LOGAN, Utah - Idaho's men's basketball team went into Wednesday's game at Utah State on a two-game win streak looking to square the season series, but the Aggies used a 22-2 scoring run midway through the first half and didn't look back on Wednesday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
With the 80-62 loss, Idaho falls to 10-11 overall and 2-7 in Western Athletic Conference play, while Utah State moves to 17-6 and 7-2 in the WAC and takes over sole possession of first place in the conference.
"They shot the fire out of it," Idaho head coach Don Verlin said. "We could not get to their shooters fast enough, and I thought we had a good game plan going in. They just beat us in every phase of the game again tonight, and that's really frustrating."
The Aggies made just one more field goal than the Vandals, but Utah State hit four more from 3-point range and knocked down 12 more free throws than Idaho. USU also out-rebounded Idaho by a 34-23 margin and scored 20 second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.
With the Aggies up 16-11 at the 10:48 mark, USU's Brian Green hit a free throw that keyed a 22-2 scoring run that spanned nearly nine minutes. The run put Idaho in a 25-point hole at 38-13 and, even though the Vandals closed out the period on an 8-2 run, sent the game out of reach.
Idaho's post players combined for just 17 points in a 60-48 home loss against Utah State on Jan. 23, but this time, the Vandal big men were the strength of the offense with 35 points as the Vandals outscored the Aggies 30-22 in the paint.
The problem for Idaho was that Utah State hit 50 percent (8-16) from 3-point range and consistently got to the free-throw line, which nullified Idaho's play down low and propelled the Aggies to their big lead. Key in that run was USU's Green, who came off the bench to hit five of his six shots, including all four of his 3-point attempts, for a team-high 16 points.
"Some of those shots he made tonight - wow," Verlin said of Green. "I thought we did a pretty good job on their starters, and then Green comes off (the bench) in the first half and we can't get him guarded."
Idaho senior center Marvin Jefferson hit eight of his 11 attempts from the field for a career-high 17 points, while also leading the team with six rebounds and a pair of blocks. Redshirt freshman forward Kyle Barone also had a breakout game, as he went 6-of-8 from the field for a career-high 14 points in just 17 minutes.
The Vandals played the game without leading scorer Mac Hopson, who served a one-game suspension for violating curfew on the trip. Junior Jeff Ledbetter earned his first career start in Hopson's place and made two field goals and scored six points, along with three assists and three steals.
Idaho shot a solid 49.1 percent from the floor, but hit just 30.8 percent from the 3-point line and converted just four of its 10 free throw attempts. After shooting 36 percent and turning the ball over seven times in the first half, Idaho settled in and hit a 60 percent clip with just three turnovers and 13 assists in the second period, where they outscored Utah State 41-40.
Next on Idaho's slate will be a road match at Boise State, where the Vandals hope to avenge a Jan. 25 overtime loss in which the Vandals let a seven-point lead slip away in the closing minutes of regulation. That game will tip off at 6:05 p.m. (PST) on Saturday at Taco Bell Arena.
"You've got to get an edge about you and an attitude about you to go play in Boise State, in state, against our rivals and get after their tails as best we can," Verlin said. "Our team will be ready to play."
