POCATELLO — First, Idaho State’s seven-point halftime lead disappeared.

Then, the Bengals ran out of gas.

Weber State rallied behind a combined 49 points from Jerrick Harding and Cody John and outlasted ISU, 76-68, in overtime Thursday at Reed Gym.

It's ISU’s second overtime loss of the season dropped the Bengals to 5-2 when leading at halftime.

"It was a tough loss," ISU's Chier Maker said. "In the first half, I think we had our chances, and then we missed a lot of free throws. Down the stretch, we turned it over too much. ... Just gotta move on. Next one."

PHOTOS: ISU men's basketball vs. Weber State

Idaho State (6-9, 3-3 Big Sky Conference) committed 16 turnovers and went 11 of 21 at the free-throw line. The shortcomings negated a 45-33 rebounding edge -- including a season-high-tying 15 offensive boards -- and Maker's 16-point, 11-rebound double-double.

Weber State (6-11, 2-4) scored 16 points off those turnovers and went 19 of 25 from the stripe.

"It's pretty hard to not win a game when you're plus-12 on the glass and have that may second-chance opportunities," ISU coach Ryan Looney said. "That's just glaring in regards to what our free-throw shooting looks like and our ability to take care of the ball right now."

ISU’s final lead of the game was 64-63, when Malik Porter scored a layup with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in overtime.

Weber State then retook the lead, 69-64, with six consecutive points. After Maker made two free throws to trim it to 69-66, WSU scored four more points in a row to push the gap to 73-66 with just over a half-minute to play.

The Wildcats went 4 of 5 from the field and 11 for 12 at the free-throw line in the extra 5 minutes. Harding scored eight of his game-high 28 points in OT.

ISU tied the game late in the second half when Coreyoun Rushin drove the lane at the end of the shot clock and got his layup to fall with 28.5 seconds to play. Harding missed a potential go-ahead 3 on Weber’s ensuing possession, leaving 2.2 seconds on the clock for ISU to draw up a game-winning play.

But Porter’s pass to a streaking Jared Stutzman beyond the arc at the elbow was incomplete and went out of bounds, sending the game to OT.

ISU was down four points with 1:16 to go in the second half before Austin Smellie made two free throws and Rushin made his layup to tie it.

"At that point, we were completely out of gas," Looney said.

Harding, the Big Sky's preseason MVP and leading scorer this season, scored 14 points in the second half after a quiet, six-point opening frame. The lightning-quick guard scored 12-straight points for the Wildcats during one stretch in the second, helping Weber turn a three-point deficit into a three-point advantage with 9:19 on the clock.

ISU only briefly regained the lead after that -- by one point on Rushin's tip-slam at the 4:31 mark and by one point twice in OT.

Harding made 12 of 25 shots and all four free throws to net his 10th 20-point game this season.

"He's a really quick guard. He's going to take a lot of shots," said Rushin, who was assigned to guard Harding for much of the game. "What I believe that I did well was just try to contest every shot, just be in his way, try to not make anything easy for him."

While Harding was bringing Weber State back, Idaho State's offense went cold.

The Bengals missed eight consecutive shots over a stretch of 3:40, mirroring a similar second-half stretch that occurred in last week's loss to Southern Utah. Maker didn't score in the second half after racking up 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the first. 

ISU shot 34.6% in the second half after making 46.7% of its shots in the first, finishing the game at 40.9% overall and 3 of 18 (16.7%) from 3-point range.

"In the second half, I think they played better defense," Maker said. "They blocked me out. Credit to them. Moving forward, I've just got to find a way to stay aggressive the whole game."

ISU was also shorthanded for the final 18:52 of the game.

Chidi Udengwu was ejected after being whistled for a flagrant 2 foul. He shoved John into the cheerleaders and seats behind Weber State's basket, preventing John from scoring on a fastbreak. Weber State's Judah Jordan was also ejected for leaving WSU's bench during the brief scuffle that followed the foul.

Udengwu is one of ISU's tallest players at 6-foot-7, and any healthy body is valuable for the injury-plagued Bengals.

"When you're in a situation like we are right now -- we had four scholarship guys out that can't play in the game right now -- and to then have another guy make a poor decision and get himself ejected from the game, we're running out of bodies," Looney said.

Idaho State led for 24:55 of the game's 45 minutes, including the final 15:56 of the first half. The Bengals’ largest lead was nine points, which was trimmed to 32-25 on John's layup in the half's final minute.

Weber State outscored ISU 13-5 over the first 6:54 of the second half, erasing ISU’s halftime cushion. After that, neither team led by more than four points until overtime. The game featured 14 lead changes.

Cool added 11 points to Maker’s team-high 16, and Smellie and Rushin each added 10. Rushin did his damage in crunch time, scoring eight points over the final 5:52 of regulation to help ISU battle back and force overtime.

Stutzman finished with eight points and nine rebounds. Porter had eight points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

John aided Harding with 21 points on 9-of-11 from the charity stripe. Michal Kozak added 14 points, and Tim Fuller had 10 points with nine rebounds.

Up next:

Idaho State plays Saturday at Portland State.

NOTE:

Thursday's announced attendance was a season-best 1,745. It was the largest announced crowd at Reed Gym since Feb. 24, 2018 against Eastern Washington.

"It was amazing," Maker said of the atmosphere. "Thank them for coming out. It was tough, we didn't get the win, but it was great seeing the students out there tonight. Hopefully we can keep it going."

WEBER STATE 76, IDAHO STATE 68 (OT)

Weber State 25 32 19 — 76

Idaho State 32 25 11 — 68

Weber State — Kozak 14, Fuller 10, John 21, Harding 28, Davis 3.

Idaho State — Maker 16, Smellie 10, Cool 11, Udengwu 5, Stutzman 8, Porter 8, Rushin 10.