Alston, Boise State catch fire from deep in rout of St. Bonaventure
If the Boise State men’s basketball team is still “under construction,” it looks like coach Leon Rice has the Broncos following the right blueprint.
Playing in their second game of the Cayman Islands Classic, the Broncos knocked down 13 3-pointers and shot 58.1 percent from the field for a 72-52 victory over St. Bonaventure on Tuesday in George Town, Grand Cayman.
“We do have a lot of guys that can shoot if we get them the right shots. So now we’re starting to see that ball go through, and that will build our confidence,” Rice said in a postgame phone interview.
“The biggest thing I tell these guys all the time is there’s nothing wrong with being under construction, but there’s something wrong if you’re not making progress. So we gotta keep making progress, and I think we certainly did that today.”
The Broncos (2-2) will play Illinois State (3-2) at 11:30 a.m. Mountain on Wednesday for fifth place in the tourney. The game will be streamed live on the Stadium College Basketball Facebook page.
A season after he played a total of just 26 minutes, Boise State redshirt sophomore Derrick Alston continued his breakout start with a team-leading 22 points. The 6-foot-8 guard from Houston, Texas, went 6-for-7 from deep, with five of those 3-pointers coming in the second half.
“It’s kind of surreal looking at it, but I’m just trying to stay humble and take it day by day,” Alston said. “I have great coaches, great teammates and a great program here in Boise that’s just really believed in me and helped me develop.”
Boise State held a 30-24 advantage at the half despite committing 13 turnovers. The Broncos then opened the second half by hitting five triples in the first five minutes. Justinian Jessup made three of those during a 21-0 run that gave the Broncos as much as a 27-point lead over the Bonnies (1-4).
St. Bonaventure shot just 25.9 percent from the floor in the second half, while the Broncos made 60.8 percent from the field and 64.2 percent from 3 over the final 20 minutes.
“I’ve seen some really, really good moments in practice where we get that ball moving and popping, and that could be the strength of this team once we get a little more experience out of us,” Rice said.
In their tournament opener Monday night against Creighton, the Broncos shot 51.6 percent from the field, but the Bluejays shot 57.9 percent for a 94-82 win. It was just the third loss for the Broncos under Rice when the team shoots 50 percent or better from the field.
Note: Rice said junior guard Alex Hobbs did not play against St. Bonaventure because of a nagging ankle injury that happened in practice about a week ago. Hobbs will be a game-time decision for Wednesday’s matchup against Illinois State.
BOISE STATE 72, ST. BONAVENTURE 52
ST. BONAVENTURE (1-4)
POYSER, Jalen 5-11 8-9 22; LOFTON, Kyle 8-17 4-4 20; NGALAKULONDI, T. 2-8 0-0 5; OSUNNIYI, Osun 1-2 1-2 3; KAPUTO, Nelson 1-7 0-0 2; LEE, Jason 0-0 0-0 0; OKOLI, Alpha 0-4 0-0 0; IKPEZE, Amadi 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 17-53 13-15 52.
BOISE STATE (2-2)
ALSTON, Derrick 6-9 4-4 22; JESSUP, Justinian 7-14 1-1 19; WILLIAMS, RJ 5-7 0-1 10; DEMBLEY, Pat 3-4 0-0 8; HARWELL, Malek 1-3 2-2 5; DICKINSON, Marcus 2-2 0-0 4; HANEY, Zach 1-3 2-2 4; WACKER, David 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-43 9-10 72.
St. Bonaventure.......... 24 28 -- 52
Boise State................... 30 42 -- 72
3-point goals--St. Bonaventure 5-17 (POYSER, Jalen 4-7; NGALAKULONDI, T. 1-3; KAPUTO, Nelson 0-2; OKOLI, Alpha 0-2; LOFTON, Kyle 0-3), Boise State 13-24 (ALSTON, Derrick 6-7; JESSUP, Justinian 4-10; DEMBLEY, Pat 2-3; HARWELL, Malek 1-2; HANEY, Zach 0-1; WILLIAMS, RJ 0-1). Fouled out-- None. Rebounds--St. Bonaventure 20 (NGALAKULONDI, T. 7), Boise State 35 (JESSUP, Justinian 9). Assists--St. Bonaventure 5 (LOFTON, Kyle 2; KAPUTO, Nelson 2), Boise State 16 (JESSUP, Justinian 5). Total fouls--St. Bonaventure 13, Boise State 17. Technical fouls-- None. A-829.
This story was originally published November 20, 2018 at 6:28 PM.