Debut day: Boise State men’s basketball adds final piece to puzzle in win over Air Force
The Boise State men’s basketball team finally got to show the world what it has been working on behind closed doors.
Arizona transfer Devonaire Doutrive made his Bronco debut Wednesday night in Boise State’s first game of the 2020-21 season at full strength.
The result was a 78-59 victory over Air Force in Mountain West action at ExtraMile Arena. Boise State has now won nine straight games — one short of tying the program record — and is 5-0 in conference play for the first time since 1988.
“It was killing him not to be out there with his teammates,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said in a post-game Zoom interview. “He was excited to play, and 412 days, for him to play that well after not playing in a college basketball game for that long is impressive and it shows you that he’s just scratching the surface of how good he can get.”
Doutrive’s first basket as a Bronco was a lesson in acrobatics. The 6-foot-5 junior guard dribbled to his right, briefly pulled back with a crossover dribble and took off full speed for the rim. He twisted his body in midair and kissed the shot off the glass. He finished with eight points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 18 minutes off the bench.
“I was a little nervous at first, but I got the hang of it,” Doutrive said. “I felt really good out there.”
Doutrive played his last game for Arizona on Nov. 21, 2019. His first game for Boise State came 412 days later.
“He’s real kind of quiet, but it’s really neat because he’s one of those kids, the moment you put him on a basketball court between the lines, it just changes his whole persona,” Rice said. “He’s just an old-school baller that loves to be out there, loves to play. It was great to free (Devonaire) today.”
The Broncos (9-1, 5-0 MW) got 35 points from their bench, including 15 points from Marcus Shaver Jr. and 12 points from Max Rice. The pair combined to shoot 7-for-8 from 3-point range. Derrick Alston Jr. led the Broncos in scoring for the seventh time this season with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Sophomore guard RayJ Dennis also scored in double figures, with 10 points.
“We’re deep. We’ve got a lot of players, a lot of athletes,” Shaver said. “Just a lot of talent on our team and that spark off the bench just really helps us to keep that same energy throughout the whole game.”
Doutrive checked into the game with 14:30 remaining in the first quarter and Air Force up 10-9. His debut coincided with a 15-0 Boise State run that featured four 3-pointers — two from Shaver and one apiece for Alston and Abu Kigab.
Air Force closed the gap to 31-29 before Max Rice delivered back-to-back 3-pointers over the final 1:19 of the first half to help push the Broncos’ advantage to 39-31 at the break.
“We’re having a great time,” Shaver said. “Just to have all our teammates available now is real fun. It’s a long time coming. Sitting out’s been hard, so everybody’s just taking advantage of the time we get together.”
Shaver is one of five Division I transfers on the Broncos’ roster who sat out last season. Wednesday’s game was the first time all of them were available. Leon Rice’s job gets harder from here as he attempts to divvy up playing time.
But there are worse problems for a coach.
“It’s something that we’re going to have to keep fighting for. It’s a culture thing. If you’re not fighting for your culture every day, it can slip,” Rice said. “Just the way social media is and outside voices, nobody’s immune to it. It’s impossible to shut it all out, so we have to keep working on that. ... If it really is what we want to be about, then we have to fight for it every single day.”
Boise State and Air Force (3-6, 1-4) square off again Friday at ExtraMile Arena. The game starts at 6 p.m. and will be streamed live at WatchStadium.com.
Note: With his 16 points Wednesday, Alston now has 1,179 for his career. He moved to No. 14 on Boise State’s all-time scoring list, passing Pat Hoke (1,165 points; 1972-76). Alston has climbed from No. 30 to No. 14 on the career list over the first 10 games of the season.
WOMEN: AIR FORCE 76, BOISE STATE 52
Boise State’s 5-0 start — and 13-game winning streak dating back to the end of the 2019-20 season — came to an abrupt end Wednesday at Clune Arena in Colorado.
The Broncos lost to the Falcons for the first time since 2013 and just the second time in program history.
“On our end, we just thought consistent effort was something that we really lacked,” Boise State assistant coach Cariann Ramirez told the Idaho Statesman in a post-game Zoom interview.
It was the first road game of the season for the Broncos (5-1, 2-1 MW), who returned only three players who logged minutes last season. This year’s roster features eight true freshmen and two redshirt freshmen.
Boise State started on a 6-0 run, and the score was tied at 21 with 6:39 to go in the second quarter. The Falcons then went on a 15-3 spurt for a 36-24 halftime lead. The onslaught continued in the second half as Air Force scored the first 11 points and held the Broncos without a field goal until the 4:37 mark of the third quarter.
