Boise State men’s basketball team achieves history with victory at Wyoming
The 2020-21 Boise State men’s basketball team had historic aspirations.
The Broncos got their wish Monday night in Laramie, Wyoming.
Boise State defeated Wyoming 83-60 at Arena-Auditorium for a program-record 11th consecutive victory. The Broncos also matched the 1987-88 squad for the best conference start in program history at 7-0.
“It’s funny because as a coach, and maybe even as a player with social media nowadays, they probably see it and hear it all the time because it’s talked about a lot,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said of the team’s current winning streak in a postgame Zoom interview.
“But we don’t really talk about that. We’re just getting on to the next. We’ll celebrate this one. We’ve got tonight to enjoy it and then we’re back to work tomorrow.”
Senior Abu Kigab and junior Devonaire Doutrive each scored 21 points for the Broncos, and redshirt junior Mladen Armus contributed a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds to go with three assists. Kigab also registered five blocked shots, four assists and three rebounds in a game where individual Broncos took turns with the hot hand.
In only his third game as a Bronco, Doutrive established a career high for points, including a 4-for-7 effort from the 3-point line. The Arizona transfer made three of his four triples in a 90-second stretch beginning with 3:45 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“We have a great group of guys. They just love to compete,” Doutrive said. “One thing I love to do is compete, play my heart and soul out every game, every practice, everything I do. I’m surrounded by a great group of guys that are willing to do that.”
After scoring a season-high 25 points the Broncos’ last time out, Kigab was back at it against the Cowboys. He scored the game’s opening bucket and had 15 of his 21 points in the first half. Armus — who teammates nicknamed “the beast” — had 10 of his 12 points, 11 of his 14 rebounds and all three of his assists in the second half.
“I know that they trust me, and that’s something that is important to me to have their support,” Armus said. “Like I said, I struggled a little bit at the beginning of the season. There was some frustration about some stuff, but now we see that it’s going better and better for me and for my team as well. Trust is a key word.”
Wyoming whittled Boise State’s double-digit lead down to 63-58 on a Marcus Williams 3-pointer with 8:19 remaining in the game. The Cowboys’ only points the rest of the way would come on a pair of free throws as the Broncos finished on a 20-2 run. Doutrive contributed 11 points during the decisive run.
“That kid’s a scorer. I’ve walked out of practice a lot of times and went, ‘Oh wow. He’s tough to guard.’ “ Rice said. “We scrimmaged one time and (Doutrive) was on the second team and against the top seven and he had 26 points on us. We couldn’t stop him. Ballers gotta ball, and that’s what you saw him do tonight.”
The Broncos played their second straight game without redshirt junior Emmanuel Akot, who has been sidelined with a tender Achilles. Then leading scorer Derrick Alston Jr. went down with what CBS Sports Network’s Carter Blackburn called a right ankle injury. Alston was able to walk to the locker room on his own and later returned to the Broncos’ bench, but he did not play again.
“I think he turned it pretty bad, but I have no idea how bad,” Rice told CBS Sports Network in a live postgame interview. “You never know with ankle sprains. Sometimes some guys can be out for a week or some guys can be back the next day.”
Doutrive, Marcus Shaver Jr. and Max Rice each made key contributions off the bench. Shaver had seven points and six rebounds, while Rice had nine points and eight boards as the Broncos’ reserves outscored Wyoming’s bench 30-19. Boise State also won the battle of the boards, 47-23, including 15 offensive rebounds that resulted in 16 second-chance points. Starter RayJ Dennis added nine points on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor despite playing the final 9:02 of the game with four fouls.
“We don’t survive these games without depth,” Leon Rice said. “We didn’t have Akot and then we didn’t have D.A.”
The Broncos (11-1, 7-0 MW) take on the Cowboys (7-3, 1-2) again on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
“Give credit to Coach Rice,” said Wyoming coach Jeff Linder, who was an assistant for the Broncos under Rice from 2010-16. “That is a program that is 10 years in the making, with players who have been coached the right way and have developed the right habits that allow them to win the games they’ve won.”
WOMEN: BOISE STATE 68, WYOMING 61
Wyoming defenders assumed Boise State wouldn’t be as dangerous from beyond the arc after the graduation of Riley Lupfer and Braydey Hodgins — two of the program’s all-time best from 3-point land.
The Broncos expected the Cowgirls would take that approach, and they were fully prepared to take advantage when Wyoming clogged the key, daring the Broncos to test their 3-point prowess.
What was less expected, however, was the Bronco doing the most damage from deep.
Mallory McGwire, a 6-foot-5 redshirt senior center, has certainly made 3-pointers for Boise State in the past. Her triple in overtime gave Boise State a victory over New Mexico last season, and she made 32 triples in all over the course of the 2019-20 season.
But McGwire’s 5-for-11 performance from 3-point range Monday afternoon at ExtraMile Arena was an unprecedented moment in her career. She finished with a career-best 25 points and 15 rebounds to carry the Broncos (7-1, 4-1 MW) to a victory over the Cowgirls (4-4, 2-3) in Mountain West play.
