LOGAN, Utah - The Utah State Aggies used a strong second half Saturday evening to defeat the Idaho men's basketball team 83-58 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in front of 8,442 fans.  The loss drops Idaho to 3-11 on the season, 0-4 in the WAC.

"I thought the kids tried to execute the game plan as well as they could in the first half but we had nine turnovers and that's why we were down by six," Idaho head coach Leonard Perry said. "The score doesn't indicate it but I thought we laid it out there."

The Vandal offense was able to get on track early in the first half and the game was tied at seven before Utah State took a 17-14 lead with 11:48 remaining in the half.  Idaho cut the lead to one at 17-16 and again at 18-19 but Utah State was able to increase its lead to five at 23-18.  Tanoris Shepard intercepted an inbound pass and raced down the floor for a lay-in to cut the lead to three with 6:19 left in the half, but Utah State pushed the lead back to five and eventually took a six point lead into halftime, 30-24.

Idaho committed nine turnovers in the first half and was 10-of-27 from the floor.  Utah State was 12-of-28 from the floor in the half.

Utah State's Cass Matheus converted two three-point plays to open the second half and the Aggies quickly turned their six point halftime lead into a 14 point lead.  Chris Huber nailed a three-pointer for Utah State at the 13:41 mark and before the Vandals knew it they were down by 22 points.  The Aggies outscored the Vandals 14-3 during the first four minutes of the second half.  Utah State kept the pressure on from there and led by as many as 30 points before taking the 25 point win.

"I thought we competed in the first half but Utah State starts the second half with those three point plays and it took the steam out of us," Perry said. "You can't start the second half like that on the road and give up second shot after second shot."

The Aggies couldn't miss in the second half as they hit 20-of-32 shots (63 percent) and were a blazing 7-of-10 from behind the three point line.  Idaho shot 52 percent in the second half (13-of-25). 

Utah State out-rebounded Idaho 33 to 29 and also had 20 assists and only nine turnovers.  Idaho had 15 turnovers on the night.  For the game Idaho was 23-of-52 from the floor (44 percent) while Utah State was 32-of-60 (53 percent).

Jaycee Carroll led four Utah State players in double-figures with 19 points including five three-pointers.

Tanoris Shepard led Idaho with 22 points while Keoni Watson added 14 points.  Mike Kale led the Vandals with nine rebounds and also added eight points.

Idaho (3-11, 0-4 WAC) hosts San Jose State on Sat., Jan. 21 at the Cowan Spectrum.  Game time is 2:05 p.m. 

"We have every intention of getting the win on Saturday," Perry said. "We will have the kids prepared to win that game."