Broncos look to bounce back against Bengals

Boise State men's basketball coach Greg Graham said his team learned a lot from its 82-52 loss at Siena on Monday night.

"We watched the film and took some things out of it," Graham said. "Hopefully we learn something. We don't want to forget about that game, but we want to put it behind us. That's as good of a team as we'll face all year."

The Broncos (1-1) get a shot to bounce back Saturday at Taco Bell Arena against Idaho State (1-1). It's the first of five consecutive home games for BSU.

At Siena, the Broncos struggled mightily against an in-your-face, man-to-man defense. The Bengals may pose a different challenge - they played a 2-3 zone almost exclusively in a 67-64 overtime loss at Hawaii.

"We've just got to attack it," Graham said of the zone, adding that ISU also has played man-to-man defense in the past.

By attack it, the seventh-year head coach doesn't mean launch 3-pointers over it. BSU has made only 7-of-33 treys this season (21.2 percent). ISU has allowed its opponents to make only 9-of-34 from 3-point range (26.4 percent).

"We pretty much have to get into the middle of it, get into heart of the zone," BSU point guard Anthony Thomas said. "We've got to work inside out and get easy shots."

BSU's top three scorers are post players -Mark Sanchez (17.5 points), Ike Okoye (10.0) and Kurt Cunningham (9.5) - which is why Graham said getting the ball inside is important.

"We have to make sure we get our touches inside because I think our big guys can score," Graham said. "The other thing that's nice with this group is our big guys can really pass the basketball. We've got to make sure we take advantag of that."

Thomas was one of a handful of BSU players who were in the arena shooting Wednesday on a scheduled day off.

"You still want to touch the basketball and get some shots up," Thomas said. "We didn't shoot well at Siena - it's always good to get more practice in. A lot of us came in to get a good feel and get ready for Saturday."

Idaho State is led by forward Demetrius Monroe, who averages 15.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game. Guard Amorrow Morgan is the Bengals' leading scorer at 19.0 points per game.

Nick Jezierny: 377-6420