‘Hot hand’ may dictate playing time as more impact players emerge for Boise State
RayJ Dennis’ breakthrough performance against Utah State has created a dilemma for Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice.
But Rice isn’t complaining.
Approaching the midway point in the Broncos’ Mountain West slate, Rice has an ever-growing number of players he can turn to for an offensive spark. The dilemma is determining who will play and how much, beginning with Boise State’s 6 p.m. Mountain time game against Fresno State (6-13, 2-6) on Saturday at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
“Who do you sit?” Rice said. “It’s just about combinations, and we’ll tweak some things. With the way so many different guys are contributing in different ways, I’ve gotta really have a good feel for who’s playing good on that night and go with that hot hand.”
Dennis is the most recent Bronco to catch fire. The 6-foot-2 true freshman guard from Oswego, Illinois, scored 19 points in 3:27 to help Boise State force overtime and eventually defeat the Aggies 88-83 after trailing by as many as 19 points. His performance attracted national attention, including a breakdown of the comeback on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Rice said he lost count of the number of phone calls and text messages he received about the game.
“That was a terrific performance,” Rice said. “Obviously, you know, we saw something in him, and we know what he can do. Otherwise I wouldn’t be starting him.”
In only his fourth career start, Dennis became one of five different Boise State players to hold or share the team lead in scoring this season, joining Derrick Alston Jr., Justinian Jessup, RJ Williams and Abu Kigab. Alston and Kigab have combined for three 30-point games, and four players have scored 20 or more points a total of 20 times this season.
In addition, eight of the 12 eligible Broncos on this season’s roster have started four or more games in 2019-20, with Jessup and Alston the only Broncos to have started all 20 games.
“You go back to your trusted and your veterans and then sometimes maybe you look back on it and go, ‘Gosh, I probably should have got him less minutes because he wasn’t playing that good that night and got somebody else in,’ ” Rice said. “That’s going to be a challenge for me is to figure out, ‘OK, where is the hot hand and who is playing great tonight?’ And then try to ride that one and give him a little more minutes.”
Last Saturday’s improbable comeback occurred just before the Broncos’ first conference bye of the season, giving the team plenty of time to regain its emotional footing after such an incredible high. Rice also found it was hard to keep his guys out of the gym.
“There’s a lot of teams probably right now that aren’t real fired up about going to the gym,” Rice said. “I got a group of guys that love being together. They love being in the gym. They’re like, ‘Hey, can we do more?’ ”
As thrilling as the win might have been, it’s only one game on a long schedule. The Broncos sit at 4-4 in Mountain West play and 12-8 overall. All four conference wins have come at home, and the Broncos will have their work cut out for them Saturday at Save Mart Center, where they have lost four times in the last five trips.
“A wise coach once said, ‘We don’t accept in victory what we wouldn’t accept in defeat,’ ” Rice said. “There’s things we’ve got to get better at. That’s the challenge of this time of year is to get better at those things. The teams that can, like I always say, are the ones that in March are still there.”
Powerade payoff
If you see a Boise State men’s basketball player enjoying a Powerade, you might want to offer your congratulations.
Rice said he’s been using the sports drink as a reward for outstanding performances — on and off the court — and he was tempted to wheel in an entire grocery cart after the Broncos’ victory over Utah State.
“I could have given 23 Powerades for the way the bench was, for the way the coaches were, for the way that the guys just kept flying around hustling and trying to make plays,” Rice said. “The belief that they held together, the faith in each other, it was pretty special.”
Note: Saturday’s game at Fresno State will be televised on AT&T SportsNet. A radio broadcast is available on 670 AM.
Women’s basketball: Broncos host MW leader
The Boise State women’s basketball team hopes to lean on two statistical advantages in its game against Mountain West leader Fresno State — field-goal percentage and assists.
Through Thursday’s games, the Broncos rank 12th in the country in total assists (341) and 24th in field-goal percentage (45.2 percent). They’ll need to be on point in both categories to have a shot at upending the first-place Bulldogs in a 1 p.m. matchup Saturday at ExtraMile Arena.
As they have done all season, the Broncos will attempt to spread the Bulldogs’ defense thin with a variety of scoring threats. There’s been no easy way to tell who will step up, as seven different Broncos have led the team in scoring this season.
“You just see how the course of the game goes and then you’re trying to feed those players,” Boise State senior Braydey Hodgins told Bob Behler in a radio interview on 670 AM. “We have special plays in for certain people that will allow them to get going, or once they’ve gotten going, to continue to have them produce.
“I think that’s something super special about our team. We’re just able to recognize those things, and most of the time, we do a great job at delivering the ball to who needs it in those times.”
Fresno State (15-4, 8-0) has yet to lose in Mountain West play and has a two-game lead on Boise State (14-6, 6-2) in the race for the regular-season title. Saturday will be the only meeting between the two teams.
“They’re just feisty, and they’re very, very aggressive,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said during the same radio interview. “If there’s a loose ball, they’re diving for it. So it’ll be a great contest and hopefully we’ll win.”
Boise State has won 18 straight league games at home and 17 in a row against the Mountain West’s three California schools — Fresno State, San Diego State and San Jose State. The Broncos won all three games against the Bulldogs last season, including an 89-77 victory in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
