POCATELLO, Idaho- After a close first 20 minutes of play, the Boise State men's basketball team pulled away from Idaho State in the second half, winning 82-59 on Sunday afternoon at Taco Bell Arena.
ISU trailed 37-33 at halftime before being outscored 45-26 in the final 20 minutes.
Ethan Telfair had 19 points.
Novak Topalovic had 10 points and six rebounds and
Robert Jones III had 10 points and three boards.
ISU shot 39 percent from the field while BSU shot 51.7 percent. The Bengals were out rebounded 41-24 and had only six assists. ISU had only seven turnovers while Boise State had 11.
ISU led 11-10 on a
Brandon Boyd 3-pointer seven minutes into the game. Idaho State's biggest lead of the first half and game was 16-13 thanks to a 3-pointer by Telfair with 10:16 to play in the half. Then with ISU clinging to an 18-17 lead, BSU went on a 9-0 run to lead 26-18 with 6:54 to play until halftime.
"I thought Geno (Luzcando) had the right kind of focus," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "He was into the game and played hard. Novak (Topalovic) was into the game and Robert Jones played well in the first half."
ISU then tied the game at 27 three minutes later and would take a 30-29 lead with 2:21 left in the half. Boise State would go into halftime leading 37-33.
The Broncos outscored ISU 22-6 in the first eight minutes of the second half to lead 59-39. Boise State's biggest lead of the game would be 30 points at 82-52.
"We missed too many defensive assignments," Evans said. "That's the deal. Defensively we are making too many mistakes and offensively we are not very good against better teams."
Idaho State plays at BYU on Tuesday, Dec. 20. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. The Bengals then have time off for Christmas before starting Big Sky Conference play Dec. 29 at Montana. ISU then plays Dec. 31 at Montana State.
