Jessup matches Jimmer as Boise State men beat Nevada for first time since 2016
There is a wall of fame in the Arguinchona Basketball Complex that features some of the best men’s basketball players to ever suit up for the Broncos.
On Saturday night, Justinian Jessup’s picture was added to that wall.
The senior guard tied BYU’s Jimmer Fredette for the Mountain West’s career 3-point record as Boise State beat Nevada 73-64 at ExtraMile Arena. It is the Broncos’ first victory over the Wolf Pack since 2016 and ends an eight-game losing streak to the three-time defending Mountain West regular-season champions.
“He’ll live on here forever, Justinian Jessup, on our wall of fame,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said.
How did the spotlight-deflecting Jessup react to the honor?
“The players were like: ‘Speech! Speech!’” Rice said. “No. There was no speech.”
Jessup matched Fredette’s 296 triples with a 3-pointer with 4 minutes, 20 seconds left in the game. The Wolf Pack had cut Boise State’s once double-digit lead to four points, but Jessup’s historic shot gave the Broncos a 65-58 advantage and incited a loud reaction from the season-high crowd of 6,538. He took one more 3-point attempt with 2:55 to play that rolled in and out, just missing on the chance to set the conference record in front of his home fans.
“Some dude (in the crowd) right behind me was like: ‘This is the one!’” Jessup said. “And I was like ‘Oh,’ and I missed it. ... Not to sound selfish, but I really wish I could have gotten (the record) here in front of our amazing fans, but I’m glad we got the win for sure.”
Feeding off the energy of the crowd that spilled into the second deck, the Broncos jumped on the Wolf Pack immediately. Jessup scored Boise State’s first five points, and freshman RayJ Dennis made it an 8-0 lead with a 3-pointer with 18:04 on the clock.
The Wolf Pack (13-10, 6-5 MW) missed their first nine attempts from 3-point range and fell behind by as many as 22 points at 36-14. If not for a 7-0 Nevada run to end the first half, Boise State’s halftime lead would have been much larger. As it was, the Broncos went into the locker room up 36-21.
“I had never beaten them in my career. ... It was definitely a little extra motivation,” Jessup said. “We came out with the right energy and got off to an early lead.”
Nevada guard Jalen Harris scored 25 of his game-leading 30 points in the second half as the Wolf Pack whittled the Broncos’ lead down to as little as three points, 48-45, with 10:58 remaining.
Boise State countered with back-to-back drives and buckets from Alex Hobbs and Derrick Alston Jr., and the Broncos held their ground to move into a tie with Colorado State for second place in the conference standings. Boise State beat the Rams 75-64 in the teams’ only regular-season meeting.
“I’m really, really happy for them, because they deserve it,” Rice said. “We have tough guys that have been through the thick and thin with with me for a long time. It’s awesome to see them have success, and we want to continue that. We’re going to keep working hard and we’re going to embrace every game.”
Alston led the Broncos with 24 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Jessup finished with 17 points as nine Broncos notched three points or more.
Nevada played Saturday’s game without senior guard Jazz Johnson, who was out with a shoulder injury. Johnson is scheduled to see a doctor when the Wolf Pack return to Reno, a team spokesman said, and his status for Nevada’s next game is uncertain.
Meanwhile, Boise State was without the services of junior Abu Kigab for much of the game. He played 10 minutes in the first half but did not return. Rice said Kigab sustained a hip pointer against San Jose State on Wednesday and that the injury was still bothering him.
“It’s just the next-man-up mentality. That group is used to playing with each other. We didn’t play with (Abu) for half the year,” Alston said. “It was just so what? Now what? We knew that group was going to finish the game and we weren’t going to have Abu, so we just went out there and got the job done.”
Boise State (15-8, 7-4) can extend its conference win streak to five games — a feat last accomplished during the 2014-15 season — when it takes on Wyoming (6-17, 1-10) on Tuesday. Tipoff is 8 p.m. Mountain time at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming. The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet.
Women’s basketball: Boise State 83, Nevada 72
Coach Gordy Presnell said what everyone was probably thinking.
“We needed that,” Presnell told Chris Lewis in a post-game radio interview on 1350 AM.
