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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost 89-64 to North Dakota on Saturday afternoon in Grand Fork, North Dakota.
The Bengals led 26-11 early in the game and 36-35 at halftime but UND opened the second half on a 10-0 run and never looked back.
"They settled down as time went on," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said on North Dakota. "They shot the heck out of the ball. Good teams find ways to make baskets and they made a bunch of them. North Dakota is one of the top four teams in the league."
North Dakota shot 55 percent for the game and hit 13 3-pointers on 22 attempts. ISU shot 42 percent but did hit eight 3-pointers on 16 attempts.
Idaho State was out rebounded 36-32. The Bengals had 15 turnovers to 14 for the Fighting Hawks and 13 assists to 17 by North Dakota.
Geno Luzcando led the Bengal scoring with 18 points. He was 4-5 from the three-point line. He had seven rebounds and six steals.
Ethan Telfair had 15 points and seven assists and
Novak Topalovic had a career-high 18 points and six rebounds. He was 8-10 from the field.
Idaho State jumped out to a 26-11 lead nine minutes into the game after a 3-pointer by Luzcando. The Fighting Hawks then went on a 22-6 run to take a 33-32 lead before ISU went into the half leading 36-35.
North Dakota opened the second half on a 10-0 run to lead 45-36 with 16:49 to play in the game. ISU cut its deficit to four at 51-47 with 13:17 to play and trailed 59-51 three minutes later. North Dakota then outscored ISU 23-7 to take an 82-58 lead with 4:06 remaining. North Dakota's biggest lead of the game was 26 points.
North Dakota was 10-14 from the three-point line in the second half.
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Idaho State returns home to finish the January 7 contest vs. Weber State. The game starts at 7 p.m. and will begin with Weber State leading 13-2 with 15:02 to play in the first half.
"We have to keep our heads up and understand we are a good team," Evans said. "We had a good road win at Northern Colorado and led one of the top teams in the conference on their court."
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