In ‘grimy’ Mountain West game mired by fouls, Boise State men push win streak to four
Officials impeded the pace of play with 46 fouls called, but at least there was RJ Williams’ one-handed dunk.
In an otherwise ugly game, Williams’ second-half slam elicited the loudest cheers of the night as the Boise State men’s basketball team pushed its winning streak to four games with a 65-54 victory over Wyoming on Wednesday in front of 4,708 fans at ExtraMile Arena.
The Broncos improved to 10-5 overall and 2-1 in Mountain West play, and reached the 10-win mark more than a month earlier than last season.
“There’s 30-some odd games, and you’re not going to be at your best every night,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “So you’ve got to find ways to get the job done on those nights, and I think that was tonight.”
In easily the best play of the game, Justinian Jessup hit Williams in stride with a pass near the free-throw line, and the 6-foot-7 senior forward took flight above the Wyoming defense for a dunk, yelling loudly and flexing as his feet hit the hardwood. Williams finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
The dunk came during a 4-minute stretch in which Williams scored eight of the Broncos’ 13 points for their first double-digit lead, 56-46, with 5:01 to play.
“I drove baseline and there was like three guys right there, so I looked and (RJ) was cutting,” Jessup said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is gonna be a dunk.’ It was a good play by him for sure.”
Jessup led all scorers with 20 points and added six rebounds. He was 3-for-5 from beyond the arc to increase his career total to 273, two triples shy of tying Anthony Drmic’s program record. Jessup also became the only Mountain West player to score 20 or more points in all three league games this season. He had 24 points in a loss at New Mexico and 27 in a win over Colorado State.
“It was definitely a pretty grimy, grind-it-out type of game,” Jessup said. “It was good we got that done, though, just because not every game is going to be like the last one (against Cal State Northridge) where it’s just like, you know, get open shots, nice flow to the game. We had to adjust definitely to their pace of play.”
A Williams tip-in just before the halftime buzzer gave Boise State a 27-24 lead, but the Broncos could have easily been trailing. Boise State missed its first eight shots and had committed four turnovers by the time junior Abu Kigab made the Broncos’ first bucket on a turnaround jumper with 12:20 left.
Boise State also went 1-for-6 from 3-point range and never led by more than four points in the opening 20 minutes. Leading scorer Derrick Alston Jr. sat most of the first half after getting two fouls early. The redshirt junior then picked up his third foul just before halftime and was a combined 0-for-5 from the field.
The second half didn’t start much better for the Broncos. Wyoming (5-10, 0-3) made three 3-pointers in less than 2 minutes to pull ahead 33-30. Boise State eventually created some separation, courtesy of a 14-2 run, and the Broncos overcame a 39.2 percent shooting night by making 22-of-26 free throws.
Alston was limited to season lows for points (four) and minutes (18) because of foul trouble, but newly eligible Kigab helped make up for Alston’s off night with 15 points.
“That’s playing Wyoming,” Rice said. “I told our guys at halftime, I’ve been in this league 10 years and there’s never been a clean game and it just flows good and you get to score 103 points against them.
“(Wyoming coach Allen Edwards) has had them long enough now that they know their deal and they grind you out like that. You have to be comfortable in that uncomfortable game.”
Boise State hits the road for a 4 p.m. Mountain time matchup Saturday against Nevada (9-5, 2-0) at Lawlor Events Center in Reno. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, and a radio broadcast is available at 670 AM.
Women: Wyoming 73, Boise State 68
In three of Boise State’s first four losses this season, it was a slow start that doomed the Broncos.
On Wednesday night in Laramie, Wyoming, it was a disastrous fourth quarter that led to the Broncos’ third loss in their past 34 Mountain West games.
Boise State went 4-for-16 from the floor in the fourth quarter and lost at Wyoming for the second straight season. The Broncos led by as many as 15 points in the first half and 56-50 entering the final frame.
