MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to the Idaho State Bengals Wednesday evening in front of 1,269 fans at the Cowan Spectrum, 78-71.  The loss drops the Vandals to 1-5 on the season.

"We didn't execute defensively in terms of getting the stops that we needed to get in the second half," Idaho head coach Leonard Perry said. "We broke down defensively and it cost us.  We were beat on penetration, we didn't contest shots and we gave up second shots."

Idaho came out strong in the first half as it established a 7-2 lead early.  Idaho State came back and took the lead at 14-13 but Idaho responded with an 18-4 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 31-18.  The Vandals then went cold from the floor as they went the final five minutes without a basket.  The Bengals were able to take advantage with a 9-2 run to finish out the half and close the gap to four points at 33-29.

Igor Vrzina led the Vandals with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting while Desmond Nwoke led Idaho with six rebounds.  Idaho shot 46 percent (13-28) from the floor in the first half while Idaho State shot 33 percent (12-36).  Both teams grabbed 20 rebounds in the first half.

"When we executed our offense we got the shots we needed," Perry said. "When we fragmented from that and settled for threes, that's when we're not very good.  I think all of that plays into the scoring drought."

"Idaho had us on our heels, we were fortunate to have that little run at the end of the half," Idaho State head coach Doug Oliver said.  "They were very physical.  We aren't used to having our post guys get pushed around."

Two quick baskets from Idaho State's Slim Millien at the beginning of the second half tied the game at 33 and a three pointer from Tim Henry gave ISU its first lead since the 14:21 mark of the first half.  The Bengals pushed their lead to 11 points at 66-55 with 5:31 remaining.  A three point shot from Keoni Watson with 4:47 left cut the lead to six but the Bengals responded with a three pointer from David Schroeder. 

A lay-in from Tanoris Shepard got the Vandals within three points with 2:04 left in the game.  That's as close as it would get as a dunk from Millien with 35 seconds left sealed the deal and gave Idaho State the 78-71 victory.

"I thought our kids gave effort," Perry said.  "I thought Desmond (Nwoke) was tremendous out there in terms of rebounding.  They had a couple of guys that maybe went after it a little harder."

Shepard led the Vandals with 17 points and seven assists.  David Dubois and Igor Vrzina added 14 and 13 points, respectively.  Nwoke grabbed 12 rebounds for Idaho.

Idaho shot 36 percent (15-40) in the second half while allowing Idaho State to shoot 56 percent (19-34).  The Bengals recorded 25 rebounds in the second half and 45 overall, including 17 on the offensive glass.  Idaho had 38 rebounds for the game. 

"From the mental toughness standpoint we're not quite there," Perry said.  "I think that's the last piece of the puzzle."

Idaho (1-5) returns to the Cowan Spectrum on Sat., Dec. 10 to face Portland State.  That game is scheduled to begin at 8:05 p.m.