POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State men's basketball team lost to Northern Colorado 83-67 on Thursday evening at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colo.
Malik Porter had a career-high 25 points on 12-19 shooting from the field.
"We just came to realize early in the game that was the easiest place for us to score," Idaho State coach
Ryan Looney said. "Northern Colorado was willing to play one on one in the post. He caught it mid post and attacked off the dribble."
He also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.
Jared Stutzman scored 13 points and
Tarik Cool added 10 points.
Idaho State shot 47.4 percent for the game but Northern Colorado shot 53.7 percent and made 14 3's on 30 attempts. Idaho State was out rebounded 31-27.
"Northern Colorado is the best offensive team in the Big Sky we have played this year," Looney said. "They have older veteran guys who took advantage of our mistakes."
While there were seven lead changes and two ties early in the game, the Bears led for 36 minutes.
The Bengals led 10-9 five minutes into the first half after a dunk by Porter and then again at 13-12 with 14:09 left in the first half after a three-pointer by
Austin Smellie. That would be the final lead of the game for the Bengals.
Idaho State still kept the game close as it trailed 19-17 with 10:42 left until halftime. The Bears then went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 30-17 with 7:57 left in the half. That run would prove to be the difference in the game.
"The biggest difference in the game was the 11-0 run they went on after the first media timeout," Looney said. "We lost our minds a little during that stretch. That was the difference in the game."
Idaho State trailed 40-29 at halftime and would get within five at two different times in the final period. The Bears would stretch the lead to 19 points in the final minute of the game.
Idaho State plays at Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.