“We did not execute defensively or offensively, and did not let them play with the same will we had,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a press release. “Whether that is a character flaw right now, or if that is fatigue, whatever it was we quit setting screens, we got shot in the eye, we got beat off the dribble, we missed layups.
“Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. We gotta learn from it and get better or it’s going to be a tough year.”
The score was tied at 61 with 2:36 to play after Boise State senior guard Braydey Hodgins made 1-of-2 free throws. Wyoming (7-5, 3-0 MW) then went on a 9-0 run for a 70-61 lead with 42 seconds left.
Junior Mallory McGwire led the Broncos (10-5, 2-1) with 18 points and nine rebounds, and redshirt senior A’Shanti Coleman contributed 13 points.
Boise State next hosts Nevada (7-6, 0-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at ExtraMile Arena.
MEN: BOISE ST. 65, WYOMING 54
WYOMING (5-10, 0-3 MW)
Hendricks 5-13 1-1 16, Maldonado 5-12 3-4 14, Taylor 2-2 4-4 8, Banks 2-5 1-1 5, Foster 2-5 1-2 6, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Porter 2-4 0-0 5, Milton 0-1 0-0 0, Fornstrom 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 10-12 54.
BOISE ST. (10-5, 2-1 MW)
Jessup 7-14 3-3 20, Hobbs 1-5 4-6 6, Dickinson 0-1 4-4 4, Williams 5-9 4-5 14, Kigab 5-7 5-6 15, Alston 1-10 2-2 4, Jorch 0-1 0-0 0, Rice 1-4 0-0 2, Dennis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 22-26 65.
Halftime — Boise St. 27-24. 3-Point Goals — Wyoming 8-22 (Hendricks 5-12, Foster 1-2, Maldonado 1-3, Porter 1-3, Milton 0-1, Thompson 0-1), Boise St. 3-15 (Jessup 3-5, Dickinson 0-1, Rice 0-1, Hobbs 0-2, Alston 0-6). Fouled Out — Thompson. Rebounds — Wyoming 22 (Banks 7), Boise St. 31 (Williams 10). Assists — Wyoming 8 (Thompson 3), Boise St. 3 (Jessup, Dickinson, Rice 1). Total Fouls — Wyoming 25, Boise St. 21. A—4,708 (12,480).
WOMEN: WYOMING 73, BOISE ST. 68
BOISE ST. (10-5, 2-1 MW)
McGwire 8-17 0-0 18; Coleman 6-13 0-0 13; Lupfer 4-10 0-0 9; Loville 4-6 1-2 9; Christopher 3-7 0-0 7; Bowers 1-3 5-6 7; Hodgins 2-9 1-2 5; Woerner 0-2 0-0 0; Freeman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 7-10 68.
WYOMING (7-5, 3-0 MW)
Weidemann 6-11 4-6 19; Sanchez Ramos 4-7 1-3 10; Vaifanua 3-11 3-4 10; Erjavec 3-10 3-3 9; Kepenc 2-4 2-2 8; Rusk 3-6 2-2 8; Vitulova 2-6 0-0 5; Bradshaw 0-1 2-2 2; Olson 1-1 0-0 2; Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 17-22 73.
Boise State................... 19 19 18 12 — 68
Wyoming....................... 7 30 13 23 — 73
3-point goals — Boise State 5-17 (McGwire 2-3; Coleman 1-2; Lupfer 1-5; Christopher 1-4; Woerner 0-1; Hodgins 0-1; Bowers 0-1), Wyoming 8-15 (Weidemann 3-4; Kepenc 2-3; Sanchez Ramos 1-1; Vaifanua 1-3; Vitulova 1-2; Rusk 0-1; Erjavec 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Boise State 38 (McGwire 9), Wyoming 39 (Vaifanua 7). Assists — Boise State 12 (Christopher 7), Wyoming 13 (Erjavec 4). Total fouls — Boise State 20, Wyoming 11. Technical fouls — None. A — 2,395.
This story was originally published January 1, 2020 at 8:35 PM.
