On ‘magnificent day,’ Williams delivers career performance in home finale at Boise State
Nearly an hour after the game had ended, Monquenta Young was still waiting for her son to finish signing autographs.
RJ Williams’ time at Boise State may have been short, but he left a lasting impression.
In his final home game for the Boise State men’s basketball team, Williams posted 27 points and 17 rebounds as the Broncos took down New Mexico 74-61 on Sunday afternoon at ExtraMile Arena.
Williams’ 27 points matched his career high, and his 17 rebounds were one more than his previous career best.
“It’s an out-of-body experience,” Young said as she watched her son sign autographs. “I’m just so proud of him and so grateful for Boise giving him this opportunity.”
Williams’ basketball story is one of perseverance. He broke both ankles as a senior in high school, spent a redshirt year at Cal State Dominguez Hills and then two seasons at East Los Angeles College — with a one-day stop at UTEP in between his two junior college seasons. He didn’t even start playing organized basketball until the ninth grade.
“He went after his dream, and he let nothing stop him no matter the hard times or the sad times,” Young said. “He was like: ‘I’m going to get up and get it.’ He saw basketball as a ticket to win in life, and he took the ticket and he’s winning.”
Williams was one of five seniors playing for the last time Sunday at ExtraMile Arena. Boise State coach Leon Rice honored the quintet of Marcus Dickinson, Alex Hobbs, Justinian Jessup, Robin Jorch and Williams by giving them the start against the Lobos.
Williams did his best to put on one last show, nearly earning a double-double by halftime. The 6-foot-7 forward from Los Angeles threw down three dunks and had three three-point plays. His slam with 1 minute, 11 seconds remaining on an alley-oop pass from Jessup provided a fitting finale for the 5,809 fans in attendance.
“It was a magnificent day,” Williams said. “It was just something you wish for and you dream of. That’s what happened tonight, and I just enjoy playing with these guys, especially the seniors.”
Jessup made three 3-pointers and contributed 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Mountain West’s career 3-point leader (316 and counting) is now three triples short of tying the Broncos’ single-season record of 92 set by Abe Jackson during the 2001-02 season. He already owns the No. 2, 3 and 4 single-season performances.
“You don’t get to script these things, but that’s about as close to a script that you can follow,” Rice said. “I’m really happy for not just our seniors. That was the last game this team plays in ExtraMile, so what a good way to go out.”
With the win, Boise State improves to 19-10 overall and 11-6 in Mountain West action. The Broncos sit a half-game back of Utah State (22-7, 11-5) and Nevada (18-10, 11-5) for second place in the league standings.
Boise State wraps up its regular-season schedule on Wednesday against UNLV (15-14, 10-6). Tipoff is 9 p.m. Mountain time at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The rest of the league concludes play Saturday, so the Broncos will likely have to wait until those games are finished to learn their seed in the Mountain West Tournament, which runs March 4-7 in Vegas.
BOISE ST. 74, NEW MEXICO 61
NEW MEXICO (17-12, 6-10 MW)
Manigault 1-2 1-2 3, Lyle 2-7 1-2 6, Wegscheider 1-1 2-2 4, Jackson 5-9 6-9 19, Maluach 2-9 0-0 4, McGee 5-8 1-1 12, Kuac 2-4 0-0 4, Arroyo 2-2 0-0 4, Martin 2-5 0-0 5, Percy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-47 11-16 61.
BOISE ST. (19-10, 11-6 MW)
Jorch 0-1 2-2 2, Dickinson 1-5 0-0 2, Hobbs 0-6 0-0 0, Jessup 5-12 2-2 15, Williams 11-14 5-5 27, Kigab 2-8 0-0 5, Alston 6-11 2-4 17, Dennis 2-4 0-0 6, Rice 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-61 11-13 74.
Halftime—Boise St. 37-26. 3-Point Goals—New Mexico 6-20 (Jackson 3-5, McGee 1-2, Martin 1-3, Lyle 1-6, Kuac 0-1, Maluach 0-3), Boise St. 9-31 (Alston 3-6, Jessup 3-8, Dennis 2-4, Kigab 1-6, Jorch 0-1, Williams 0-1, Hobbs 0-2, Dickinson 0-3). Rebounds—New Mexico 25 (Jackson 7), Boise St. 33 (Williams 17). Assists—New Mexico 8 (Lyle 5), Boise St. 15 (Jessup 4). Total Fouls—New Mexico 15, Boise St. 13. A—5,809 (12,480).
This story was originally published February 23, 2020 at 4:17 PM.
