While Idaho State’s postseason seeding is nearly decided, most of its Big Sky Conference counterparts’ fates are up in the air.

The Bengals (7-20, 4-14) are locked into the No. 10 or 11 seed for next week’s conference tournament, but can play a role in rearranging the rest of the standings in their final regular-season games Thursday at Eastern Washington and Saturday at Idaho.

ISU is currently one game ahead of Idaho for 11th place and can clinch the No. 10 seed Thursday with a win or an Idaho loss.

There’s a chance, though, that the Bengals and Vandals play Saturday with the No. 10 seed up for grabs.

THREE BYES DECIDED

Montana (14-4 Big Sky), Eastern Washington (14-4) and Northern Colorado (13-5) have locked up three of the five first-round tournament byes. The three teams are separated by one game and can all finish anywhere from first to third in the standings.

Portland State (10-8) and Northern Arizona (10-9) control their own destinies for the final two byes in fourth and fifth place, respectively, while Montana State (9-9) and Southern Utah (8-10) loom closely behind.

Southern Utah plays Montana State and Montana, Northern Colorado plays Montana and Montana State, and Northern Arizona plays Portland State this week in games that could drastically impact tournament seeding.

BENGALS SNAP LONG LOSING STREAK

ISU ended its 12-game losing streak Monday, beating Weber State 78-70 in Ogden, Utah.

The win was ISU’s first since Jan. 11 and gave the Bengals a regular-season split with the Wildcats for the third year in a row.

It also saved the Bengals from making the wrong kind of history.

Their 12-game losing streak tied the team record for consecutive losses in a season, and two more losses would have tied the all-time record for longest overall losing streak.

ISU lost 14 games in a row between the end of the 2016-17 season and the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign.

“I haven’t been trying to focus on any kind of losing streak or anything like that,” ISU coach Ryan Looney said in a postgame radio interview. “It’s been hard. You hear all the things people are saying. But at the end of the day, it’s Year 1 as we’re trying to build a program. We’re just trying to stay the course with what we believe in and getting our players to have the same mindset.”

ISU shot 60.7% in the first half and 50% for the game, never trailed, and led by 14 points four different times.

The Bengals also went 15 for 17 at the free-throw line for a season-best 88.2%.

Malik Porter scored a team-high 21 points, bringing his season average to 11.1 points per game. The 6-foot-5 junior is ISU’s leading scorer in conference play (12.6 ppg) and has been particularly effective over the past 12 games, reaching double figures 10 times for an average of 15.9 ppg.

“We went to him early in the second half,” Looney said. “Chidi (Udengwu) had a couple defensive possessions where he missed block-outs, so we immediately just went to Malik and I thought he played exceptional in the final 20 minutes.”

ISU also committed eight turnovers in the win, well below its season average of 14 per game.

“I thought our group was more poised throughout the game than we had been since Nov. 7 (in an 89-79 win at Air Force),” Looney said.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES, VANDALS

Eastern Washington (21-8, 14-4) enters Thursday’s matchup riding a five-game winning streak and has only lost three times since falling to Idaho State, 75-69, in Pocatello on Dec. 30.

The Eagles lead the Big Sky in scoring offense (80.4 ppg) and shoot a high volume of 3-pointers at a 34.6% clip. EWU’s 767 attempted 3s rank second in the Big Sky behind Northern Colorado’s 782.

Jacob Davison (18.1) and Mason Peatling (17.4) are fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Big Sky in scoring, while Peatling (9.1) is second in rebounds per game, behind teammate Kim Aiken (9.8).

Idaho (7-22, 3-15 Big Sky) has lost five games in a row, its last win coming Feb. 12 against Eastern Washington.

The Vandals’ biggest strengths are on defense, ranking sixth in the Big Sky in 3-point defense (33.1%) and fourth in defensive rebounds per game (25.8).

Idaho struggles on offense, though, ranking 10th in the league in scoring (64.6 ppg) and field-goal shooting (43.7%). Trevon Allen is the Big Sky’s second-leading scorer at 20.3 ppg, but no other everyday player averages more than 8.1 ppg.

ISU won the first matchup this season, 62-60 in Pocatello on Dec. 28.