Fans have been treated to a high-octane offense averaging 80.8 points per game, with a win over the Clemson Tigers and a second-place finish at the Cayman Islands Classic on the resume. After victories over Hampton and South Dakota State, the Broncos were seconds away from winning the tournament, prevented only by a last-second three in falling to Boston College, 63-61.
Boise State (6-3) split two games after the tournament and last Saturday had one of their worst halves of the 2024-25 season. In a 74-69 loss to the Washington State Cougars (8-2) in downtown Boise, the Broncos trailed by 24 early in the second half. Boise State managed a valiant comeback that fell just short, closing the gap to four in the game's final minute.
Andrew Meadow had 21 points and 7 rebounds off the bench to lead the Broncos in the loss.
The Broncos need to be at their best in closing out this first part of the season, starting on Saturday in Idaho Falls against the Saint Mary's Gaels.
Boise State: Next five games
The meeting on 12/14 (9 p.m. ET) with the Gaels is an Idaho Falls rematch, where Boise State defeated Saint Mary's. In the 63-60 victory, Tyson Degenhart led the Broncos with 17 points, pulled down four rebounds, and dished out five assists.
Saint Mary's (9-1) enters this year's matchup looking in mid-season form. The Gaels own wins over Nebraska (77-74), Utah (72-63), and USC, defeating former Bronco Chibuzo Agbo's squad 71-36.
The only loss for Saint Mary's so far is to Arizona State, where the Gaels lost by four. Six players for Saint Mary's average more than 8.7 points per game. Boise State will have to deal with the size of Saint Mary's in squaring off against Paulius Murauskus (14.7 points, 9.5 rebounds) and Luke Barrett (10.6 points, 7.6 rebounds).
After Saint Mary's, Boise State returns home to host Texas Southern on 12/17 and the start of conference play, welcoming Air Force to town.
The Broncos finish out the calendar year with road games at San Jose State on 12/28 and Wyoming on New Year's Eve.
San Jose State and Wyoming each have one conference loss already, losing to New Mexico (by six) and undefeated Utah State (by three) respectively.
Broncos stat leaders
Entering the season, Boise State had its star returners in place. Degenhart and O'Mar Stanley were the headliners, with key players like Meadow and RJ Keene II returning.
Joining them was all-conference transfer Alvaro Cardenas, a talented point guard who arrived from San Jose State. Beyond that, questions remained.
Asked and answered through the season's first nine games, with the Broncos regularly playing a rotation of nine to ten players.
Degenhart continues to play at a high level, averaging 17.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. The senior forward is shooting 56.4 percent from the field, connecting on all seven attempts in a recent victory over Utah Tech.
Degenhart is struggling from deep (4 -24) but committed only eight turnovers so far this season.
Second on the team in scoring is transfer Javan Buchanan. Buchanan (12.3 ppg) is shooting 55.6 percent on field goal attempts and scored 52 points in the final two games of the Cayman Islands Classic.
Meadow is averaging 11.9 points and leads the team in made threes (16) and rebounding (6.6).
Cardenas (9.9 ppg) and Stanley (9 ppg) round out the top scorers for Boise State. Cardenas also has 14 steals and 52 assists, while Stanley averages six rebounds per game. Though not a bad season by any stretch, Stanley has struggled to get going at times but does lead the team with 11 blocked shots.
Freshman Julian Bowie, Dylan Anderson, Emmanuel Ugbo, Chris Lockett, and Keene are all finding ways to contribute (valuably, I might add) so far this season.
This deep rotation has helped efficiency on offense, though Boise State is prone to long stretches of not scoring. Eighty points is a magic number so far for Boise State. In each victory, the team scored higher than this number and each loss, under.
Boise State is shooting 48 percent from the field but only 31.3 percent on three-point attempts. The Broncos do hold a 7.4 rebound advantage per contest and are averaging 16.1 assists per game.
Defense has been prone to its own lapses, especially in the first half against Washington State (where, honestly, the entire effort was lackluster in that half). But Boise State is keeping opponents under 30 percent on three-point attempts.
Huge aspirations remain on the Broncos radar. And while three losses are somewhat disappointing, this Boise State team is still figuring each other out. Knocking out two more non-conference wins will be a major booster. If that happens, and positive momentum carries Boise State into Mountain West play, the Broncos could very well close out 2024 on a five-game winning streak.
Then? Well, 2025 awaits, and hopefully, the chasing down of the one thing eluding Boise State: an NCAA tournament victory.
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