Sacramento State cruises past cold-shooting Idaho 69-48

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Marcus Graves had 14 points and 10 assists as Sacramento State cruised to a 69-48 victory over Idaho on Thursday night.

Sacramento State (8-8, 2-5 Big Sky Conference) has won two of its last three games while Idaho (4-14, 1-6) has lost nine of 10.

The Hornets closed on a 25-8 run for a 37-19 halftime advantage. Idaho had 10 turnovers and didn’t have an offensive rebound in the half.

“It was just like we thought it was going to be, and we weren’t able to respond and execute the way we needed to,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “Give them credit, they got us to turn it over 10 times in the first half. We did not execute and they were able to get a big lead. What we have to do to move forward is to continue to stay the course.”

Graves was 5 of 9 from the floor and made three 3-pointers. Joshua Patton added 13 points and eight rebounds for Sacramento State, which shot 52 percent from the field. Ethan Esposito added 11 points. Jared Rodriguez had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists to lead Idaho. Trevon Allen, who scored 24 points in the Vandals’ last outing, had just two points on 1-of-6 shooting.