‘Frustrating’ first half costs Boise State men in road loss to No. 7 San Diego State
The sold-out Viejas Arena crowd of 12,414 came ready to play, equipped with tongue-in-cheek signs like “Boise isn’t even a state,” “Potato tears” and “Alston watches Hentai.”
But the real insults came on the hardwood.
Boise State tied a season high with 18 turnovers in an 83-65 loss to No. 7 San Diego State on Saturday in a Mountain West Conference men’s basketball game.
“They just blitzkrieged us. We tried to help on the post a little bit and whack, whack, whack. Three (3-pointers),” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “It all starts with Malachi (Flynn), though. He just gets going down hill, and he’s so shifty and smart with the ball. He’s a handful, and he’s the straw that stirs that drink. Then those guys are good shooters on the wings. He just peppered the ball and we couldn’t keep up with it all night long, especially in the first half.
“Give credit to San Diego State, they’re undefeated for a reason.”
The Aztecs (17-0, 6-0 MW) knocked down five 3-pointers in the opening 7:08 and led wire-to-wire to extend their nation-leading win streak to 17 games. Senior guard KJ Feagin led all scorers with a season-high 23 points, 16 of which came in a dominant first half.
San Diego State scored the first eight points of the game and took control with an 18-2 run over about a six-minute stretch in the opening 20 minutes. Feagin sank four of his game-leading five triples in the first half as the Aztecs went into the break with a 48-25 advantage. The 23-point margin stands as the largest halftime deficit in Rice’s 10 seasons.
“It’s very frustrating, because we worked very hard the last three days on how to guard and what we’re supposed to do,” Boise State senior RJ Williams said. “We just didn’t execute it and when we don’t do that, things like this happen.”
The Aztecs limited Boise State’s top two scorers — Derrick Alston Jr. (20.3 ppg) and Justinian Jessup (15.5 ppg) — to a combined 16 points on 6-for-21 shooting. SDSU’s starting lineup outscored the Broncos’ starting five 79-35 as Yanni Wetzell (20 points), Flynn (19 points) and Matt Mitchell (10 points) matched Feagin in double figures.
“That’s how I am as a coach. I’m going to err on the side of letting them do their thing,” Rice said. “They have to have that ability to miss five or six shots and then turn it. But by the time we turned it, it was too little too late.”
Flynn, a transfer from Washington State, passed out four of his game-high six assists in the first half, weaving his way through the Boise State defense with a precision that left Rice in disbelief.
“One of those passes I was like, ‘Wow.’ The one where he wrapped it around our whole defense,” Rice said. “We were kind of in the right spot and it was like, ‘What do you do?’ I mean, he threw it on the other side of our defenders and it was perfect. That was a pretty nifty play. There’s not a lot of point guards that can do that.”
Boise State (11-7, 3-3) outscored San Diego State 40-35 in the second half with the help of a 5-for-11 effort from 3-point range. Redshirt freshman Max Rice and true freshman RayJ Dennis each knocked down a pair of triples to finish with eight and 10 points, respectively. Dennis was making his second career start in place of senior Marcus Dickinson, who has been slowed by a strained quad.
Williams came a rebound short of his seventh career double-double, notching a team-leading 16 points and nine boards in 26 minutes off the bench.
“We’ve played at three of the hardest places now, so you don’t want to overreact,” Rice said of his team’s Mountain West losses at New Mexico, Nevada and San Diego State. “You want to keep getting better, and I’ve felt like I have a team that’s going to keep getting better. We’ve got two months, and we’ve got to be a lot better. That team handed us our hats tonight.”
Boise State will remain on the road ahead of its next game Wednesday at Air Force. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Mountain time, and the game will be televised by AT&T SportsNet.
Note: Jessup made one 3-pointer against the Aztecs to increase his career total to 281. He is now tied for third on the Mountain West’s all-time list with Brandon Heath (San Diego State, 2003-07).
Women’s basketball: Boise State 86, San Diego State 72
The Boise State bench matched its season high with 40 points in a Mountain West victory Saturday afternoon at ExtraMile Arena.
Sophomore guard Jade Loville contributed a career-high 21 points, including 15 points in the second half. Loville teamed up with fellow reserves Ellie Woerner and Rachel Bowers to score all 40 bench points on 15-for-22 shooting.
“I thought Jade did an outstanding job. If she can stay within herself, she’s a force,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a press release. “We put some specials in for her, and the key for her is good shot selection, and she was fantastic. She’s so athletic and got confidence, the rim got bigger for her. We don’t win the game without her.”
