Out-rebounded and out-shot, the Sacramento State men’s basketball team fell to Idaho State 73-58 tonight at the Hornets Nest.

The Hornets, now 2-2 in conference, were forced to shoot outside the perimeter as the Bengals defense kept the team from taking the ball inside.

The Bengals, primarily playing zone the entire game, limited Sac State, which averages 42 percent shooting in the season, to 37 percent shooting.

Nicholas Rhodes, senior center for the Bengals, said a key to their defense was allowing their opponents to take the outside shots and to not give up the middle.

“It just straight logistics, that the farther out you are the less chance you have of making the shot,” Rhodes said. “So, we feel that we have a very good chance to win games if they’re taking 60 percent of their shots from three and we have a hand in their face.”

Rhodes, a Sacramento native, wanted to return home and show what he can do in his senior year. As well as posting 13 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, Rhodes’ eight offensive rebounds were three more than the entire Sac State team.

The Hornets had only 15 rebounds for the night, seven in the first half, coach Jerome Jenkins said he feared his team would come off flat after coming off a big conference win Thursday night over Montana. The Bengals pulled down 46 rebounds total.

“We just didn’t meet the challenge tonight, we got six new guys who got to learn the Big Sky and learn how to respect the Big Sky,” Jenkins said.

In the first half, the Bengals led the Hornets in the opening four minutes and pulled ahead by as much as 16 points. In the closing five minutes, the Hornets fought back to a five-point deficit and entered halftime down 33-28.

In the second half, Idaho’s defense persisted as the Hornets scored only 12 points until the seven minute mark as the Bengals shot up the score 40-61.

Sac State is a team that wants to move the ball up and down the court, sophomore guard Loren Leath said. Idaho made the Hornets play their game and slowed down the tempo.

While other schools have played the zone defense in short increments against Sac State, 40 minutes of zone was something new for the Hornets this season.

“We have shooters, but we’re not really a slow paced shoot from the outside team,” said Leath, who lead the Hornets in scoring with 19 points off the bench.

Leath contributed to the majority of the Hornet’s three-point shooting going 5-for-12 at the 3-point line. Despite the loss, Leath said, this doesn’t change the team’s goal of a Big Sky championship.

“This was a tiny set back, but I feel we can bounce back from it because that’s the kind of team we are,” Leath said.

Senior center John Ofoegbu, who led Bengals with 15 points, chipped in 11 rebounds and three assists.

Matthew Beltran can be reached at [email protected]