Boise State sets season high for 3-pointers against Division I opponent in win over SJSU
The San Jose State men’s basketball team entered Wednesday’s game 0-18 at ExtraMile Arena.
Make that 0-19.
Boise State shot 58.6 percent from the floor and made 15 3-pointers for a 99-71 victory over the Spartans in Mountain West action.
The Broncos went a combined 15-for-26 from 3-point range (57.7 percent). The 15 triples are the Broncos’ most against a Division I opponent this season. Boise State also posted back-to-back conference victories of 25 points or more for the first time since 1987-88. Boise State won 87-53 on Saturday at Fresno State.
“You don’t want to take these guys for granted, because five of them I won’t have very long,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “... I’m the only one grumpy because I’m trying to get them better because I really love this team.
“I know that if we can just tighten down a few things and get better at a few things, now we’re a really good team. We’re so close to being really good.”
Redshirt junior guard Derrick Alston Jr. led all scorers with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists. Alston was an efficient 9-for-12 from the field and 6-for-8 from 3-point range. Senior guard Justinian Jessup scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half and made five triples to move within two of tying Jimmer Fredette’s Mountain West career record of 296.
The Broncos passed out 19 assists for the second straight game, paced by freshman RayJ Dennis’ career-high seven helpers.
“We’ve had back-to-back games of great ball movement and good patience with our offense,” Rice said. “... If you move it, you’re going to score more points. They’re all buying into that, and that’s why the ball’s moving so much better.”
Senior forward RJ Williams chipped in his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 boards, and Alex Hobbs contributed 12 points off the bench to give the Broncos four players in double figures.
The Broncos closed out the first half with a 13-2 run for a 42-27 lead. Alston was 4-for-5 from 3-point range for 14 points in the opening 20 minutes of action. He had the play of the game in the early going, bouncing the basketball off the backboard to himself for a dunk.
“I hesitated so much on that, literally. (My defender) flew by me and nobody was really in the lane, so I just threw it up there and tried to go get it and it worked,” Alston said of the dunk made famous by former NBA stars like Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant. “Later in the game I kind of realized who’s made that play before, so I thought that was pretty special.”
There was no letdown in the second half, as the Broncos poured in 57 points while shooting a blazing 64.5 percent from the field. Redshirt freshman Max Rice scored all seven of his points in a span of 1 minute, 33 seconds. His layup with 2:19 left gave Boise State its largest lead of the game at 96-63. Walk-on Bing Huang then capped the night with a 3-pointer, matching his career high.
“When that thing is popping and everybody’s getting the shots that they want to take and shots they know they can knock down, it’s a lot of fun,” Alston said.
Boise State (14-8, 6-4 MW) and San Jose State (7-15, 3-7) each used their first possession to honor the nine people who lost their lives in a helicopter crash Sunday, including Bryant and his daughter Gianna. The Spartans took a back-court violation, and then Boise State’s Abu Kigab — who wears No. 24 — stepped out of bounds with 24 seconds remaining on the shot clock. Bryant wore both No. 24 and No. 8 during his NBA career.
“San Jose State’s coach reached out to me, and their kids wanted to do something and my guys were really moved by it,” Rice said. “It’s remarkable and amazing how many people this has affected and how powerful this situation was for so many young guys that looked up to Kobe and that have watched him all their lives. It meant a lot to these guys. ... They’re dealing with something that their superhero died. And that’s tough.”
Boise State will try to extend its Mountain West winning streak to four games when it hosts Nevada (13-9, 6-4) at 8 p.m. Saturday at ExtraMile Arena. The game will be televised on ESPNU and is the second meeting between the two schools this season. The Broncos fell 83-66 at Nevada on Jan. 4.
Note: Boise State redshirt freshman Riley Abercrombie missed Wednesday’s game against the Spartans because of an illness.
Women’s basketball: San Jose St. 74, Boise State 61
The Broncos shot a season-low 33.8 percent from the floor and went a stretch of nearly 6 minutes in the fourth quarter without a field goal in a loss to second-place San Jose State on Wednesday in San Jose, California.
The loss snapped Boise State’s nine-game winning streak against the Spartans (15-6, 9-1 MW) and is SJSU’s first win in the series since 2015.
