Boise State’s Alston lights up Portland in Broncos’ second game of Diamond Head Classic
After a particularly deep 3-pointer in the second half, Derrick Alston turned to run down the court and flashed the shaka — or “hang loose” — Hawaiian hand sign for the ESPN cameras.
It was just that kind of carefree day for the Boise State redshirt junior.
Alston dropped a season-high 32 points to spearhead the Broncos’ 85-69 win over Portland in the consolation semifinals of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Monday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu.
“It kind of was all clicking for me today,” Alston told Bob Behler in a postgame radio interview on 670 AM. “I just take what the defense gives me and my teammates do a great job of setting me up and putting me in the best position to be aggressive and be a playmaker out there.”
It was the fourth 30-point game of Alston’s career and one short of his career-high of 33 set against San Jose State on Feb. 9, 2019. Alston also contributed a team-leading six assists and two rebounds.
“If there’s any chance I can bring two guys to me, I know there’s somebody open,” Alston said. “On the pick and roll they were starting to kind of squeeze me a little bit more and the roll guy was open, so I’m just trying to make the right read and the right play.”
Senior guard Justinian Jessup joined Alston in double figures with 17 points, 13 of which came in a hot-handed first half that saw Jessup connect on 4-of-6 from the floor. Jessup also moved up to No. 11 on Boise State’s all-time scoring list with 1,253 points, surpassing Vince Hinchen’s 1,243 points from 1981 to 1984. It was a strong bounce back for the senior, who made a single field goal in the Broncos’ tournament opener.
“That’s the whole key is how you’re going to respond, how your energy is going to be, how your toughness is going to be, how quickly can you fix the things you need to fix and then quickly turn the page,” coach Leon Rice told 670 AM. “Boy, Alston and Jessup, they had the right look and the right approach and the right mindset. They took advantage of it, and they came out swinging.”
Boise State held a 43-34 halftime lead with the help of Max Rice’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
A day after squandering a five-point halftime advantage in a loss to Georgia Tech, the Broncos (7-5) went up 3-2 on a Marcus Dickinson 3-pointer with 18:16 on the clock and never trailed again. Boise State outrebounded the Pilots 38-25, including a career-high nine boards from Dickinson and seven apiece from Robin Jorch and RJ Williams. Ten Broncos logged playing time, with nine of those players scoring two points or more.
“I see our team as one that is going to continue to grow and get better and better,” Leon Rice said, “and that’s going to bode well for league (play).”
Boise State will play the winner between Ball State and UTEP — which tips off at 11:30 p.m. MT on Monday — in the fifth-place game at 1:30 p.m. MT Wednesday on ESPNU. The Broncos then return home for a nonconference contest against Cal State Northridge (3-10) at 4 p.m. Saturday at ExtraMile Arena.
BOISE ST. 85, PORTLAND 69
PORTLAND (8-6)
Fahrensohn 4-10 2-2 12, Adams 7-14 3-4 19, Porter 4-7 2-4 12, Walker 0-7 0-0 0, White 3-6 0-0 6, Diabate 3-4 2-3 8, Ferebee 1-2 0-0 2, Akwuba 0-1 0-0 0, Hogland 2-2 1-2 5, Tryon 1-2 0-0 2, Harewood 1-1 1-1 3, Watson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 11-16 69.
BOISE ST. (7-5)
Jessup 6-9 3-3 17, Alston 10-18 8-9 32, Dickinson 3-6 0-0 8, Jorch 3-7 2-4 8, Hobbs 1-6 4-4 6, Kigab 1-5 1-2 3, Williams 2-3 2-4 6, Dennis 1-1 0-0 2, Rice 1-1 0-0 3, Abercrombie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-57 20-26 85.
Halftime — Boise St. 43-34. 3-Point Goals — Portland 6-18 (Porter 2-2, Adams 2-4, Fahrensohn 2-5, White 0-3, Walker 0-4), Boise St. 9-26 (Alston 4-9, Dickinson 2-4, Jessup 2-5, Rice 1-1, Abercrombie 0-1, Jorch 0-1, Kigab 0-2, Hobbs 0-3). Fouled Out — White. Rebounds — Portland 22 (Diabate 7), Boise St. 36 (Dickinson 9). Assists — Portland 10 (Fahrensohn, Walker, White 2), Boise St. 17 (Alston 6). Total Fouls — Portland 21, Boise St. 18.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 4:50 PM.
