‘Remarkable. Improbable.’ Boise State freshman delivers the impossible against Utah State
Ray and Carla Dennis left their home Friday in Oswego, Illinois, and drove 24 hours straight to be at their son’s basketball game Saturday night in Boise.
Their super-human effort ended up inspiring another.
Freshman RayJ Dennis scored all 19 of his points in the final 3:27 of regulation to lead the Boise State men’s basketball team to an 88-83 overtime victory against Utah State on Saturday at ExtraMile Arena.
The Broncos were down 18 points with 4:02 left and appeared on their way to a third straight loss in Mountain West action. Then Dennis went nuts.
“Remarkable, just one of the most remarkable comebacks I’ve ever seen,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “I’ve been around it a long, long time. I don’t know when I’ve seen a more perfect comeback and improbable.”
Dennis accounted for 19 of the Broncos’ 27 points in the closing minutes, beginning with a pair of free throws that made it 66-52 Utah State with 3:27 on the clock. Dennis sank four 3-pointers, threw down a dunk and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line during the run.
“I mean, I just got lost in the game and was able to hit shots,” RayJ Dennis said. “My teammates kept finding me and kept encouraging me. Them encouraging me is a big part because now my confidence is through the roof, so I was able to knock them down.”
Utah State (14-6, 3-4 MW) went without a field goal for the final 5:32 of regulation, and Boise State began to force the Aggies to win the game at the free-throw line. Utah State made 11-of-12 down the stretch, but Dennis’ hot hand kept the Broncos within striking distance. His first triple made it 66-55, his second 66-60, his third 68-65 and his fourth 3-pointer with 4 seconds to play brought the deficit to two points, 75-73.
“In high school he had a game where he had 26 (points) in a quarter, so I’ve kind of seen it. He’s good mechanically in terms of his shots and once he gets going, he can really kind of get into a rhythm,” Ray Dennis said. “But on this stage, it’s just awesome to see him live his dream and especially in a game like that against Utah State. A conference game, they’re down 20 and people are leaving and then they’re able to claw themselves back into it. He was the reason for it. I think that’s awesome.”
Right after Dennis’ fourth 3-pointer, it was Justinian Jessup’s savvy play at the buzzer that sent the game to overtime. The Boise State senior jumped in front of a Utah State inbound pass under the Broncos’ basket and converted a contested layup to knot the game at 75-all.
“I used to do that all the time in middle school,” Jessup said. “I would pretend I was running back and then come back, but I was surprised he threw it to me, because I was kind of right there.”
Boise State (12-8, 4-4) took its first lead of the game on a three-point play by Jessup with 3:37 to go in overtime. The Broncos went on to outscore Utah State 13-8 in the overtime period. Dennis teamed up with senior RJ Williams for the game’s final play, tossing a pass down court for a thunderous Williams dunk.
Whether from exhaustion or an outpouring of emotion, Dennis dropped to the hardwood as his teammates mobbed him in disbelief.
“That’s a great, great win,” Rice said. “I know it’s fresh in my mind, but I can’t remember a better win in my 10 years than the one tonight. And we’ve had some great ones over the years, but that one was pretty special.”
Boise State redshirt junior guard Derrick Alston Jr. matched Dennis with 19 points, while Jessup added 15 points and five rebounds and Williams totaled 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Senior guard Sam Merrill paced Utah State with a season-high 30 points.
The Broncos will have a week off between games thanks to their first of two conference byes. Boise State resumes Mountain West play at 6 p.m. Mountain time Saturday, Jan. 25, against Fresno State at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. The game will be televised by AT&T SportsNet.
“This swings the tide totally,” Jessup said. “Three losses in a row, let’s go back to the drawing board, but now we have something to build off. We found something in those last four minutes. That was a huge win.”
Notes: A new face was on the Boise State bench for Saturday’s game. Donovan Ivory, a transfer from UMass Lowell, has enrolled at Boise State and will join the Broncos as as walk-on. The school plans to formally introduce Ivory next week. ... Utah State scored the first nine points of Saturday’s game and led 38-25 at halftime.
Women’s basketball: Boise State 65, Utah State 59
Braydey Hodgins sank a corner 3-pointer with 3:46 left in the first half to surpass 1,000 points for her Boise State career. But there were plenty more fireworks to come Saturday afternoon in Logan, Utah.
Seniors A’Shanti Coleman and Riley Lupfer each hit big shots late to lift the Broncos to a Mountain West victory over Utah State at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
Coleman stopped a 9-0 Aggies run with a 3-pointer, giving Boise State a 58-57 lead with 1:05 to play in the fourth quarter. Utah State (5-13, 0-7 MW) answered with a layup for a one-point lead, but Lupfer took it right back on a drive to the hoop that drew contact.
