| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1973–74 |
| Team: | Idaho State Bengals |
| Conference: | Big Sky Conference |
| Short Conf: | Big Sky |
| Record: | 20–8 |
| Conf Record: | 11–3 |
| Hc Year: | 3rd |
| Champion: | Big Sky Champions |
The 1973–74 Idaho State Bengals men's basketball team represented Idaho State University during the 1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.
The Bengals were led by third-year head coach Jim Killingsworth and played their home games on campus at the ISU Minidome in Pocatello. They finished the regular season at with a record in the Big Sky Conference, as did the Montana Grizzlies, and the teams split their season series.[1] [2]
With two years until the conference tournament was introduced, the Big Sky title was decided with an unscheduled one-game playoff at Missoula on Tuesday night. A coin flip eleven days earlier determined the host.[3] Before a record crowd at Dahlberg Arena, the visiting Bengals won 60–57 and advanced to the 25-team NCAA tournament, their first appearance in
ISU hosted the first round (subregional) of the West regional, and met #17 New Mexico in the nightcap on Saturday night.[4] [5] Lobos, WAC champions, won by eight to end the Bengals' season
Senior forward Jim Anderson was named to the all-conference team; senior center Dan Spindler and junior guard Kevin Hoyt were honorable mention.[6] [7]
Idaho State returned to the NCAA tournament three years later and advanced to the Elite Eight, which remains the best-ever showing for a Big Sky team.
|-!colspan=9 style=| Big Sky Playoff|-!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament