Foul-fest, buzzer-beater doom Boise State basketball teams in Utah State sweep
In two Mountain West meetings this season, the Boise State and Utah State men’s basketball teams have combined for 105 fouls.
You read that right — 105 fouls.
After losing in overtime in Boise on Jan. 18, the Aggies prevailed in another whistle-filled game for a 70-61 victory over the Broncos on Saturday night at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The loss snapped Boise State’s five-game win streak and drops the Broncos into a tie for third in the conference standings with Utah State and Nevada.
Utah State finished 30-for-35 from the free-throw line in a matchup that featured 49 fouls, while the Broncos were 11-for-19. The Aggies have gone a combined 55-for-68 from the charity stripe in their two games against the Broncos this season.
“I’ll just say this: I’m really proud of our guys that we battled through a lot of adversity and battled through a tough place to play, a good opponent,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “Some tough circumstances that maybe should be reviewed. But we’ll see.”
The Broncos (16-9, 8-5 MW) were within one point, 62-61, with 1:01 to play after an Alex Hobbs-to-Riley Abercrombie layup. On the other end of the floor, the 6-foot-9, 210-pound Abercrombie was issued a flagrant foul while trying to defend Utah State 7-footer Neemias Queta under the basket. The call sent Queta to the line — where he made both freebies — and gave the Aggies (19-7, 8-5) the ball.
The Broncos were then whistled for a foul on Utah State’s Sam Merrill, who added two more free throws for a 66-61 lead with 29.5 seconds to play. A Diego Brito layup with 11 seconds on the clock was Utah State’s only field goal in the final 6:17 of the contest, but the Broncos were unable to score again after Abercrombie’s layup.
“Under a minute, it’s a one-possession game. That’s where we wanted to be,” Rice said. “... Our guys were competing.”
Queta had a game-leading 21 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, and Merrill managed 17 points and four assists in 23 minutes because of foul trouble. Merrill picked up his fourth foul of the game just 40 seconds into the second half and went to the bench. He did not return until the 6:46 mark.
Meanwhile, Robin Jorch and RJ Williams fouled out for the Broncos, and RayJ Dennis and Derrick Alston Jr. each finished the game with four fouls. Williams fouled out with 13:42 remaining and Jorch followed with 4:29 left. With both the Broncos’ big men in foul trouble, Abercrombie logged a career-high 17 minutes and contributed four points, three rebounds and an assist.
“That’s what happens when you have two teams that compete,” said Hobbs, who made his first start since Dec. 15 and totaled 15 points, six boards and three assists. “We have a respect for them, they obviously have a respect for us, and we’re going to go at it each and every night.”
Senior guard Justinian Jessup led the Broncos with 20 points, including 15 in the second half. He went 3-for-8 from deep to increase his career 3-point total to 301. Alston and Dennis added seven points apiece.
The Aggies made a pair of 7-0 runs in the opening 10 minutes and led by as many as 12 points in the first half. The game was stopped for an extended period with 4:13 on the clock as officials worked to determine what happened when Queta and Williams became entangled and fell to the ground while fighting for a rebound.
Queta was initially whistled for the foul, but officials also gave Williams a flagrant foul following a review. Frustrated with the call, Rice began arguing with one of the officials and was pulled away by Hobbs before the interaction became too heated. The Aggies went into the locker room with a 35-24 lead.
“I think you don’t necessarily want to throw it away, because I think we actually did some good things,” Hobbs said. “This is one of the toughest places we’ve played all year. I think that’s something that we can carry over for this next game.
“I don’t think we should completely flush that, because I think that’s the right mentality that we have to have going into these games. It’s basketball. Like Coach told us in the locker room, the great thing is we have another one.”
Boise State junior forward Abu Kigab missed his second straight game with a hip pointer. He sustained the injury against San Jose State on Jan. 29 and played just 10 minutes against Nevada. He sat out the Broncos’ 67-62 win at Wyoming.
The Broncos return to ExtraMile Arena for back-to-back Mountain West home games, beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday (AT&T SportsNet) against Air Force (9-15, 3-9). Boise State will be trying to avenge an 85-78 loss to the Falcons on Jan. 15 in which Rice received his first career ejection. The Broncos then face No. 4 San Diego State (24-0, 13-0) for the second time this season in a 2 p.m. Sunday game that will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
Women’s basketball: Utah State 58, Boise State 56
Another double-digit Boise State lead disintegrated in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, this time to last-place Utah State.
The Broncos held a 54-43 advantage with 3:13 remaining in the game Saturday at ExtraMile Arena, but the Aggies stole the victory with a 17-4 run over the final 2:56. It was Boise State’s fourth loss in Mountain West play when it had the lead going into the fourth quarter and the third league loss after leading by double digits.
“I thought Utah State was a hungrier team, and we played not to lose, like we’ve done in the past,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a press release. “We just didn’t execute down the stretch.”
Redshirt junior center Mallory McGwire nearly forced overtime when she scored on an inbounds pass from Braydey Hodgins with 2.5 seconds left to tie the game at 56. The jubilation evaporated just as quickly when Utah State’s Marlene Aniambossou sank the game-winning jumper as time expired.
Senior guard Riley Lupfer paced the Broncos in scoring for the second straight game with 20 points, six rebounds and two assists. McGwire posted her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 boards.
Despite the disappointing loss to the Aggies (7-17, 2-11 MW), the Broncos (16-9, 8-5) remain in fourth place in the league standings. They are one game ahead of Wyoming and two games in front of sixth-place San Diego State. The top five teams at the end of the regular season receive a first-round bye in the Mountain West Tournament.
Boise State’s next game is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Air Force (5-18, 3-9). The Broncos defeated the Falcons 70-61 on Jan. 15 in Boise.
MEN: UTAH ST. 70, BOISE ST. 61
BOISE ST. (16-9, 8-5 MW)
Alston 2-8 2-4 7, Dennis 2-8 2-4 7, Hobbs 6-10 2-4 15, Jessup 7-17 3-3 20, Williams 1-2 2-4 4, Abercrombie 2-9 0-0 4, Rice 0-2 0-0 0, Jorch 1-3 0-0 2, Dickinson 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 22-62 11-19 61.
UTAH ST. (19-7, 8-5 MW)
Bean 1-3 5-6 7, Queta 5-8 11-14 21, Merrill 4-7 8-8 17, Miller 2-9 0-0 5, Porter 1-5 2-2 4, Brito 4-10 3-3 11, Anderson 1-3 1-2 3, Bairstow 1-5 0-0 2, Dorius 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 30-35 70.
Halftime—Utah St. 35-24. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 6-29 (Jessup 3-8, Hobbs 1-2, Alston 1-4, Dennis 1-7, Dickinson 0-1, Jorch 0-1, Rice 0-1, Abercrombie 0-5), Utah St. 2-19 (Merrill 1-3, Miller 1-6, Bairstow 0-2, Porter 0-3, Brito 0-5). Fouled Out—Williams, Jorch. Rebounds—Boise St. 28 (Hobbs 6), Utah St. 47 (Bean 16). Assists—Boise St. 11 (Hobbs, Jessup 3), Utah St. 12 (Merrill, Porter 4). Total Fouls—Boise St. 27, Utah St. 22. A—10,033 (10,270).
WOMEN: UTAH ST. 58, BOISE ST. 56
UTAH ST. (7-17, 2-11 MW)
Steph Gorman 6-16 4-5 20; Marlene Aniambossou 5-9 1-2 11; Hailey Bassett 2-9 6-8 10; Emmie Harris 1-2 4-4 6; Lindsey Jensen-Baker 1-4 2-2 5; Faith Brantley 1-3 2-2 4; Taylor Franson 1-3 0-0 2; Laura Daulton 0-0 0-0 0; Elli Emrich 0-0 0-0 0; Kamalu Kamakawiwo’ol 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-46 19-23 58.
BOISE ST. (16-9, 8-5 MW)
Riley Lupfer 6-16 3-3 20; Mallory McGwire 5-11 1-1 12; A’Shanti Coleman 2-7 3-3 7; Braydey Hodgins 1-7 2-2 4; Ellie Woerner 2-5 0-0 4; Jayde Christopher 1-6 2-2 4; Jade Loville 2-4 0-0 4; Rachel Bowers 0-2 1-2 1; Maggie Freeman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 12-13 56.
Utah St....................... 15 13 8 22 — 58
Boise St...................... 12 7 21 16 — 56
3-point goals — Utah St. 5-15 (Gorman 4-11; Jensen-Baker 1-2; Bassett 0-1; Brantley 0-1), Boise St. 6-26 (Lupfer 5-13; McGwire 1-3; Hodgins 0-4; Woerner 0-2; Christopher 0-2; Loville 0-1; Coleman 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Utah St. 33 (Gorman 6; Franson 6), Boise St. 37 (McGwire 12). Assists — Utah St. 8 (Brantley 3), Boise St. 10 (Christopher 4). Total fouls — Utah St. 18, Boise St. 17. Technical fouls — None. A — 1,560.
This story was originally published February 8, 2020 at 10:49 PM.