Lupfer’s three-point play with 19 seconds left put the Broncos ahead 61-59, and senior point guard Jayde Christopher sealed the win by making 4-of-4 free throws over the final 9 seconds.
“A win is a win. All we can do is lace ‘em up and try our best,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a press release. “We’ve struggled in giving up leads. The previous two conference games on the road we gave up a lead, and we didn’t get it back, but today we got it back.”
Hodgins scored a team-leading 17 points and now has 1,010 points in her career. She is the 22nd women’s basketball player in Boise State history to reach the milestone.
“I’m really proud of her. She’s had quite a career, and 1,000 points is a really great milestone,” Presnell said. “It’s a lot more than that, it’s what she’s done for our program. She’s hit critical shots at critical times and has been a winner.”
The Broncos (14-6, 6-2) will have their first bye of conference play Wednesday and then host first-place Fresno State at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, at ExtraMile Arena. The Bulldogs (14-4, 7-0) are the only Mountain West team left with a perfect league record.
MEN: BOISE STATE 88, UTAH STATE 83 (OT)
UTAH ST. (14-6, 3-4 MW)
Merrill 9-19 8-8 30, Bean 4-10 9-13 18, Porter 3-10 4-5 10, Miller 2-7 0-0 4, Brito 2-7 0-0 5, Queta 4-4 4-7 12, Anderson 2-5 0-0 4, Bairstow 0-0 0-0 0, Dorius 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-63 25-33 83.
BOISE ST. (12-8, 4-4 MW)
Jessup 6-15 1-1 15, Alston 5-14 8-11 19, Dickinson 0-3 3-4 3, Kigab 3-9 2-2 9, Williams 4-4 4-6 12, Dennis 5-5 5-5 19, Jorch 1-4 2-2 4, Hobbs 0-0 2-2 2, Rice 2-2 0-1 5. Totals 26-56 27-34 88.
Halftime — Utah St. 38-25. 3-Point Goals — Utah St. 6-28 (Merrill 4-11, Bean 1-3, Brito 1-6, Anderson 0-2, Miller 0-3, Porter 0-3), Boise St. 9-24 (Dennis 4-4, Jessup 2-7, Rice 1-1, Alston 1-4, Kigab 1-5, Jorch 0-1, Dickinson 0-2). Fouled Out — Queta, Alston, Kigab. Rebounds — Utah St. 37 (Bean 10), Boise St. 27 (Williams 7). Assists — Utah St. 13 (Porter 4), Boise St. 10 (Dennis 3). Total Fouls — Utah St. 27, Boise St. 29. A — 6,047 (12,480).
WOMEN: BOISE STATE 65, UTAH STATE 59
BOISE ST. (14-6, 6-2 MW)
Braydey Hodgins 7-12 2-2 17; Jayde Christopher 3-5 7-8 13; A’Shanti Coleman 4-8 0-0 10; Riley Lupfer 3-8 1-1 8; Rachel Bowers 4-6 0-0 8; Ellie Woerner 1-4 1-2 4; Jade Loville 0-5 3-4 3; Mallory McGwire 1-4 0-0 2; Maggie Freeman 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 14-17 65.
UTAH ST. (5-13, 0-7 MW)
GORMAN, Steph 7-20 2-3 18; JENSEN-BAKER, L. 5-11 4-5 14; BASSETT, Hailey 4-11 4-6 12; ANIAMBOSSOU, M. 3-8 2-2 8; HARRIS, Emmie 2-4 1-2 5; FRANSON, Taylor 1-4 0-0 2; DAULTON, Laura 0-0 0-0 0; EMRICH, Elli 0-1 0-0 0; KAMAKAWIWO’OLE, K. 0-0 0-0 0; BRANTLEY, Faith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 13-18 59.
Boise State................... 20 13 14 18 — 65
Utah State.................... 10 21 13 15 — 59
3-point goals — Boise State 5-21 (Coleman 2-4; Lupfer 1-6; Woerner 1-3; Hodgins 1-4; McGwire 0-2; Freeman 0-1; Loville 0-1), Utah State 2-12 (GORMAN 2-7; JENSEN-BAKER 0-2; HARRIS 0-2; FRANSON 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Boise State 31 (Hodgins 7; McGwire 7), Utah State 40 (BASSETT 10). Assists — Boise State 11 (Lupfer 3; Woerner 3; Hodgins 3), Utah State 10 (EMRICH 4). Total fouls — Boise State 14, Utah State 17. Technical fouls — None. A — 388.
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 11:00 PM.
