Ags slaughter Idaho

This one wasn’t even close.

Using a 37-0 run spanning both halves, the Utah State men’s basketball team annihilated the Idaho Vandals 80-42 Wednesday in Moscow, Ida. The Vandals went nearly 14 minutes without scoring and 16 minutes without a field goal.

Idaho scored to cut their deficit to 25-17 with 7:48 to play in the first half and did not score again until it made a free throw with 13:56 remaining in the game with the Aggies leading 62-17.

“I’ve never been through anything like that,” Aggie Chris Session said about Idaho’s long drought. “We had to recommit ourselves after our loss to New Mexico [State].”

Morrill said he felt the Vandal’s pain after this win.

“You feel badly about the other team,” Morrill said. “You never want to embarrass anybody. It was one of those nights for Idaho. They got discouraged and it just compounded their problems.”

David Pak made five 3-point shots to lead the Aggies with 15 points and six assists. Durrall Peterson scored 12 points and hit three shots from behind the arc while Chris Session added a season-high nine points.

“At first we brought him in at the four position because we thought we needed some energy there,” Morrill said. “He’s a team guy which you have to like about him.”

Eight USU players had at least five points.

The Aggies dominated the game in the paint, out-rebounding the Vandals 37-24. Cass Matheus and Nate Harris also combined for 23 points.

The Aggies entered the game with the nation’s best 3-point shooting percentage of 43.2 and the second-best field goal percentage of 50.9. Those numbers will get better after USU shot 45.8 percent from 3-point range and 56.6 percent from the field.

Idaho shot only 29 percent from the field.

“We kept the inside packed,” Session said, forcing Idaho to go outside.

The Aggies led by as many as 50 points, 78-28 with under 10 minutes to play. Idaho had to finish the game on a 14-2 run just to get within half of USU’s score.

At halftime, USU led 44-17 shooting 64 percent from the field and 53.8 percent from the field while the Vandals had 11 turnovers.

“We’ve been hearing about defense and rebounding all year,” Session said. “We have to do that to win.”

Up next for the Aggies are the Demons of Northwestern State who will come to the Spectrum Saturday for an ESPN BracketBuster game. The contest will air on ESPNU.

-bhhinton@cc.usu.edu