krobinett@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Sometimes it doesn't take a veteran coach or a student of the game to explain why one college basketball team beats another.

Utah State's 67-57 victory over the Idaho State men's basketball team Saturday at Holt Arena was one of those occasions.

Even a basketball virgin could pick up on how the Aggies beat the Bengals. All it took was one simple observation: Utah State made more shots than Idaho State.

"That's the story of the game," ISU coach Joe O'Brien said. "They hit shots, and we didn't."

In the end, Utah State drained 43.6 percent of its shots, and Idaho State made only 37.7 percent of its.

It was a difference of only four made baskets, but the Aggies made their jumpers count by hitting 9-of-25 3-pointers.

Idaho State challenged Utah State to take the outside shot all game by playing mostly zone defenses. O'Brien went with that strategy because the Aggies came into the game as the nation's best-shooting team, making almost 53 percent of its shots per game.

Utah State earned that gaudy shooting percentage by making easy inside shots, and Idaho State didn't want the Aggies to get their points from layups Saturday. To that end, Idaho State did well. The Bengals outscored the Aggies 24-22 in the paint and gave up just two second-chance points all game.

Combined with a defensive effort that held Utah State 10 percentage points under its normal shooting percentage, and an overall effort that saw Idaho State fight to the end, the Bengals put themselves in a position to win.

"I think we put a dent in their gameplan," O'Brien said.

But without making more baskets, it wasn't enough.

"We were doing everything right," ISU senior guard Matt Stucki said. "We just weren't hitting shots."

One of the biggest missed shots of the evening came from Austin Kilpatrick just before halftime. After trailing by as many as 10 points in the early going, Idaho State fought back and made the score 31-27 with 2:58 to go in the half.

Shortly after, Kilpatrick found himself wide open behind the 3-point line and fired up a good-looking shot. As the ball was in the air, the crowd rose to its feet in anticipation of celebrating the Bengals' best 3-point shooter making a trey, but the shot clanged off the rim.

Utah State then maintained a possession for almost two minutes and ended the half with a 3-pointer from Tyler Newbold.

Instead of pulling to within one, the Bengals went into the locker room down 34-27.

That made it pretty difficult for Idaho State to rally in the second half.

"We dug ourselves a hole early and couldn't ever get out of it," said ISU senior center Lucas Steijn, who scored a game-high 15 points off the bench. "We'd get it close, and then they'd hit a 3. They hit a lot of 3's tonight. It was an uphill battle all night."

Idaho State closed to within five points of Utah State early in the second half when Deividas Busma made a layup to make the score 37-32, but that was as close as the Bengals would come.

During their comeback attempt, Chron Tatum missed all four of his shots, Kilpatrick made just 1-of-6 and Amorrow Morgan sank only 2-of-8.

For most of the night, Utah State maintained a comfortable lead.

That's because even though Idaho State made it work a little harder for its points than normal, Utah State made the extra pass all night long and spread out its scoring. Jared Quayle, Stavon Williams and Newbold each scored 11 points, and Gary Wilkinson added 10.

"I was proud of our guys for just grinding out a victory," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said. "We didn't shoot all that well, but we found a way to win."

The Bengals found meaningful offensive production from Steijn, who made all four of his attempts from the field and whom both Stucki and O'Brien called "the player of the game," but no one else stood out. Busma was behind him with eight points, and Donnie Carson and Stucki each scored seven.

Altogether, it was enough for Idaho State to improve on the 37-point beatdown it suffered two years ago in Logan, Utah. But it wasn't enough to get revenge.

Idaho State didn't make enough shots for that.