MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho men's basketball team dropped its Western Athletic Conference opener Thursday evening to New Mexico State, 62-52 at the Cowan Spectrum.  The Vandals fall to 3-8 on the season.

"I think we had opportunities.  We defended pretty well in the first half but the missed shots took away from our intensity in terms of rebounding," Idaho head coach Leonard Perry said. "We turned the ball over quite a bit tonight and I thought the trap bothered us in the first half."

The game was knotted at 2-2 with 15:15 remaining before New Mexico State went ahead 8-4 with 11 minutes left in the first half.  A three pointer from Jason Bowden-Key brought the Vandals within one at 8-7. 

Tanoris Shepard completed a three point play with five minutes remaining to give Idaho its first lead of the game, 12-11.  New Mexico State responded with a 16-4 run over the final five minutes to take a 28-16 halftime lead. 

The Vandals were 6-of-21 (29 percent) from the floor in the first half while the Aggies shot 38 percent (11-29).  New Mexico State out-rebounded Idaho 23-13 in the half including 12 offensive rebounds.

"For some reason we got rattled," Perry said. 

New Mexico State steadily increased its lead in the second half and led by as many as 22 with 12:18 left in the game.  Idaho cut the lead to 12 points with four minutes remaining but weren't able to sustain the momentum as the Aggies took the 10 point win.

Idaho improved its field goal percentage to 48 percent in the second half and finished the game 18-of-46 (39 percent).  New Mexico State was 12-of-22 in the second half and 23-of-51 (45 percent) on the night.  The Aggies also out-rebounded the Vandals 37 to 25 including 14 on the offensive glass.  The two teams combined for 40 turnovers.

"We've got to score," Perry said. "We can't score 52 points at home and expect to win."

Shepard led Idaho with a game high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting.  He also led the team with six rebounds and five assists.  Bowden-Key added nine points for the Vandals.

"We have to take care of the ball better and definitely block out better," Shepard said. "I think if we do better in those areas we will be fine."
 

Idaho (4-7, 0-1 WAC) hosts Louisiana Tech (8-6, 1-0 WAC) on Saturday, Jan. 7 at the Cowan Spectrum.  Game time is 2:05 p.m.