POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team shot 53 percent from the field but Southern Utah made 13 3-pointers on 23 attempts to earn the 71-67 road win at ICCU Court in Holt Arena. SUU improved to 4-8 in Big Sky Conference play while ISU dropped to 6-19 and 3-10 in league.
Chris Hansen led the Bengal offense with 21 points.
Jeffrey Solarin had 16 points and eight rebounds while
Ben Wilson had 12 points and five assists.
ISU shot 61.9 percent from the field in the second half. SUU out rebounded the Bengals 29-25 and came up with 11 offensive rebounds. The T-Birds shot 48.1 percent from the field for the game while dishing out 16 assists.
"We didn't defend well enough," Wilson said. "They have some great shooters and their coach put them in positions to score the ball. We didn't defend it to our ability which is the most disappointing thing. We didn't defend the arc and to their credit they shot the ball really well."
Both teams exchanged leads early in the game. Idaho State led 24-23 with 6:38 left in the first half. Southern Utah then closed out the half on a 14-6 run to lead 37-30 at the break. SUU hit eight first-half 3-pointers on 13 attempts.
Southern Utah led by as many as nine points at 41-32 with 16:57 left in the game. ISU trailed the entire second half but did cut the Thunderbird deficit to 62-61 with 3:09 left in the game after two free throws by Hansen.
The Bengals trailed by two twice in the final minute but the T-Bird converted on its offensive opportunities down the stretch.
"It is a game of defense," Wilson said. "If you can't get stops you have to outscore them and we didn't do that tonight."
 Idaho State plays at Montana on Feb. 19 and at Montana State on Feb. 21.
We Are Your Bengals
Â
