Boise State’s hot start becomes ‘fool’s gold’ in semifinal loss to No. 5 San Diego State
There’s no such thing as a safe lead in college basketball. Just ask the Boise State men’s basketball team.
The Broncos led No. 5 San Diego State by 16 points — tied for the Aztecs’ largest deficit of the season — but could not maintain their early momentum in an 81-68 loss in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament on Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“That first half we were playing great basketball, but I knew they would counter punch. They’ve done it all year long,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “Man, they got it going and that lead went away in just a second. But we knew we weren’t going to win that game in the first half.
“You’ve gotta credit San Diego State. Great defensive team, and when they’re making shots like that, they can beat anybody — anybody in the country.”
The Aztecs made 15 3-pointers — the most allowed in Rice’s 10 seasons at Boise State and tied for the fourth-most in tournament history — to advance to the conference championship game at 3:30 p.m. MT Saturday on CBS. SDSU (29-1) will play Utah State (25-8).
Mountain West Player of the Year Malachi Flynn had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists, and KJ Feagin scored 21 points to lead the Aztecs, who are headed to the title game for the 10th time in the last 12 years.
“It’s not a surprise. I’ve watched them a lot. I know how good they are. I know how explosive they are, and I know how clutch they have been in those situations,” Rice said. “They don’t get fazed by the score. And in this day and age a 15-, 16-point first-half lead is almost a fool’s gold situation.”
Boise State went just 7-for-30 (23.3%) from the floor and 4-for-18 (22.2%) from beyond the arc in the second half while giving up 41 points to San Diego State. The Broncos lost despite five players scoring in double figures for just the third time this season against a Division I opponent.
“We knew they were gonna make a run, we just didn’t brace hard enough for it,” Boise State senior Justinian Jessup said. “We didn’t dig down deep enough on defense, and we gave them too many 3s.”
Friday’s loss doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the season for the Broncos (20-12). Boise State has two Quadrant 1 victories — BYU and Utah State. However, the Broncos had a NET ranking of 90 going into the game, which significantly hurts their chances of making the NCAA Tournament field. The Broncos also could be selected for the NIT or CBI. Selection Sunday is March 15, and the broadcast begins at 4 p.m. MT on CBS.
“I think if Utah State and San Diego State are going to the NCAA Tournament, then we’re next in line. We advanced the farthest. We were right there in that group that’s being considered,” Rice said. “… I don’t get to choose, but I hope we get that opportunity because I’ve got a lot of guys in that locker room that don’t want to take off the unis yet.”
After a Derrick Alston Jr. dunk opened the scoring, San Diego State knocked down three triples for a 9-2 lead, and it looked like Boise State was about to dig itself another big hole against the Aztecs.
Only this time, the Broncos didn’t initially fold. Boise State went on a 29-7 run — including a stretch of 16 unanswered points — and led 37-21 with 4:56 to play. Inevitably, San Diego State mounted a comeback, making five triples over the final 4 minutes to knot the game at 40 going into the locker room.
Alex Hobbs led the Broncos at halftime with 12 points on a 4-for-4 effort from the field. Alston chipped in 10 points and three assists as BSU combined to shoot 57.5% in the opening 20 minutes. Hobbs finished the game with a team-leading 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and Alston tallied 12 points, five boards and three assists.
RJ Williams added his second straight double-double and 12th of the season with 12 points and 12 boards. He is only the second Bronco in program history to record two double-doubles in a single conference tournament, joining Jason Ellis in the 2005 WAC Tournament. Abu Kigab and Jessup had 10 points apiece.
“I think we showed a lot of relentlessness going from last year losing 20 games and this year winning 20 games,” Kigab said. “Not many teams in the country can do that. We flipped the switch, and I’m very proud of my guys.”
Flynn scored the first four points of the second half to give the Aztecs the lead for good, and SDSU’s advantage grew to as much as 14 on a 3-pointer from Matt Mitchell with 5:19 to play. Jessup got the Broncos within eight points, 73-65, on a triple with 3:34 left, but the Aztecs never relented and polished off the win with a 6-for-6 showing at the free-throw line in the final 2 minutes.
“We’re still hoping for that NIT chance to keep playing, but if this is the last time that I get to put on a Bronco uniform, it’s been an honor from the second I stepped on campus,” Hobbs said. “Everything I learned from Coach Rice, all the staff, and just all the memories and all the things we learned.
“I don’t think too many teams could bounce back this year the way we did from last year, so that’s definitely something we can hang our hats on and be proud of and know that whether we are leaving this program and it’s our last game or not, we left our mark and we left it in a good spot going forward.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 9:19 PM.