San Jose State’s Ayzhiana Basallo, who entered the game averaging a Mountain West-leading 21.2 points per game, tallied a game-high 28 points. Basallo went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line.
Boise State could have moved within a win of taking over second place by beating San Jose State. Instead, the Broncos (14-8, 6-4) fall to fourth in the conference standings and four games back of first-place Fresno State (17-4, 10-0).
Senior guard Riley Lupfer’s jumper brought Boise State within 59-53 with 8:06 to play, but that was as close as the Broncos would get the rest of the way. Lupfer finished with 13 points, and fellow senior A’Shanti Coleman notched the first double-double of her career with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
MEN: BOISE ST. 99, SAN JOSE ST. 71
SAN JOSE ST. (7-15, 3-7 MW)
Knight 6-16 3-3 16, Moore 4-6 0-0 8, Washington 6-13 2-2 17, Anigwe 1-2 1-1 3, Agee 1-2 2-2 4, Chappell 1-3 0-0 2, Ivey 1-2 1-2 3, Hammonds 4-8 0-0 9, Lane 4-7 1-7 9, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Simmons 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 10-17 71.
BOISE ST. (14-8, 6-4 MW)
Williams 6-8 3-4 15, Alston 9-12 3-4 27, Jessup 7-14 2-2 21, Dennis 2-5 0-0 5, Hobbs 4-7 3-4 12, Kigab 2-3 2-2 6, Dickinson 0-1 0-0 0, Rice 2-5 2-2 7, Jorch 1-1 1-2 3, Huang 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 34-58 16-20 99.
Halftime—Boise St. 42-27. 3-Point Goals—San Jose St. 5-24 (Washington 3-9, Hammonds 1-4, Knight 1-4, Anigwe 0-1, Chappell 0-1, Ivey 0-1, Simmons 0-1, Smith 0-1, Moore 0-2), Boise St. 15-26 (Alston 6-8, Jessup 5-9, Huang 1-1, Hobbs 1-2, Rice 1-2, Dennis 1-3, Kigab 0-1). Fouled Out—Jorch. Rebounds—San Jose St. 22 (Moore 5), Boise St. 34 (Williams 13). Assists—San Jose St. 9 (Knight, Moore, Hammonds, Lane 2), Boise St. 19 (Dennis 7). Total Fouls—San Jose St. 16, Boise St. 17. A—4,724 (12,480).
WOMEN: SAN JOSE ST. 74, BOISE ST. 61
BOISE ST. (14-8, 6-4 MW)
A’Shanti Coleman 7-21 3-3 17; Riley Lupfer 4-10 2-3 13; Jade Loville 5-9 0-0 10; Braydey Hodgins 2-6 2-2 7; Mallory McGwire 2-11 0-0 4; Rachel Bowers 2-4 0-0 4; Jayde Christopher 1-4 2-2 4; Ellie Woerner 1-2 0-0 2; Laia Soler 0-1 0-0 0; Maggie Freeman 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-71 9-10 61.
SAN JOSE ST. (15-6, 9-1 MW)
Ayzhiana Basallo 8-15 12-12 28; Tyra Whitehead 10-16 1-3 21; Megan Anderson 4-9 0-0 11; Fieme’a Hafoka 1-4 4-4 6; Cydni Lewis 2-5 0-0 4; Raziya Potter 1-10 0-0 2; Courtesy Clark 1-1 0-0 2; Danae Marquez 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 17-19 74.
Boise St...................... 15 16 16 14 — 61
San Jose St................... 14 26 19 15 — 74
3-point goals — Boise St. 4-18 (Lupfer 3-8; Hodgins 1-3; Christopher 0-2; Soler 0-1; Freeman 0-3; Loville 0-1), San Jose St. 3-13 (Anderson 3-7; Hafoka 0-1; Potter 0-3; Marquez 0-1; Basallo 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Boise St. 42 (Coleman 10), San Jose St. 39 (Anderson 8). Assists — Boise St. 19 (Christopher 9), San Jose St. 15 (Potter 4; Basallo 4). Total fouls — Boise St. 18, San Jose St. 13. Technical fouls — None. A — 1,362.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 9:07 PM.
