SAN DIEGO — The sellout crowd of 12,414 at Viejas Arena gasped when Boise State sophomore Thomas Bropleh put up a pretty 3-point shot in the waning seconds of Wednesday night’s game at No. 17 San Diego State.
If Bropleh’s shot from the right corner had gone in, the Broncos would be celebrating the biggest road win in school history. But the shot hit just about every part of the rim and fell out, leaving the Broncos still searching for their first victory of 2012.
San Diego State, which overcame a 12-point, second-half deficit, survived with a 58-56 victory.
“Sometimes after a game you have the feeling that you lost, and that’s the feeling I’ve got,” Aztec coach Steve Fisher said.
It was the second time in eight days that Boise State (10-11, 0-6 Mountain West) played a ranked team down to the wire.
Last Wednesday, the Broncos took UNLV to overtime. This also marked the third time in the past four games that the outcome was decided on the final possession of the game.
“If that goes in, we feel like we’re the best team in the world,” said Boise State forward Anthony Drmic, who scored 17 points. “If it doesn’t, we don’t. Coach just told us we’ve got to keep fighting.”
The Broncos used a 14-0 run in the first half to take a 33-25 first-half lead, and BSU scored the first four points of the second half to go up 37-25 with 18:36 to go.
And then things went awry.
Boise State didn’t score for 9 minutes, 36 seconds, thanks mostly to 10 turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half and eventually fell behind 47-40.
“They turned up the heat on us and the wheels came off,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “But our guys did a better job of getting them back on.”
The Broncos were able to stay within one possession for the final 2 minutes, and when SDSU (19-3, 5-1) missed a free throw with 7.5 seconds left, BSU had a chance.
Guard Tre’ Nichols (17 points) pushed the ball up the floor and passed to a wide-open Bropleh in the corner. The shot just didn’t go in.
“I got a good look,” Bropleh said. “It was on target and it was halfway in. Life goes on, I guess.”
The Broncos were hurt by poor foul shooting (7-of-16), while the Aztecs went 25-of-29 at the line to offset poor shooting from the field (31.3 percent).
