Dec. 19, 2006

Box Score

Pocatello, ID- The Utah Valley State men's basketball team lost 76-62 to Idaho State on Tuesday. The loss drops the Wolverines to 6-5 while Idaho State upped its record to 5-6.

Ryan Toolson led Utah Valley with 19 points and David Heck added 11 points. Jordan Brady led UV in rebounding with seven.

Utah Valley State shot 41 percent from the field while the Bengals' shot 48. The telling stat of the game was on the boards where Idaho State out rebounded the Wolverines 41-20, with 15 coming on the offensive end.

"Idaho State played with more energy, passion and determination," Utah Valley State coach Dick Hunsaker said. "They beat us to loose balls. Their offensive rebounding was terrific and our rebounding was atrocious."

Idaho State was led by David Schroeder's 24 points and Akbar Abdul-Ahad's 16. Schroeder also had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Utah Valley led 33-32 at halftime. The lead changed hands four times in the first six minutes of the second half before Idaho State took the lead for good at 45-43 with 13:48 left in the game on a basket by Demetrius Monroe.

The Bengals built a 53-46 lead two minutes later. Utah Valley then fought back and came within one at 55-54 with eight minutes remaining after 3-pointers by Toolson, Josh Olsen and two free throws by Richard Troyer.

But the Wolverines got no closer as ISU went on a 20-4 run over the next six minutes to lead by as many as 17 points at 75-68 with just under two minutes to play.

"They played a much more determined game," Hunsaker said. "In the second half they did what they wanted with us."

Utah Valley played well in the first half and jumped out to an early 11-3 lead thanks to three 3-pointers by Heck in the first six minutes. The Bengals came back to take a 15-14 lead with 9:25 left until halftime thanks to the shooting of Schroeder who hit two 3-pointers in a two minute stretch.

The lead changed hands eight times in the first half. Idaho State's biggest lead was 25-22 following a put back by Matt Stucki with 6:56 remaining in the half. Peterson gave Utah Valley its biggest lead at 33-28 on a 3-pointer with 2:45 on the clock. The Wolverines held a slim 33-32 lead at halftime.

The Wolverines return to action on Friday when they host Southern Utah at 7 p.m. in the McKay Center.