Nevada guard’s scoring spree makes basket look like a ‘hula hoop’ in win over Boise State
It didn’t matter if there was a hand in his face, double team or defender with a significant height advantage.
Jazz Johnson was simply a walking bucket.
The Nevada senior guard dropped a career-high 34 points and looked nearly unstoppable in the Wolf Pack’s 83-66 victory over the Boise State men’s basketball team on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center.
Johnson, the reigning Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year, also set career highs for field goals made (13), 3-pointers made (8) and rebounds (7).
“That’s what great players do, they can make those ones where, you know, four or five times you say ‘too tough,’ and they make them,” Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice said. “I swear he had five or six of those tonight, and even a couple heat-check ones where the range was unbelievable. I mean, he was seeing a hula hoop tonight. It was crazy.”
Rice said Johnson’s individual performance was the best he’s coached against since he was an assistant on Mark Few’s Gonzaga staff when Steph Curry scored 40 points to help No. 10 Davidson beat the No. 7 Zags in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
“Guys get hot, and when guys get hot, guys make shots. That’s all it was,” Boise State junior Abu Kigab said. “... It was just Jazz’s night this night. It’s just basketball at the end of the day. Everybody has their night.”
Boise State (10-6, 2-2 MW) built an eight-point lead, 19-11, about midway through the first half before Johnson began his scoring spree. Johnson accounted for a stretch of 13 straight Wolf Pack points and had 21 points by halftime.
Nevada (10-5, 3-0) made eight 3-pointers in the first half and went 14-for-29 in the game to beat the Broncos for the eighth consecutive time. The 14 triples ties for the most by a Boise State opponent in Rice’s tenure.
“It’s frustrating,” Boise State redshirt junior Derrick Alston Jr. said. “That’s kind of how we lost here last year. They just kind of got hot from three, and that was definitely one of our keys coming in here knowing how well they shoot the ball. It’s just frustrating, really.”
The Wolf Pack’s 39-35 edge going into the locker room only got bigger after halftime. Johnson made his sixth 3-pointer of the game on Nevada’s opening possession of the second half, and he gave the Pack its first double-digit lead, 58-47, with his seventh triple at the 13:03 mark.
RJ Williams’ three-point play on the Broncos’ next trip down the court cut the lead back to single digits, 58-50, but that was the last time. Boise State went a stretch of nearly 10 minutes without a field goal, allowing Nevada to pad its lead. If not for a 14-for-15 performance from the free-throw line in the second half, the deficit would have been much worse.
Four Broncos scored in double figures, paced by Alston’s 15 points. Senior guard Justinian Jessup had 12 points, Williams had 11 points and six boards, and Kigab added 10 points. Jessup also made two 3-pointers in the loss to tie Anthony Drmic for the most triples in program history at 275.
Boise State shot a combined 36.2 percent overall and 19.2 percent from 3-point range.
“We probably got a little desperate in that second half,” Rice said. “When we got down about 12 or whatever, then it became just a little bit like, ‘Alright, we gotta hurry up and come back.’ So we probably took some bad ones in that little stretch, and that always drives your percentages way down.”
Boise State returns home to host UNLV at 7 p.m. Wednesday at ExtraMile Arena. The game will be streamed by ESPN3, and a radio broadcast is available on 670 AM.
Women’s basketball: Boise State 54, Nevada 40
The Broncos held the Wolf Pack to just 17 second-half points and a season-low 40 for the game in a Mountain West matchup Saturday afternoon at ExtraMile Arena.
Boise State (11-5, 3-1 MW) was able to rebound from a rare conference loss Wednesday at Wyoming despite shooting only 22.6 percent from the floor in the first half and 1-for-17 from beyond the arc for the game. The Broncos made up for the slow start by knocking down 55.6 percent of their shots in the final two quarters.
“Defensively, we played very well. We switched everything, and I thought we were on top of the switches and not too loose,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a press release. “We tried to prevent them from running what they wanted to pretty easily, so I was really proud of them.”
