POCATELLO, Idaho- In a game that had 14 lead changes and 10 ties, the Idaho Vandals defeated Idaho State 80-76 on Saturday afternoon in Moscow, Idaho at the Cowan Spectrum.
Malik Porter had a team-high 25 points. He was 9-17 from the field, 7-10 from the free throw line to go along with nine rebounds
Jared Stutzman had 13 points, all in the first half and
Austin Smellie added 10. Idaho State shot 46.6 percent from the field and was 18-24 from the foul line.
"Jared had a good first half on the offensive end," Idaho State coach
Ryan Looney said. "I liked how he was aggressive in the first 20 minutes."
Trevon Allen had 33 points to lead the Idaho offense. The Vandals shot 57.7 percent from the field and 60.9 percent in the second half. Idaho State was out rebounded 35-25.
"Our offense isn't the issue," Looney said. "We are even taking care of the ball. We are struggling to play with enough effort on the defensive end. A lot has to do with guarding around the paint."
Idaho State's biggest lead of the game was four points while the Vandals biggest lead was seven points.
The game was tied at 38 at halftime. Idaho State had a chance to tie the game at 77 with five seconds left but
Tarik Cool made one of two free throws. Idaho was then fouled and missed one of two free throws but they got the offensive rebound to secure the win.
Idaho State goes into the conference tournament as the No. 11 seed and it will play the third game of the day against the No. 6 seed NAU around 3 p.m.
2020 Big Sky Conference Tournament Bracket