The Broncos fell behind 17-14 after the first quarter, but Bowers scored the first five points of the second quarter to put Boise State ahead for good, 19-17. Woerner finished with seven points in the frame and 10 in the game, while Bowers added nine points.
Loville dominated the fourth quarter by scoring 11 of Boise State’s first 13 points. Her layup with 3:44 remaining put the Broncos up 17 points, 79-62.
“I think the patience was there for me,” Loville said. “I’ve been able to find my shot within the offense, and taking my time, and trusting that the ball’s going to come back, and that’s when I’m at my best.”
A’Shanti Coleman and Mallory McGwire rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Broncos with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Senior guard Braydey Hodgins matched her career high with 10 assists.
MEN: SAN DIEGO ST. 83, BOISE ST. 65
BOISE ST. (11-7, 3-3 MW)
Alston 4-9 1-3 9, Jessup 2-12 2-2 7, Williams 5-6 6-7 16, Kigab 2-6 0-3 5, Dennis 2-3 4-4 10, Hobbs 3-5 0-0 6, Rice 3-5 0-0 8, Jorch 2-2 0-0 4, Dickinson 0-0 0-0 0, Abercrombie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 13-19 65.
SAN DIEGO ST. (17-0, 6-0 MW)
Feagin 9-16 0-0 23, Flynn 7-11 2-2 19, Wetzell 9-12 2-3 20, Mitchell 3-5 4-4 10, Schakel 1-6 4-4 7, Pulliam 0-4 0-0 0, Seiko 1-1 0-0 2, Narain 1-1 0-1 2, Arop 0-2 0-0 0, Barnett 0-0 0-0 0, Giordano 0-1 0-0 0, J.Mensah 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-59 12-14 83.
Halftime — San Diego St. 48-25. 3-Point Goals — Boise St. 6-20 (Dennis 2-2, Rice 2-4, Kigab 1-3, Jessup 1-7, Hobbs 0-1, Alston 0-3), San Diego St. 9-19 (Feagin 5-7, Flynn 3-5, Schakel 1-4, Giordano 0-1, Mitchell 0-1, Pulliam 0-1). Rebounds — Boise St. 28 (Williams 9), San Diego St. 26 (Mitchell 7). Assists — Boise St. 12 (Jessup 4), San Diego St. 17 (Flynn 6). Total Fouls — Boise St. 18, San Diego St. 20. A — 12,414 (12,414).
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 86, SAN DIEGO ST. 72
SAN DIEGO ST. (8-10, 3-3 MW)
Taylor Kalmer 8-15 2-2 21; Sophia Ramos 5-11 3-4 14; Isabela Hernandez 4-5 1-2 11; Zayn Dornstauder 1-3 8-8 10; Baylee Vanderdoes 3-4 1-1 7; Tea Adams 2-7 3-4 7; Monique Terry 0-0 2-2 2; Naomi Ekwedike 0-0 0-0 0; Talia Sireni 0-0 0-0 0; Kiara Edwards 0-0 0-0 0; Jayden Perez 0-1 0-0 0; Kennedi Villa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-46 20-23 72.
BOISE ST. (12-6, 4-2 MW)
Jade Loville 8-12 4-5 21; A’Shanti Coleman 5-7 3-3 14; Mallory McGwire 5-17 2-2 13; Ellie Woerner 4-6 1-1 10; Rachel Bowers 3-4 3-3 9; Jayde Christopher 2-3 2-2 8; Braydey Hodgins 1-3 4-4 6; Riley Lupfer 2-8 0-0 5; Laia Soler 0-1 0-0 0; Maggie Freeman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 19-20 86.
San Diego St.................. 17 14 27 14 — 72
Boise St...................... 14 29 23 20 — 86
3-point goals — San Diego St. 6-14 (Kalmer 3-7; Hernandez 2-2; Ramos 1-4; Adams 0-1), Boise St. 7-18 (Christopher 2-3; Loville 1-1; Coleman 1-1; Woerner 1-1; Lupfer 1-5; McGwire 1-5; Soler 0-1; Hodgins 0-1). Fouled out — San Diego St.-Adams, Boise St.-None. Rebounds — San Diego St. 26 (Dornstauder 10), Boise St. 29 (Christopher 7). Assists — San Diego St. 5 (Ramos 2; Kalmer 2), Boise St. 20 (Hodgins 10). Total fouls — San Diego St. 19, Boise St. 19. Technical fouls — None. A — 1,394.
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 10:43 PM.
