Box Score
POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost to New Mexico, 65-41, on Wednesday evening at The Pit, at the University of New Mexico, in front of a crowd of 13,142 fans. Idaho State fell to 1-5 while the Lobos, the preseason favorites to win the Mountain West Conference, improved to 5-2.
“I'd put New Mexico up as one of the top five teams I have played against since coming to Idaho State,” Bengal coach Joe O'Brien said. “This team is long, athletic and deep. This is the best team we will play this year. They are too big and two athletic.”
Melvin Morgan led the Bengals with 23 points in 37 minutes of play. This was Morgan's third straight game of scoring 20 points or more as he was 8-for-19 from the field and 7-for-12 from the 3-point line. He was the only Bengal in double figures.
Freshman
Garrett Swanson played 25 minutes and had five rebounds and five points.
The Bengals shot 29.6 percent from the field while New Mexico shot 41.4 percent from the floor. The Lobos out rebounded Idaho State 51-28 and Idaho State had 17 turnovers to New Mexico's 15. New Mexico was averaging eight 3-pointers a game but finished the contest hitting 5-for-23.
“We defended the initial shot well it was just the second shot that killed us,” O'Brien said. “We also could never find a rhythm offensively.”
ISU had early leads at 5-2 three minutes into the game and then 17-16 with 9:17 left until halftime. New Mexico then went on a 19-5 run to take a 35-22 lead at the break. New Mexico led by as many as 24 points in the second half.
Idaho State returns home on Saturday, Dec. 3 for a 7 p.m. contest against North Dakota in Holt Arena. All seats behind the West basket are $8 and if fans become a fan of the official Idaho State Athletics Facebook page they can print off a coupon voucher for $6 tickets. It is one coupon per individual.
