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Apart from Sanchez and Andre Hatchett, the rest of the team shot 7/27 from the floor. Starting PG Melvin Morgan was 1/9 from the floor, with one assist to three turnovers. Guard Chris Hansen was supposed to provide long-range shooting, but he is just 16/44 from downtown this year. The team as a whole is shooting 27% from three-pointers on the young season. If they are going to be more than a bottom Big Sky team, that number has to improve.
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Friday, November 30, 2012
Idaho State Gets Their First Win
They have been close on a couple of occasions, but on Thursday night Bill Evans finally got his first win at Idaho State. Montana Western came to Pocatello, and the Bengals pulled out a 70-52 victory.
The game was never in doubt, which is a good sign with the quality of the opponent. Montana Western scored the opening bucket, but ISU led the rest of the way.
The Bengals were led by their newcomers. Sophomore guard Chris Hansen had 20 points (he could lead the conference in three-point field goals), while Tomas Sanchez had 17 points.
They also won with stifling defense, allowing just 33% shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. The Bengals have still not allowed an opponent to score 60 points in a game this season. If they are successful this year, that type of defense is what will lead them.
EDIT: Jason Enes of the Idaho State Journal has pointed out a mistake I have made. ISU allowed 60 points in a game against Wright State this year. What I should have said was that they have not allowed more than 60 points in a game this year.
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The game was never in doubt, which is a good sign with the quality of the opponent. Montana Western scored the opening bucket, but ISU led the rest of the way.
The Bengals were led by their newcomers. Sophomore guard Chris Hansen had 20 points (he could lead the conference in three-point field goals), while Tomas Sanchez had 17 points.
They also won with stifling defense, allowing just 33% shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. The Bengals have still not allowed an opponent to score 60 points in a game this season. If they are successful this year, that type of defense is what will lead them.
EDIT: Jason Enes of the Idaho State Journal has pointed out a mistake I have made. ISU allowed 60 points in a game against Wright State this year. What I should have said was that they have not allowed more than 60 points in a game this year.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Idaho State Signs Tomas Sanchez
According to Twitter, Idaho State has signed JUCO guard Tomas Sanchez of Fresno City College.
Also need to mention that Sanchez was a teammate of Marcus Hall, a Portland State recruit.
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Idaho St. signs Shoreline native 6'3 G Tomas Sanchez Co-MVP of CVC, 1st Team All State for Fresno City College (CA) per @Tomas206Hoop247For a great profile on him, check out NorCal Basketball back on January 12th.
Maybe he is on the appropriate recruiting radars, maybe not, but some coaches are going to rue the day they passed on participating in the Tomas Sanchez sweepstakes.He can play both guard spots, is an excellent passer, and can hit from long-distance. He was co-MVP of the Central Valley Conference, and first-team All-State for a very successful program. He looks like a guy that should be able to step into the lineup immediately for ISU and be one of the best newcomers in the conference.
Also need to mention that Sanchez was a teammate of Marcus Hall, a Portland State recruit.
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