Boise State senior guard Braydey Hodgins led all scorers with 17 points, and junior post Mallory McGwire notched her fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 boards.
The Wolf Pack (7-7, 0-3) did not have a single player score in double figures, and they collectively shot just 26.9 percent for the game. Boise State also outrebounded Nevada 52-35.
Boise State continues conference play against UNLV at noon Mountain time Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. An online stream of the game from the Mountain West Network is available at BroncosSports.com/mwn. Listen to a radio broadcast on 1350 AM.
MEN: NEVADA 83, BOISE ST. 66
BOISE ST. (10-6, 2-1)
Jessup 4-12 2-2 12, Alston 6-13 2-2 15, Kigab 3-14 3-4 10, Jorch 2-2 3-6 7, Hobbs 2-6 0-0 4, Dickinson 1-4 0-0 3, R.Williams 1-1 9-9 11, Rice 1-2 0-0 2, Dennis 1-4 0-0 2, Abercrombie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 19-23 66.
NEVADA (10-5, 3-0)
Johnson 13-21 0-0 34, Harris 6-14 1-2 15, Drew 6-8 0-0 14, Reyes 3-3 0-0 6, Zouzoua 2-6 1-2 5, Hymes 0-0 0-0 0, Meeks 2-4 1-2 6, Milling 1-2 0-0 3, Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Bansuelo 0-0 0-0 0, Z.Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-59 3-6 83.
Halftime—Nevada 39-35. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 5-26 (Jessup 2-8, Dickinson 1-3, Alston 1-4, Kigab 1-7, Hobbs 0-1, Rice 0-1, Dennis 0-2), Nevada 14-29 (Johnson 8-12, Drew 2-4, Harris 2-6, Meeks 1-2, Milling 1-2, Zouzoua 0-3). Rebounds—Boise St. 24 (Jorch 7), Nevada 37 (Johnson 7). Assists—Boise St. 5 (Alston 3), Nevada 21 (Drew 9). Total Fouls—Boise St. 13, Nevada 20.
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 54, NEVADA 40
NEVADA (7-7, 0-3)
Marguerite Effa 4-12 1-2 9; Miki’ala Maio 4-13 0-0 8; Dom Phillips 3-12 1-3 7; Essence Booker 3-13 0-0 7; Alyssa Jimenez 2-4 0-0 5; Nia Alexander 2-5 0-0 4; Jacqulynn Nakai 0-4 0-0 0; Amaya West 0-0 0-0 0; Jenai Williams 0-3 0-0 0; Da’Ja Hamilton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-67 2-5 40.
BOISE ST. (11-5, 3-1)
Braydey Hodgins 6-13 5-8 17; Mallory McGwire 7-14 0-0 14; A’Shanti Coleman 2-4 0-0 4; Jayde Christopher 2-7 0-0 4; Riley Lupfer 2-9 0-0 4; Ellie Woerner 0-3 4-4 4; Maggie Freeman 1-3 0-0 3; Jade Loville 1-2 0-0 2; Rachel Bowers 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-58 9-12 54.
Nevada........................ 13 10 9 8 — 40
Boise St...................... 5 12 18 19 — 54
3-point goals — Nevada 2-17 (Booker 1-6; Jimenez 1-2; Phillips 0-4; Alexander 0-1; Nakai 0-4), Boise St. 1-17 (Freeman 1-2; McGwire 0-4; Coleman 0-1; Christopher 0-1; Lupfer 0-5; Woerner 0-1; Hodgins 0-3). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Nevada 35 (Effa 5), Boise St. 52 (McGwire 10). Assists — Nevada 5 (Williams 3), Boise St. 10 (Christopher 6). Total fouls — Nevada 13, Boise St. 12. Technical fouls — None. A — 2,212.
This story was originally published January 4, 2020 at 7:35 PM.
