Jessup’s career night beyond the arc leads Boise State to victory over Colorado State
Justinian Jessup set two career records with one shot Saturday night.
The 6-foot-7 senior guard’s 3-pointer with 1 minute, 25 seconds left gave him single-game career-highs of seven triples and 27 points and assured the Boise State men’s basketball team a 75-64 victory over Colorado State (6-5, 0-2 MW) at ExtraMile Arena.
With Saturday’s performance, Jessup passed Nick Duncan (250, 2013-17) and Abe Jackson (253, 1998-02) for No. 3 in program history for 3-pointers made (254), and he overtook Gerry Washington (1,210, 1995-99) for No. 12 in career points (1,211).
“He’s just getting better and better, too,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said of Jessup. “... “It’s a great accomplishment. He passed up Abe and Nick Duncan, two of my favorites, and he’s on his way to get (all-time 3-point leader Anthony) Drmic, one of my all-time favorites. He’s picking them off one by one, and it’s neat to see.”
It was hard to get much of a reaction from the even-keeled Jessup, who said little more than it “feels good” when asked about his career night.
Jessup and redshirt junior guard Derrick Alston combined for seven 3-pointers at the start of the second half to help the Broncos (5-3, 1-1) turn a one-point halftime deficit into their first Mountain West victory of the season. Jessup made six of his seven triples and 20 of his 27 points in the second half. He has gone a combined 13-for-21 from beyond the arc in the Broncos’ last two games.
“It’s awesome, that’s how you leave a legacy here,” Alston said. “... That’s forever. He’s come in here every day and just worked his tail off to get to where he’s at.”
Alston added his second double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while redshirt senior Robin Jorch made his first start for the Broncos since March 20, 2017, in the second round of the NIT at Illinois. Jorch scored the Broncos’ first six points of the game and finished with eight points and three rebounds.
“The first four minutes, we should see that more (from Jorch),” Rice said. “He needs to live there a little bit more. That’ll help this team, and he’s all about helping the team. He’s probably unselfish to a little bit of a fault, because he can go score a little bit more for us. But he definitely helped us tonight and that was big.”
Jorch started in place of senior RJ Williams, who was ejected from Wednesday’s game at New Mexico for a pair of technical fouls resulting from a verbal altercation with the Lobos’ Carlton Bragg.
“I want passion. I want our guys to play that way, but I have to have them understand that you gotta put the team first and you gotta have the discipline and the toughness to just shut it down when it’s time to shut it down,” Rice said. “He didn’t do that, so (not starting) was a discipline thing.”
Despite the demotion, Williams contributed eight points and eight boards in 18 minutes of action, and senior guard Alex Hobbs dished out a game-high six assists to go with six points and five rebounds.
Boise State had lost its last eight games when trailing at halftime, but the Broncos didn’t allow Colorado State’s 33-32 halftime lead become a mental obstacle in the only regular-season game between the two teams this season.
“Isn’t that a weird thing?” Rice said. “It’s December and we’re done with Colorado State, so it’s good to be 1-0 against it.”
Boise State resumes nonconference play against Tulsa (7-2) of the American Athletic Conference. The game tips off at 6 p.m. MT on Wednesday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The game will be televised on ESPN3.
Broncos add another Arizona transfer
Before the Broncos tipped off against Colorado State, they received a verbal commitment from Devonaire Doutrive.
Doutrive, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard, was dismissed from the Arizona men’s basketball team for a violation of team rules in late November. Boise State already has one Arizona transfer in the fold in Emmanuel Akot, who will be eligible beginning with the 2020-21 season.
In three games this season for the Wildcats, Doutrive averaged 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. He sat out the first two games of the season for another unspecified violation of team rules. As a freshman, Doutrive contributed 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 26 games.
Doutrive announced his commitment to Boise State via Twitter.
“I’m thankful and excited for this opportunity to be a part of such a great university and basketball program,” the tweet read. “Can’t wait to get to work!”
Women’s basketball: Boise State edges Colorado State
With her team down by two points with less than 2 minutes to play, Boise State senior guard Braydey Hodgins scored the Broncos’ final six points for a 72-69 victory over Colorado State on Sunday in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Hodgins finished with 11 points in the Mountain West contest as the Broncos (6-4, 2-0 MW) won their seventh straight game over the Rams (5-5, 0-2) and fourth in a row at Moby Arena.
Boise State senior guard Jayde Christopher scored a career-high 16 points, and senior forward A’Shanti Coleman paced the Broncos in scoring with 17 points.
The Broncos next host BYU (3-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at ExtraMile Arena.
Note: Due to a stats malfunction at Moby Arena, postgame statistics were not available at press time.
MEN: BOISE ST. 75, COLORADO ST. 64
COLORADO ST. (6-5, 0-2 MW): Thistlewood 1-4 0-0 3, Carvacho 5-10 1-3 11, Stevens 3-11 1-2 9, Martin 2-7 0-0 5, Moore 2-5 2-2 6, Thomas 3-4 0-1 6, Edwards 4-9 0-0 8, Tonje 2-3 0-0 5, Roddy 4-10 1-2 11. Totals 26-63 5-10 64.
BOISE ST. (5-3, 1-1 MW): Jorch 3-4 2-2 8, Alston 7-20 3-3 20, Dickinson 1-3 1-1 3, Jessup 9-16 2-2 27, Hobbs 2-8 2-3 6, Abercrombie 0-2 0-0 0, Dennis 1-2 1-1 3, Williams 4-6 0-0 8, Rice 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 11-12 75.
Halftime — Colorado St. 33-32. 3-Point Goals — Colorado St. 7-25 (Roddy 2-6, Stevens 2-8, Thistlewood 1-2, Tonje 1-2, Martin 1-4, Moore 0-3), Boise St. 10-28 (Jessup 7-11, Alston 3-9, Dennis 0-1, Jorch 0-1, Abercrombie 0-2, Dickinson 0-2, Hobbs 0-2). Fouled Out — Roddy. Rebounds — Colorado St. 34 (Carvacho 9), Boise St. 35 (Alston 11). Assists — Colorado St. 14 (Stevens 5), Boise St. 13 (Hobbs 6). Total Fouls — Colorado St. 17, Boise St. 12. A — 3,577 (12,480).
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 9:19 PM.
