Bliznyuk’s big 40-point performance carries Eastern Washington over Hornets
Thomas Frey - The State Hornet
Sacramento State senior forward Justin Strings, middle, prepares to defend Eastern Washington senior guard Bogdan Bliznyuk, left, in the second half of a 74-54 loss Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Nest. Strings finished the game with 16 points, while Bliznyuk posted a season-high 40 points on 15-of-18 shooting from the field.
After limping through January with a 2-5 record, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team just couldn’t keep up with Eastern Washington senior guard Bogdan Bliznyuk Thursday night at the Nest.
Bliznyuk — who earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors for the second time this season on Jan. 29 — blitzed the Hornets with a season-high 40 points (15-18 from the field) in a 74-54 win. He also added seven rebounds and five assists while shooting 4-4 at the 3-point line after only mustering two points against Sac State on Jan. 6.
“Last game, we really keyed in on him and forced other dudes to beat us,” Sac State senior forward Justin Strings said after posting 16 points on the scoreboard. “Today, we just said that we were going to play him straight up, but I think we came out with a lack of aggression that we needed to beat them. They’re a really good team and they’ve got a lot of good players surrounding Bogdan.”
Sac State (6-16, 3-6 Big Sky) fell behind early as Bliznyuk connected on two 3-pointers to help bring the Eagles’ lead to 9-0 with just under two minutes played in the game. Eastern Washington (12-11, 7-3 Big Sky) eventually extended its advantage to 35-19 after a 3-pointer from Bliznyuk with 1:40 left in the first half.
“Here’s the deal, you’d like to take one thing away or the other,” Sac State coach Brian Katz said. “Either take (Bliznyuk) away or take the 3-pointers away, (well) we didn’t get any of it. They got everything tonight.
“They had him with 40 and had 10 three’s — that’s a bad combination for us.”
EWU senior guard Bogdan Bliznyuk can't convert against the defense of Sac State freshman forward Bryce Fowler. Fowler then beats the buzzer with this 3-pointer shown below. Hornets still trail 40-24 at halftime. @SH_Sports pic.twitter.com/U36CikjIPq
— Angel 👨🏽💻 (@angelguerrerooo) February 2, 2018
The Hornets, which only shot 41 percent from the field and 13 percent from the 3-point line, then brought the game within seven points (46-39) after sophomore guard Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa stole the ball and scored his first and only points with 12:34 remaining in the game.
The two teams then went back and forth before the Eagles, which shot 57 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc, put Sac State away with a 9-0 run in a span of under two minutes to take a 63-45 lead with 7:46 left on the clock.
“We just had some miscommunications on defense as well as guys just not being aggressive,” Strings said. “Again, I think we just didn’t set a good tone from the start of the game.
“They clearly were the aggressor, and they did a lot of things that put them in good positions and we didn’t take it away from them.”
Sac State — which is now 5-3 at home this season — will next host Idaho at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at the Nest.
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