Boise State unravels in 2nd half of Diamond Head Classic opener; women outlast Pepperdine
Abu Kigab scored a team-leading 17 points in his first collegiate men’s basketball game in more than a year.
But Georgia Tech used a second-half surge to spoil Kigab’s Boise State debut, fighting back from a five-point halftime deficit for a 74-60 victory Sunday in the first round of the Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
The Broncos (6-5, 1-1 MW) will play Portland (8-5), which lost to Houston 81-56, in the consolation semifinals at 2:30 p.m. MT Monday on ESPNU.
“I see (Kigab) really helping and adding more value to the team the longer we get to have him out there,” Boise State coach Leon Rice told Bob Behler in a postgame radio interview on 670 AM. “... You can’t expect everything to be seamless, and as a coach, now all of a sudden I’ve got a new factor and a new (player) that I’m trying to get integrated into our team. I probably didn’t sub perfectly because I’m trying to figure a few things out still with what we have and what combinations are best.”
Kigab, a transfer from Oregon, got the start in place of senior guard Alex Hobbs, who was voted the Mountain West’s Sixth Man of the Year for the 2017-18 season. Kigab’s 17 points were a career high, surpassing his previous best of 13 while at Oregon. He also added three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Hobbs scored nine points with three rebounds and one assist in 29 minutes off the bench. Boise State leading scorer Derrick Alston (21.2 ppg) totaled 16 points and six boards, and the Yellow Jackets neutralized senior guard Justinian Jessup, the Broncos’ second-leading scorer at 16.2 points per game.
Jessup was 0-for-4 from the floor at halftime and finished with just three points on 1-for-11 shooting in 37 minutes of action.
“They were up into (Jessup) and they were poking him and holding him,” Rice said. “He’s got to find a way to be able to score. ... I kept him out there a long, long time because he was really guarding. In hindsight, maybe give him a few minutes on the bench and let him regroup his mind. He’s usually really good at that. In the future, I’ll try to do more of that.”
The Yellow Jackets (5-5) mounted a 20-2 run in the second half that flipped the game from a 41-38 Boise State lead with 14:58 on the clock to a 58-43 Georgia Tech advantage with 8:07 to play. Junior forward Moses Wright and junior guard Jordan Usher combined for nine and seven points, respectively, during the run and both finished with a game-high 18 points. The Broncos committed seven of their 16 turnovers in the first 8 minutes of the second half.
Georgia Tech also welcomed a key player to its lineup in junior guard Jose Alvarado, who had missed seven games with an injury. Alvarado aggressively defended Jessup while adding 14 points on the offensive end, 12 of which came in the second half.
“I thought he really helped them. I mean, he gets 14 points, gets a couple steals,” Rice said. “He was great defensively and hit some big shots down the stretch for them. They haven’t had him for a while, and I think he’s a big, big part of their team. He kind of makes them go, and he’s kind of the energy guy on that team.”
Women’s basketball: Broncos hold off Pepperdine
Six of Boise State’s 14 games this season have been decided by a single possession. With Sunday’s 76-74 victory over Pepperdine, the Broncos are now 5-1 in one-possession games.
Senior guard Riley Lupfer sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 41.1 seconds left to help the Broncos collect their 10th win of the season.
“We had people step up down the stretch,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a press release. “I thought Mallory (McGwire) really stepped up, Braydey (Hodgins) and Riley hit big shots, and Rachel (Bowers) secured a big rebound.”
After Lupfer’s triple, the Broncos got two defensive stops and a free throw from Jayde Christopher for the final margin. Pepperdine’s Barbara Sitanggan missed a potential game-tying shot in the closing seconds.
Lupfer finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while McGwire paced the Broncos in scoring with 20 points and seven rebounds. Christopher chipped in 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Bowers grabbed a team-leading eight boards, including rebounds on the Waves’ final two shot attempts.
Boise State’s bench kept it in the game after the starting unit fell behind 16-13 after one quarter. Christopher along with reserves Bowers, Jade Loville, Ellie Woerner and Maggie Freeman combined for 24 of the Broncos’ 29 points in the second quarter.
Boise State now has 10 days of rest before resuming Mountain West play at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 1 at Wyoming.
MEN: GEORGIA TECH 74, BOISE ST. 60
GEORGIA TECH (5-5)
Devoe 6-14 1-2 13, Wright 7-7 3-3 18, Usher 6-10 5-6 18, Alvarado 4-13 4-4 14, Parham 2-4 0-0 5, Moore 1-4 0-1 2, Banks 1-3 2-4 4, Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Cole 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 15-20 74.
BOISE ST. (6-5)
Alston 6-13 2-3 16, Jessup 1-11 0-0 3, Hobbs 3-5 3-3 9, Kigab 4-12 7-9 17, Williams 2-6 2-2 6, Dickinson 1-2 0-0 3, Jorch 2-5 2-5 6, Dennis 0-3 0-0 0, Max.Rice 0-0 0-0 0, Abercrombie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 16-22 60.
Halftime — Boise St. 31-26. 3-Point Goals — Georgia Tech 5-23 (Alvarado 2-7, Wright 1-1, Parham 1-3, Usher 1-3, Phillips 0-1, Moore 0-2, Devoe 0-6), Boise St. 6-20 (Kigab 2-3, Alston 2-6, Dickinson 1-2, Jessup 1-6, Dennis 0-3). Fouled Out — Devoe, Wright, Parham. Rebounds — Georgia Tech 41 (Devoe, Wright 9), Boise St. 23 (Alston 6). Assists — Georgia Tech 5 (Usher 2), Boise St. 9 (Alston, Jessup, Kigab 2). Total Fouls — Georgia Tech 26, Boise St. 21.
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 76, PEPPERDINE 74
PEPPERDINE (6-4)
Malia Bambrick 8-21 0-0 20; Monique Andriuolo 6-11 0-0 12; Ashleen Quirke 4-5 0-0 8; Barbara Sitanggan 2-10 4-4 8; Cheyenne Givens 3-5 0-0 6; Hannah Friend 2-5 2-2 6; Jayla Ruffus-Milner 2-4 1-3 5; Paige Fecske 2-12 0-0 5; Jayda Ruffus-Milner 2-3 0-0 4; Deezha Battle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-76 7-9 74.
BOISE ST. (10-4)
Mallory McGwire 9-19 2-2 20; Jayde Christopher 4-7 3-4 14; Riley Lupfer 4-11 0-0 10; Jade Loville 4-9 0-0 8; A’Shanti Coleman 4-6 0-0 8; Braydey Hodgins 3-5 0-0 7; Rachel Bowers 2-5 0-0 4; Maggie Freeman 1-2 0-0 3; Ellie Woerner 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 31-68 7-8 76.
Pepperdine.................... 16 19 19 20 — 74
Boise St...................... 13 29 14 20 — 76
3-point goals — Pepperdine 5-17 (Bambrick 4-8; Fecske 1-6; Sitanggan 0-2; Friend 0-1), Boise St. 7-21 (Christopher 3-5; Lupfer 2-7; Freeman 1-1; Hodgins 1-2; Woerner 0-1; Loville 0-2; McGwire 0-3). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Pepperdine 39 (Jayla Ruffus-Milner 9), Boise St. 45 (Bowers 8). Assists — Pepperdine 15 (Sitanggan 9), Boise St. 18 (Christopher 8). Total fouls — Pepperdine 10, Boise St. 13. Technical fouls — None. A — 801.
This story was originally published December 22, 2019 at 7:30 PM.
