PHOTO GALLERY
POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team dropped a 77-61 home contest to North Dakota on Thursday night in Reed Gym.
Brandon Boyd scored 19 points on 6-9 shooting in 30 minutes of play.
Novak Topalovic had 12 points and six rebounds and
Ethan Telfair added 11 points and six rebounds.
Robert Jones III had eight points.
Idaho State was held to 37.3 percent shooting while UND shot 46.9 percent. The Bengals were out rebounded 35-31 and were forced into 18 turnovers.
"We just didn't play very well," Idaho State coach
Bill Evans said. "There is no way to sugar coat it. If you look for the silver lining I thought
Brandon Boyd played well and Novak played good. We weren't very good defensively and we weren't very good offensively. So what else is there? If you are not good offensively and not good defensively that means you didn't play good."
Idaho State held an early 18-16 lead with 8:31 left in the first half after two free throws by
Novak Topalovic.
North Dakota then went on a 19-6 run to take a 35-24 lead with 2:01 left until halftime after a layup by Corey Baldwin. UND led 37-26 with 56 seconds remaining in the period when ISU scored seven straight points to cut its deficit to 37-33 thanks to a layup by Boyd and two technical fouls called on the North Dakota bench.
The Fighting Hawks led 40-33 at halftime. Idaho State opened the second half cutting UND lead to 44-41 with 15:50 left after a layup by Topalovic. North Dakota then went on a 16-4 run to take a 60-45 lead with 11:29 left in the game. Idaho State got no closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
"I knew North Dakota was a very good team and that they would be a challenge for us," Evans said. "They play well together. Their guard play is really good. If you get man to man they drive you to death and if you get in a zone they shoot you out of it.
Idaho State hosts Northern Colorado on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.
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