Loville drops 31 on San Jose State; Boise State men set program record in rec center win
Boise State had to play its Mountain West women’s basketball season opener with the deck stacked against it.
The Broncos were without preseason all-league pick Mallory McGwire because of a death in the family. Fellow starter Rachel Bowers was limited to 10 minutes with foul trouble, and key reserve Chinma Njoku was not suited up for an undisclosed reason.
No matter, Jade Loville came to the Broncos’ rescue.
Loville scored a career-high 31 points and never left the court as Boise State held off San Jose State 77-75 on Thursday afternoon inside ExtraMile Arena.
“We really needed every one of them,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said of Loville’s 31 points. “We tried to move her all over the floor — she played a little short corner, a little wing, she even played high post. We were just trying to get her open looks. She’s a really terrific shooter in the two-point area, and she can finish around the basket.”
A Loville layup with 3:50 left in the game broke a 68-all tie and put the Broncos ahead of the Spartans for good in a matchup that saw 12 lead changes and four ties. True freshman Abby Muse contributed 14 points and 18 rebounds, and freshmen guards Raigan Reed and Mary Kay Naro notched 10 points apiece. Naro also added a game-leading eight assists.
Boise State’s roster features eight true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen, and the group combined for the Broncos’ remaining 46 points to beat a San Jose State team that was picked to finish second in conference play this season.
The Broncos (4-0, 1-0 MW) won despite being outrebounded 51-44 and committing more turnovers (19 vs. 13).
“I just wanted them to get a victory under their belt, you know, being so young and all these freshmen,” Presnell said. “I really do believe that we have a chance to build something special again here over the course of the next few years.”
After Loville’s tie-breaking bucket with 3:50 remaining, the Spartans (2-1, 1-1 MW) managed to make it a single-possession game four more times over the closing minutes. Loville converted on a three-point play with 1:37 to go for a 76-72 Boise State lead, but the Spartans cut the deficit to 76-73 when Tyra Whitehead made 1-of-2 free-throw attempts. Whitehead then scored on a putback to make it 76-75 BSU with 22 seconds left.
San Jose State fouled Mary Kay Naro following a Boise State timeout. With the Broncos in the bonus, Naro made 1-for-2 freebies for a 77-75 lead, prompting a timeout from SJSU with 18.8 seconds to play.
A layup attempt from SJSU’s Raziya Potter hit the back iron and bounced out, and Muse corralled the rebound and drew a foul. But Muse missed both free throws, giving the Spartans one last chance.
Boise State freshman Elodie Lalotte sealed the victory by swatting away Whitehead’s baseline jumper at the buzzer.
The Broncos host the Spartans again Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at ExtraMile, and the game will be streamed live at BroncosSports.com/mwn, or listen on the radio on 1350 AM.
Note: Due to a recording error, the Idaho Statesman’s post-game interview with Loville was not available.
Men: Boise State 106, San Jose State 54
A rec center court in Phoenix might not have been the most glamorous location for Boise State’s latest Mountain West men’s basketball game. But sometimes unusual circumstances lead to extraordinary things.
The Broncos set a program record for largest margin of victory in a conference game with their 52-point win over the Spartans on Saturday at Ability 360 Sports & Fitness Center. It also is the second-largest margin of victory in a conference game in Mountain West history.
San Jose State relocated its men’s and women’s basketball teams to Arizona because of restrictions in Santa Clara County in response to COVID-19.
“It was fun. I loved it,” Boise State senior Abu Kigab said in a post-game Zoom interview. “It reminded me of the good old days of AAU, high school, so I was really into it.”
Kigab posted his first double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-best 14 rebounds. He was one of six Broncos to score in double figures and one of 11 Broncos to score in all.
“These guys are amazing, there’s no human nature, there are no bad minutes because of the score,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “We’re playing it possession by possession and, man, do we do our job. Our defense is cumulative, and it’s hard when every trip down the floor is going to be hard for you. We take a lot of pride in that, and that’s what gets fun.
“We can score in waves from (Marcus) Shaver and Max (Rice) and all a sudden — boom, boom, boom. ... The lead grows quickly, and I think that’s kind of who we’re becoming.”
Boise State’s defense limited San Jose State to 23.8% from the floor and just 11.5% (3-for-26) from 3-point range. The Spartans made more free throws (21) than they did field goals (15).
While San Jose State (1-5, 0-3 MW) struggled to score, the Broncos could hardly be stopped. After taking a 54-29 halftime lead, Boise State began the second half on a 13-0 run. Redshirt senior Derrick Alston Jr. knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers during the run on his way to a game-high 23 points. Shaver had 18 points and seven rebounds in his second game back from a foot injury, and RayJ Dennis and Emmanuel Akot added 13 points each. Max Rice made it six Broncos in double digits with his 11 points.
