Boise State bounces New Mexico behind big night from Rice, Alston dunk fest
During a timeout late in the second half, New Mexico coach Paul Weir looked at the stat sheet and rubbed the back of his head.
Weir tossed the paper aside and thrust his hands into his pockets. There really wasn’t anything to say.
Between Max Rice’s career night and Derrick Alston Jr.’s collection of highlight-reel dunks, the Boise State men’s basketball team left the Lobos looking helpless in an 89-52 Mountain West victory Wednesday night at ExtraMile Arena.
“We’ve got eight guys on this roster that can go get 30 every night, really,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “They’ve got to just do what the game tells them to do and when they do that, they’re going to be great.”
Max Rice and Alston each finished with 22 points for the Broncos (6-1, 2-0 MW), who pushed their win streak to six games. Boise State’s 37-point win is its largest margin of victory over the Lobos in series history. The Broncos beat the Lobos by a combined 61 points in their two-game series.
Max Rice established career bests for points (22), field goals made (9), field goals attempted (13) and 3-pointers attempted (7). His four made triples tied his career best. The younger Rice troubled New Mexico (3-2, 0-2) in all facets of the game, from facilitating on the fast break to driving layups to long-range 3s and even a team-high seven boards.
“I expect that out of him, and his teammates do, too,” Leon Rice said. “… Because he can really, really shoot, if they’re gonna run him off the line, he can get in the paint and make plays for others.”
Meanwhile, Alston was a perfect 9-for-9 from the floor with four dunks, each of which seemed to outdo the one before. Alston’s 9-for-9 performance is tied for the second-most makes without a miss in program history. Only Tanoka Beard had more, going 10-for-10 against Southern Illinois in 1991.
“I feel like everybody just had it going tonight offensively,” said Alston, who added six assists, four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. “We were just sharing the ball really well, just making the right plays and taking what the defense gives us.”
Marcus Shaver Jr., who had missed the Broncos’ past three games with a foot injury, returned to the lineup and totaled 13 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Despite limited practice time over the past three weeks, Shaver entered the game with 15:02 to play in the first half and sank the first 3-pointer he attempted. He finished 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
“I told him: ‘If you feel good, go let it rip,’ ” Leon Rice said. “If there’s ever a guy that could go out and play without three weeks of practice, he’s that kind of guy. The game comes pretty easy to him, and the ball goes in for him.”
The Broncos shot a combined 60% from the field (36-for-60) against the Lobos and led by as many as 40 points. And they’re still awaiting the debut of another impact player — Arizona transfer Devonaire Doutrive.
“If you’ve ever seen Devonaire, he’s something really special. I’ve never seen anything like him,” Max Rice said. “He’ll bring a whole different element to our team. He’s super quick. Probably the most athletic guy on the team, so we’ve got even more coming for sure.”
Boise State is scheduled to face San Jose State on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2. The Spartans recently relocated their men’s and women’s basketball teams to Phoenix because of a Santa Clara County health directive that does not allow teams to participate in full practices and games against outside competition.
The SJSU squads have set up day-to-day operations at Arizona Grand Resort & Spa.
A tipoff time and location for the Broncos’ Dec. 31 game against the Spartans in Phoenix has not yet been set. The Jan. 2 game begins at 6:30 p.m. MT on Fox Sports 1 and is scheduled to be played at Grand Canyon University.
BOISE ST. 89, NEW MEXICO 52
NEW MEXICO (3-2, 0-2 MW)
Brown 4-7 0-0 8, Matos 2-6 1-4 5, Francis 3-8 0-0 6, Singleton 1-8 6-7 8, Maluach 2-10 4-4 8, Wegscheider 1-2 1-2 3, Dorsey 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 2-4 3-3 7, Kuac 1-1 0-0 3, Manuel 2-5 0-1 4, Padgett 0-1 0-0 0, Marin 0-0 0-0 0, Arroyo 0-0 0-0 0, Patterson 0-1 0-0 0, Headdings 0-0 0-0 0, Medina 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 15-21 52.
BOISE ST. (6-1, 2-0 MW)
Armus 2-4 1-2 5, Kigab 2-3 2-2 6, Akot 3-11 1-2 7, Alston 9-9 1-1 22, Dennis 2-7 0-0 5, Rice 9-13 0-0 22, Shaver 5-7 0-0 13, Milner 3-3 0-0 6, Kuzmanovic 0-2 0-0 0, N.Smith 0-0 0-0 0, B.Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Ivory 0-0 0-0 0, Pryor 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 36-60 6-9 89.
Halftime—Boise St. 52-28. 3-Point Goals—New Mexico 1-9 (Kuac 1-1, Francis 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Medina 0-1, Padgett 0-1, Patterson 0-1, Maluach 0-3), Boise St. 11-22 (Rice 4-7, Alston 3-3, Shaver 3-3, Dennis 1-4, Akot 0-5). Rebounds—New Mexico 23 (Wegscheider 5), Boise St. 34 (Rice 7). Assists—New Mexico 3 (Brown, Wegscheider, Marin 1), Boise St. 23 (Akot, Alston, Dennis 6). Total Fouls—New Mexico 13, Boise St. 20.
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 10:47 PM.
