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POCATELLO, Idaho- Despite a career-night from
Novak Topalovic, the Idaho State men's basketball dropped an 82-73 contest at Utah Valley University on Wednesday night in front of a crowd of 6,117 at the UCCU Center.
The Bengals led 50-44 with 14:25 left in the game and 56-51 lead with 10:36 to play following a Topalovic layup. Utah Valley then went on a 19-6 run to take a 70-62 lead with 5:25 remaining. The Wolverines maintained a six point lead or greater for the final five minutes to put the game away.
Ethan Telfair had 25 points and five assists.
Geno Luzcando had 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds and Topalovic finished with a career-best 15 points and 16 rebounds.
"Those two guys rebounded the ball really well," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "Geno was terrific tonight."
ISU shot 39 percent from the field while UVU shot 44 percent. The Bengals were 5-18 from the three-point line while Utah Valley was 11-28. ISU made on 12 free throws on 27 attempts while UVU was 17-23 from the line.
Both teams grabbed 45 rebounds while game had 11 ties and 10 lead changes.
"We made too many defensive mistakes," Evans said. "That killed us. We didn't guard people we were supposed to guard the right way."
Utah Valley led 37-35 at the half. Topalovic had 12 of his rebounds in the first half while Telfair had 10 points. Idaho State's biggest lead was six points at two different occasions in the second half.
Idaho State plays at Utah State on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.
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