The Broncos avoided a third straight Mountain West loss by knocking off Nevada 83-72 on Saturday at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
Senior guard Braydey Hodgins scored a season-high 25 points, and fellow senior A’Shanti Coleman matched her career high with 22 points. Coleman also pulled down 12 boards for her second straight double-double. Reno native Mallory McGwire came one rebound short of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Broncos (15-8, 7-4) scored an impressive 70 of their 83 points in the paint.
“We had great poise and great energy. I thought Braydey and A’Shanti were just tremendous,” Presnell said in a press release. “I was just so excited that we won the game. We took care of the ball and made good decisions against their press. It was a great win for us, especially getting the piano off our backs. Hopefully we can take it into next week with two home games.”
After a week on the road, the Broncos return home for back-to-back league games, starting with Wyoming (11-9, 7-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday at ExtraMile Arena. The Cowgirls won the first meeting this season between the two teams 73-68 on Jan. 1 at Wyoming.
MEN: BOISE ST. 73, NEVADA 64
NEVADA (13-10, 6-5 MW)
Harris 12-23 3-4 30, Drew 3-6 0-1 7, Zouzoua 2-10 0-0 5, Milling 2-6 0-0 5, Robinson 3-3 0-0 6, Meeks 3-5 2-2 9, Reyes 1-2 0-0 2, Hymes 0-0 0-0 0, Bansuelo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 5-7 64.
BOISE ST. (15-8, 7-4 MW)
Alston 6-16 11-14 24, Jessup 6-13 3-4 17, Dickinson 1-2 0-0 3, Hobbs 3-9 0-0 8, Dennis 2-3 0-1 6, Jorch 1-1 1-2 3, R.Williams 1-2 4-5 6, Kigab 1-4 0-0 3, Rice 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 22-52 19-26 73.
Halftime—Boise St. 36-21. 3-Point Goals—Nevada 7-27 (Harris 3-10, Meeks 1-3, Milling 1-3, Drew 1-4, Zouzoua 1-7), Boise St. 10-29 (Dennis 2-3, Hobbs 2-3, Jessup 2-8, Dickinson 1-2, Rice 1-2, Kigab 1-3, Alston 1-8). Fouled Out—Zouzoua. Rebounds—Nevada 29 (Drew 10), Boise St. 29 (Alston 6). Assists—Nevada 6 (Harris, Drew 2), Boise St. 11 (Alston 4). Total Fouls—Nevada 23, Boise St. 14. A—6,538 (12,480).
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 83, NEVADA 72
BOISE ST. (15-8, 7-4 MW)
Braydey Hodgins 12-22 0-0 25; A’Shanti Coleman 10-12 2-2 22; Mallory McGwire 6-10 0-0 12; Ellie Woerner 2-3 3-4 7; Jayde Christopher 2-9 2-2 6; Riley Lupfer 3-8 0-1 6; Jade Loville 2-5 1-2 5; Rachel Bowers 0-1 0-0 0; Maggie Freeman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-71 8-11 83.
NEVADA (10-12, 3-8 MW)
Imani Lacy 8-14 12-14 28; Essence Booker 7-14 1-1 19; Marguerite Effa 4-9 1-1 9; Nia Alexander 2-5 2-2 6; Amaya West 2-3 0-0 5; Da’Ja Hamilton 1-4 1-1 3; Jenai Williams 1-6 0-0 2; Jacqulynn Nakai 0-1 0-0 0; Miki’ala Maio 0-2 0-0 0; Alyssa Jimenez 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 17-19 72.
Boise St...................... 14 19 25 25 — 83
Nevada........................ 17 19 13 23 — 72
3-point goals — Boise St. 1-10 (Hodgins 1-4; Christopher 0-1; Lupfer 0-5), Nevada 5-17 (Booker 4-7; West 1-2; Hamilton 0-1; Williams 0-3; Nakai 0-1; Jimenez 0-1; Effa 0-1; Lacy 0-1). Fouled out — Boise St.-McGwire, Nevada-None. Rebounds — Boise St. 39 (Coleman 12), Nevada 33 (Williams 7). Assists — Boise St. 8 (Christopher 6), Nevada 11 (Williams 8). Total fouls — Boise St. 19, Nevada 14. Technical fouls — None. A — 1,617.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 10:15 PM.
