POCATELLO - Still fretting about that five-game losing streak?

Didn't think so.

The Idaho State men's basketball team gave all 2,816 fans who came out to Holt Arena on Saturday - and many more who stayed away - reason to rejoice by defeating Utah 72-68.

Without question, it was the Bengals' most impressive win of the Joe O'Brien era and one of the program's biggest in recent memory.

"This win was huge," junior guard Amorrow Morgan said. "They were supposed to beat us. They were the No. 3 RPI team in the country. It was huge to have them come in here and send them home weeping."

It was the Bengals' first victory over Utah in more than 50 years, and their first-ever win against such a highly ranked foe in the RPI.

Idaho State players jubilantly pumped their fists and played to a wild crowd when it was over. Senior guard Matt Stucki, who scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out nine assists and played an all-around fantastic game, seemed to enjoy it the most.

In his four years with the Bengals, he's almost beaten big-name teams plenty of times. There were those overtime losses to Marquette and BYU two years ago and three straight overtime setbacks against Hawaii, Boise State and Long Beach State this season. But his team never broke through until Saturday.

Now it has.

"This was the biggest win of my career," he said. "We were playing with a lot of teams earlier this year. We just couldn't pull it out in the end. This was a great step for us."

Indeed, all the hype and positive energy that surrounded Idaho State at the beginning of the season has returned. A five-game losing streak behind them, the Bengals are now 2-5, and fans could be heard talking about a possible conference championship as they left Holt Arena.

Goes to show you what a win over a quality Mountain West opponent that featured a 7-foot-2 All-America candidate can do for a team.

Idaho State earned back that respect by blazing to a first-half lead and holding off Utah (5-2) in the end.

At the start of the game, the Bengals hit so many shots they looked like a different set of players. Idaho State drained seven of its first eight shots and sank 62 percent of its first-half shots to take a 45-34 lead into the locker room.

Not bad considering Idaho State scored just 41 points in a loss to Washington State last time out.

O'Brien said that firepower came from a new transition offense he installed two days before the game and an overall rise in aggression from his players.

"We worked as hard for this one as any game this year," he said. "We were tired of losing, and we were frustrated. We wanted to come out with something that would make a difference for the kids and put a couple extra bullets in their gun."

Bullets they had. Stucki knocked down shots like crazy in the first half and scored 16 points before the break. He was singled out by Utah's defense in the second half, but Amorrow Morgan scored 14 points to help him out. Demetrius Monroe added 11 inside, and Donnie Carson scored nine.

For the first time all season, Idaho State's best offensive players looked comfortable together.

"They were finally playing like juniors and seniors," O'Brien said.

Idaho State's defense, which threw a new-look combo of 2-3 and matchup zone at Utah, also looked better than ever.

Still, it almost wasn't enough. Behind center Luke Nevill and his 22 points, Utah made a run in the second half. The Utes held Idaho State without a field goal for close to eight minutes in the second half and took its first lead of the game with 4:56 to play.

But thanks to a layup by Deividas Busma on the other end and two straight made shots from Morgan, it turned out to be Utah's last lead of the game. The Utes made it close again with a late 3-pointer to make the score 69-68, but Morgan sank three free throws to close out the game.

The Bengals hung on for victory, and the party began.

It left everyone feeling positive again.

"It does a lot for this team to know we can play a team from the Mountain West Conference as good as Utah and win a close game against them," O'Brien said. "It gives us the confidence to know that if we play the right way, we can beat anybody."