Air Force (3-5, 1-2) led by as many as 34 points, 75-41, and forced 25 Boise State turnovers. The Broncos lead the all-time series 20-2.
“When we get to watching some film and going through some things, I think they know what they need to do,” Ramirez said. “It’s just ... being disciplined enough to get it done.”
In an effort to shift the momentum, Boise State coach Gordy Presnell emptied his bench. Of the 12 players who took the court, 10 scored two points or more. Junior guard Jade Loville was the only Bronco to score in double figures, with 16 points. Freshman Elodie Lalotte pulled down a team-best nine rebounds to go with five points, and Alexis Mark had seven points, three blocked shots and three assists.
The two teams meet again Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Clune. The game will be streamed live by the Mountain West Network, which is available at BroncoSports.com/mwn.
MEN: BOISE ST. 78, AIR FORCE 59
AIR FORCE (3-6, 1-4 MW)
Jackson 3-7 2-4 8, Joyce 3-9 0-0 6, McClintock 1-2 0-0 2, Van Soelen 5-8 2-2 15, Walker 7-12 1-2 16, Akaya 3-7 0-0 7, Octave 1-2 3-4 5, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Haut 0-0 0-0 0, Pierre-Louis 0-1 0-0 0, Dickenscheidt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-49 8-12 59.
BOISE ST. (9-1, 5-0 MW)
Armus 2-4 1-2 5, Kigab 2-3 2-2 7, Akot 2-6 1-2 5, Alston 4-12 7-7 16, Dennis 4-7 1-1 10, Shaver 5-9 2-2 15, Rice 4-6 0-0 12, Doutrive 3-6 2-2 8, Milner 0-0 0-0 0, Kuzmanovic 0-0 0-0 0, N.Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 16-18 78.
Halftime—Boise St. 39-31. 3-Point Goals—Air Force 5-21 (Van Soelen 3-5, Akaya 1-3, Walker 1-5, McClintock 0-1, Octave 0-1, Pierre-Louis 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Jackson 0-2, Joyce 0-2), Boise St. 10-22 (Rice 4-5, Shaver 3-3, Kigab 1-2, Dennis 1-3, Alston 1-7, Akot 0-1, Doutrive 0-1). Rebounds—Air Force 19 (Van Soelen 6), Boise St. 31 (Armus 9). Assists—Air Force 10 (Walker 4), Boise St. 18 (Armus, Akot, Alston, Shaver 3). Total Fouls—Air Force 15, Boise St. 15.
WOMEN: AIR FORCE 76, BOISE ST. 52
BOISE ST. (5-1, 2-1 MW)
Jade Loville 8-15 0-0 16; Alexis Mark 3-8 1-2 7; Raigan Reed 1-5 3-5 5; Elodie Lalotte 2-5 1-4 5; Abby Muse 2-4 1-2 5; Mary Kay Naro 2-2 0-0 4; Rachel Bowers 2-2 0-0 4; Mallory McGwire 1-4 0-0 2; Anna Ostlie 1-6 0-0 2; Martina Machalova 1-4 0-0 2; Cristina Gil 0-1 0-0 0; Kimora Sykes 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 6-13 52.
AIR FORCE (3-5, 1-2 MW)
Emily Conroe 7-8 0-0 14; Riley Snyder 4-15 3-4 13; Briana Autrey 4-12 4-5 12; Audrey Gadison 4-5 0-0 12; Nikki McDonald 4-6 0-0 10; Kaelin Immel 0-3 6-6 6; Kayla Pilson 1-6 2-2 4; Cierra Winters 2-3 0-0 4; Shadiya Thomas 0-1 1-2 1; Jordan Goodwin 0-0 0-0 0; Kam Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Dasha Macmillan 0-1 0-0 0; Kassady Huffman 0-1 0-0 0; Kamri Heath 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 16-19 76.
Boise St...................... 17 7 16 12 — 52
Air Force..................... 14 22 25 15 — 76
3-point goals — Boise St. 0-12 (Loville 0-3; Reed 0-3; Ostlie 0-4; Sykes 0-2), Air Force 8-17 (Gadison 4-4; Snyder 2-5; McDonald 2-3; Pilson 0-1; Macmillan 0-1; Autrey 0-2; Conroe 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Boise St. 38 (Lalotte 9), Air Force 38 (Autrey 7). Assists — Boise St. 9 (Mark 3), Air Force 13 (Autrey 5). Total fouls — Boise St. 16, Air Force 14. Technical fouls — None.
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 8:11 PM.
