PHOTO GALLERY
POCATELLO, Idaho-Â
The Idaho State men's basketball team fell to Weber State University 77-70 Saturday evening in Holt Arena in front of a season-high crowd of 2,584.
Idaho State (9-10, 4-4) was led by a career-high performance from sophomore guard
Jared Stutzman who scored 31 points in 38 minutes of playing time. Stutzman was 11-16 from the field and hit six of 10 3-pointers.
Brandon Boyd contributed another 13 points as well as three assists and one steal.
Geno Luzcando added nine points. Novac Topalovic landed nine rebounds while Stutzman had six.
Weber State (13-7, 6-2) was led by Jerrick Harding's 22 points.
Idaho State shot 41.4 percent from the field while the Wildcats shot 47.3 percent. The Bengals were out rebounded 36-29. ISU was 11-25 from the three-point line while Weber State was 10-23. Both teams took care of the ball as WSU had 14 and ISU 11.
Idaho State got off to a strong 17-9 start thanks to four 3-pointers by the Bengals in the first eight minutes of the game. The Bengals led 19-11 with 10:07 left in the first half after a jumper by Stutzman.
Weber State then went on a 21-0 run to take a 32-19 lead with 4:17 left until halftime. Stutzman helped keep the Bengals in the game with eight points in the final four minutes to cut the Wildcat lead to 37-32 at the break.
The Bengals tied the game at 37 in the first two minutes of the second half after a free throw and a jumper by Topalovic and another jumper by Luzcando.
The Wildcats extended their lead to 50-42 with 12:30 left in the game and led by as many as 14 points at 56-42 with 9:31 to play.
ISU got no closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Bengals play at Northern Arizona on Feb. 1 and at Southern Utah on Feb. 3.
NOTES
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Jared Stutzman had a career-high 31 points on 11 of 16 shooting. Stutzman's 11 field goals made on 16 attempts was also a career-high as was his six made 3-pointers on 10 attempts.
- Idaho State is 0-3 this season when only one or two players score in double figures.
- The crowd of 2,584 was a season-high.
- Idaho State is now 2-1 on the year when making 11 3-pointers or more.
Bill Evans Quotes
"We didn't play very good. Weber State was much more physical than we were. That was one of the keys. We had a hard time defending Braxton. Overall we didn't defend very good. We didn't want to give up a lot of 3's and that takes concentration and focus. We weren't very concentrated or focused even though it was probably a fairly exciting game for the fans."
On Weber State's 21-0 run in the first half
"They were making baskets and we weren't. We couldn't stop them."
"They were physical and they pushed us around a little bit."
On Novak Topalovic and Zach Braxton
"It wasn't a bad match up. He just couldn't make baskets. He shot good shots. He needs to defend better but I am not disappointed in the shots he took. He had nine rebounds. I am not disappointed in Novak."
"It's about stopping people and making baskets and Weber State did a better job of stopping people and making baskets then we did."
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