Magot Has Career Night In Loss to Utah State

 
POCATELLO, Idaho- Ajak Magot had a career night for the second straight game but it wasn't enough as Utah State beat Idaho State 69-56 on Friday at Spectrum in Logan, Utah. The Bengals dropped to 3-7 while Utah State improved to 6-4.

Magot led the Bengals in scoring with 12 points and nine rebounds. Jeffrey Solarin had 11 points and 10 rebounds. Nnamdi Ezenwa had nine points and five rebounds.

"Ajak and Nnamdi played great attacking the boards," Solarin said. "We had an attack mentality on the rebounding end tonight."

ISU shot 21-for-60 from the field (35 percent) and made only one 3-pointer on 15 attempts. The Bengals had 45 rebounds for the second straight game but did commit 16 turnovers. The Bengals had 23 offensive rebounds.

"I feel like we attacked the offensive glass really well," Solarin said. "We executed fairly well. We just didn't get enough stops and they hit a lot of open shots that we didn't contest. Those are things we can't allow to happen."

Utah State shot 43.8 percent from the field (21-for-48) and made eight 3-pointers on 21 attempts. USU had only 27 rebounds and 13 turnovers.

Idaho State never led in the game, falling behind early in the first half by 11 at 19-8 nine minutes in. The Bengals went on a run to cut it to 30-24 at halftime and 35-34 four minutes into the second half.

After a missed 3-pointer on USU's ensuing possession, the Bengals had an attempt to take their first lead of the game but a turnover proved costly as Utah State scored the next seven points to lead 42-34. Utah State led by as many as 15 points in the second half.

Idaho State closes out play in Logan at the World Vision Classic at Bakersfield at 5:30 p.m.