The Broncos also were a perfect 25-for-25 from the free-throw line, which stands as the second most made free throws without a miss in program and Mountain West history. BSU’s 55 rebounds are its most since 2012 when the Broncos had 56 against Corban.
Boise State (7-1, 3-0) pushed its win streak to seven games — its longest since the 2016-17 season. The Broncos have now won three straight Mountain West games by 24, 37 and 52 points. Boise State last won three consecutive league games by 20 or more during the 1986-87 season.
The two teams meet again Saturday, but this time the game will be played at Grand Canyon University. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. MT on Fox Sports 1.
“We’re going to treat it just like how we did New Mexico,” Kigab said. “Stay locked in and probably be even more aggressive next game. You know, they’re going to try to catch us slipping, but we’re not going to let them do that. We’re going to be locked in and ready to go.”
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 77, SAN JOSE ST. 75
SAN JOSE ST. (2-1, 1-1 MW)
Cydni Lewis 7-14 5-5 20; Raziya Potter 6-16 4-8 17; Tyra Whitehead 7-18 2-4 16; Danae Marquez 3-8 0-0 8; Courtesy Clark 2-9 0-0 5; Sophia Jones 1-3 1-3 4; Autam Mendez 1-5 0-0 3; Meghan Oberg 1-5 0-0 2; Alani Fluker 0-0 0-0 0; Analyss Benally 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 28-81 12-20 75.
BOISE ST. (4-0, 1-0 MW)
Jade Loville 12-23 5-6 31; Abby Muse 7-13 0-3 14; Mary Kay Naro 3-9 1-2 10; Raigan Reed 3-6 1-2 10; Alexis Mark 4-12 0-0 8; Elodie Lalotte 1-4 2-2 4; Rachel Bowers 0-0 0-0 0; Martina Machalova 0-0 0-0 0; Chinma Njoku 0-0 0-0 0; Kimora Sykes 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 30-70 9-15 77.
San Jose St................... 20 10 25 20 — 75
Boise St...................... 19 17 17 24 — 77
3-point goals — San Jose St. 7-19 (Marquez 2-5; Jones 1-2; Lewis 1-3; Clark 1-3; Potter 1-1; Mendez 1-2; Benally 0-2; Oberg 0-1), Boise St. 8-19 (Reed 3-5; Naro 3-4; Loville 2-7; Sykes 0-2; Mark 0-1). Fouled out — San Jose St.-Potter; Boise St.-None. Rebounds — San Jose St. 51 (Lewis 13), Boise St. 44 (Muse 18). Assists — San Jose St. 15 (Marquez 4), Boise St. 15 (Naro 8). Total fouls — San Jose St. 21, Boise St. 18. Technical fouls — None.
MEN: BOISE ST. 106, SAN JOSE ST. 54
BOISE ST. (7-1, 3-0 MW)
Armus 0-2 6-6 6, Kigab 4-8 3-3 12, Akot 5-11 0-0 13, Alston 7-14 6-6 23, Dennis 5-8 2-2 13, Shaver 6-11 4-4 18, Rice 4-9 2-2 11, N.Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Kuzmanovic 1-3 0-0 2, Milner 1-2 2-2 4, Pryor 0-2 0-0 0, B.Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Ivory 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-73 25-25 106.
SAN JOSE ST. (1-5, 0-3 MW)
Agee 3-8 7-8 13, Clarkin 1-1 0-0 2, Moore 1-4 1-1 3, T.Smith 1-10 4-5 7, Washington 3-12 3-5 9, Lacewell 2-7 1-2 6, Simmons 1-7 4-4 7, Mendoza 0-7 0-0 0, Courtney 2-5 1-2 5, Dhaliwal 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 15-63 21-27 54.
Halftime—Boise St. 54-29. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 11-32 (Akot 3-6, Alston 3-9, Shaver 2-5, Dennis 1-2, Rice 1-3, Kigab 1-4, Pryor 0-1, Kuzmanovic 0-2), San Jose St. 3-26 (Lacewell 1-4, Simmons 1-7, T.Smith 1-7, Moore 0-1, Washington 0-3, Mendoza 0-4). Rebounds—Boise St. 49 (Kigab 14), San Jose St. 32 (Moore, Mendoza 5). Assists—Boise St. 17 (Dennis, Rice 3), San Jose St. 8 (Mendoza 3). Total Fouls—Boise St. 19, San Jose St. 23.
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 11:10 PM.
