Bouncing back after suffering two tough road losses, the Broncos (17-8, 8-4) took care of business at home on Saturday night. Boise State led wire-to-wire in a convincing 90-66 win against the shorthanded Fresno State Bulldogs.
In never trailing, Boise State took the season series from Fresno State. And the Broncos got off on the right foot in the first of four games in a row in which Boise State should win.
Nine players found the scoring column for Boise State, with four starters reaching double figures. Junior Tyson Degenhart continued a recent stretch of solid play, finishing with 24 points and 9 rebounds while shooting 6-9 from the field and connecting on 12-14 from the charity stripe.
Degenhart has reached double figures in four straight games, averaging nearly 24 points per contest. He also has 30 rebounds in these four games and is playing his best basketball of the season.
O'Mar Stanley finished with 17, Max Rice had 13, and Chibuzo Agbo 12 as the Broncos shot 58.8 percent from the field.
For Fresno State (11-15, 4-9), playing without one starter and three key bench players, Isaiah Pope had four 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. The Bulldogs had won two of their three previous games, with the loss a 2-point affair against UNLV.
Boise State delivered a bit of everything Saturday, starting the game off right and never taking their foot off the gas pedal.
First half
The Broncos jumped out to a 6-0 lead and extended that to 11-2 with a Rice three-pointer. Fresno State knocked down a couple of buckets, including a Xavier DuSell three of his own to make it 11-7.
Four points were as close as the Bulldogs would be the rest of the game.
Stanley and Degenhart scored 13 of Boise State's first 16 points. Free throws, three-pointers (7-14 in the first half), and a wide array of looks slowly built out the lead. It extended as far as 17 points when Agbo hit one of three free throws.
Better ball movement and better shot selection were part of Boise State's first half success. So, too, was getting to the free throw, where the Broncos attempted 17 (though making only 11 was a little concerning).
Rice was nearly perfect from the field in the first 20 minutes, missing only one shot and scoring ten points. Agbo had 10, with Stanley and Degenhart combining for 23.
Fresno State, trailing 48-33, was able to hang around thanks to their three-point shooting. The Bulldogs were 7-16 and committed only three turnovers.
Second half
A DuSell three got things rolling for Fresno State to open the second half. Unlike the game in Fresno, however, Boise State maintained consistency and didn't let the Bulldogs get back into the game.
Every time Fresno State cut the Boise State lead down to 12, the Broncos had an answer. Roddie Anderson III finally found the scoring column, knocking down two huge 3's.
Despite foul trouble from Anderson and Stanley, the Broncos kept building their lead. Boise State was even more efficient in most regards in the second half, shooting 62.5 percent from the field and making 9-11 from the line.
The lead reached as large as 27 when a Stanley bucket made the score 90-63 with 1:02 left.
Anderson finished with six points and three assists while the bench contributed 18 points. Cam Martin scored six, again filling out the box score with six rebounds and four assists.
Andrew Meadow and Jace Whiting each scored five, with RJ Keene rounding out the scoring with a nice layup off a precision pass from Martin.
Isaiah Hill had 15 points and six assists for the Bulldogs, with DuSell adding 14 and Jalen Weaver chipping in 13.
Each team had only seven turnovers, with Boise State holding a plus 12 advantage on the boards.
The victory moved Boise State into third place. Thanks to a loss by Utah State earlier in the day to Colorado State, the Broncos are only 0.5 games back of the Aggies and San Diego State for the top spot in the Mountain West.
More on Boise State men's basketball:
photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Comments