POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost 54-40 to Wyoming on Tuesday evening at the Arena Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.
Idaho State shot 31.9 percent from the field and
Malik Porter led the way with nine points and eight rebounds.
Tarik Cool and
Jared Stutzman each had eight points.
Idaho State out rebounded Wyoming 32-28 and had 13 offensive rebounds. The Bengals were 15-47 from the field and 4-24 from the three point line while connecting on only six free throws on 18 attempts.
Wyoming shot 51.4 percent and made 15 of 23 free throws. Hunter Maldonado had a game-high 32 points.
"I was proud of the effort we made defensively," Idaho State coach
Ryan Looney said. "Regardless of the opponent we have held opponents to 53, 52 and 54 points so far. We were fighting on defense."
Wyoming led for nearly the entire game but the lead was never bigger than 15 points.
The Cowboys led 9-8 with 12:28 left in the first half after a free throw by Stutzman. Wyoming then went on a run to take a 16-8 lead with 5:31 left until halftime. The Bengals would trail 20-12 with 3:32 to play in the half.
Idaho then outscored the Cowboys 6-1 over the final three minutes to trail 21-18 at halftime.
ISU stayed close early in the second half before falling behind 31-21 with 12:30 to play. Idaho State trailed 35-21 before cutting the Cowboy lead to six at 35-29 following a Stutzman 3-pointer with 9:27 left in the game.
Idaho State would get no closer than six points the rest of the way as it also trailed 41-35 with 6:16 to play after a jumper by Porter.
The Bengals then were outscored 19-5 the rest of the way.
"We have to be better on offense," Looney said. "I know that end of the floor will be a work in progress. At the end of the day most everything with this program is brand new. We had a lot of players who had never played in a Division 1 game."
Idaho State plays at Air Force on Thursday, Nov. 7.
