Boise State men's basketball team runs its win streak to five

Boise State's first-half performance Thursday night was flawless - the type of effort that sends a message to the WAC that the defending champs are serious about keeping their crown.

An 84-64 win against San Jose State in front of 2,093 at Taco Bell Arena definitely will help the Broncos' cause.

But that wasn't the only message sent Thursday.

After Boise State coach Greg Graham watched the visiting Spartans trim a 24-point deficit to 56-50 with 11:37 left in the game, Graham sent his team a message.

Four starters went to the bench and three of their replacements were Sean Imadiyi, Shawn Rouse and Zack Moritz - a trio that had logged the fewest minutes of Boise State's scholarship players this season.

That group, along with starter Anthony Thomas and reserve La'Shard Anderson, pushed the lead back to 71-53 in about four minutes.

Thomas made three consecutive 3-pointers to send the Broncos (11-3 overall, 2-0 WAC) to their fifth win in a row. San Jose falls to 6-7 overall and 0-3 in conference.

"Our second wave brought more energy," Graham said. "Anthony usually brings energy with his defense, but he hit three 3s in a row (that) kind of set us up, got us going and broke their back."

Thomas said the Broncos struggled in the second half after Graham had stressed that the game was far from over.

"We came out (in the second half) with no energy and Coach was just trying to find a spark plug," Thomas said. "He got some people off the bench, and they got it done."

Rouse matched his career high with five points, and Imadiyi had seven points in his career-best game.

"I never really know when I'm going to go in, so I think the biggest thing is to just be ready when my number's called," Rouse said.

Rouse's biggest contribution may have been on the defensive end, where he prevented San Jose State senior Tim Pierce from scoring after the Arizona State transfer had rallied his team.

"Rouse locked up Pierce, and we needed that," Boise State forward Ike Okoye said. "We can outscore anyone - it's about stops, and we got some."

The first half was masterpiece. Boise State had only two turnovers and shot 52.8 percent to take a 46-28 lead. The Broncos led by as many as 24 in the half.

"We came out of the blocks firing and played really well," Graham said. "And it wasn't one guy - it was the whole team."

Thomas led the way with 19 points, while Mark Sanchez (14), Okoye (12) and Kurt Cunningham (10) hit double figures.

San Jose State got 14 from Pierce and 12 from Justin Graham.

NOTE: BSU added junior-college transfer Robert Arnold to its roster Thursday. The 6-foot-6 forward originally signed with the Broncos last year, but didn't enroll until this semester. He will redshirt this season.

Nick Jezierny: 377-6420