“It’s fun. I’ve never really had a game like that where they just sag off the whole time,” McGwire said. “I do like playing low, but shooting is a lot of fun. It’s nice that our guards recognized it.”
The Broncos matched their season high with eight made 3-pointers. True freshmen Anna Ostlie connected on 2-of-3 attempts from 3-point range, and Raigan Reed sank the only triple she attempted.
The Broncos have struggled from beyond the arc at times this season as eight true freshmen acclimate to the college game. Boise State’s streak of 264 consecutive games with at least one made triple dating back to 2012 came to an end last week in a loss at Air Force.
“I think it’s just kind of being able to do it more and just be more comfortable in it,” Boise State assistant coach Cariann Ramirez said about McGwire in a postgame Zoom interview. “I think she’s always had the three in her bag, but it’s just becoming more comfortable and obviously coach (Gordy Presnell) being way more apt to call plays for her to look for her and that 3-point shot just because we are so young.”
Boise State had three or more players score in double figures in six of its first seven games, but McGwire and freshman Alexis Mark were the only Broncos to do so against Wyoming. Mark totaled 12 points, three rebounds and three steals, Ostlie added seven points and point guard Mary Kay Naro had five points and six assists. Naro is averaging 5.3 assists per game, which ranks second in the Mountain West.
Twelve Broncos logged playing time, and 10 registered two points or more.
“We don’t know what to expect from some of these freshmen day in and day out,” Ramirez said. “It’s kind of enjoyable and also stressful for us, because you never know what you’re gonna get. They played hard today. I thought we fought really hard to finish it off.”
The Broncos host the Cowgirls again on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., and the game will be streamed live by the Mountain West Network, which is available at BroncoSports.com/mwn.
“I think it’s gonna be an interesting game against Wyoming again, because they did change up their play a little bit in the fourth (quarter),” McGwire said. “So I’m kind of anxious to see what they’re gonna do, but I think we have the grit.”
MEN: BOISE ST. 83, WYOMING 60
BOISE ST. (11-1, 7-0 MW)
Armus 5-8 2-2 12, Kigab 8-12 5-9 21, Alston 2-10 0-0 4, Dennis 4-5 0-0 9, Shaver 3-11 0-1 7, Doutrive 8-13 1-1 21, Rice 4-7 0-0 9, N.Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Milner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-66 8-13 83.
WYOMING (7-3, 1-2 MW)
Oden 1-7 0-0 3, Thompson 1-6 2-2 5, Foster 3-6 0-0 7, Maldonado 5-13 0-0 10, Williams 5-10 5-7 16, Jeffries 0-1 0-0 0, Dusell 3-5 2-2 10, Marble 3-6 3-4 9. Totals 21-54 12-15 60.
Halftime—Boise St. 43-35. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 7-21 (Doutrive 4-7, Dennis 1-1, Shaver 1-3, Rice 1-4, Kigab 0-2, Alston 0-4), Wyoming 6-19 (Dusell 2-4, Foster 1-1, Williams 1-2, Oden 1-3, Thompson 1-5, Jeffries 0-1, Marble 0-1, Maldonado 0-2). Rebounds—Boise St. 44 (Armus 14), Wyoming 22 (Williams 5). Assists—Boise St. 13 (Kigab 4), Wyoming 9 (Williams 3). Total Fouls—Boise St. 17, Wyoming 15.
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 68, WYOMING 61
WYOMING (4-4, 2-3 MW)
McKinley Bradshaw 10-12 3-4 27; Dagny Davidsdottir 4-8 0-0 8; Quinn Weidemann 3-6 0-1 6; Alba Sanchez Ramos 3-8 0-0 6; Jaye Johnson 2-6 0-0 5; Marta Savic 2-4 1-3 5; Ola Ustowska 1-3 0-0 2; Tommi Olson 0-2 2-6 2; Grace Ellis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 6-14 61.
BOISE ST. (7-1, 4-1 MW)
Mallory McGwire 9-20 2-4 25; Alexis Mark 6-9 0-0 12; Anna Ostlie 2-3 1-2 7; Mary Kay Naro 1-4 3-4 5; Rachel Bowers 1-4 2-2 4; Elodie Lalotte 2-4 0-0 4; Raigan Reed 1-2 1-2 4; Kimora Sykes 1-2 1-2 3; Jade Loville 1-9 0-0 2; Abby Muse 1-1 0-0 2; Martina Machalova 0-1 0-0 0; Cristina Gil 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 10-16 68.
Wyoming....................... 15 12 14 20 — 61
Boise St...................... 18 14 14 22 — 68
3-point goals — Wyoming 5-16 (Bradshaw 4-5; Johnson 1-2; Weidemann 0-1; Sanchez Ramos 0-4; Ustowska 0-1; Olson 0-1; Ellis 0-2), Boise St. 8-19 (McGwire 5-11; Ostlie 2-3; Reed 1-1; Bowers 0-1; Sykes 0-1; Machalova 0-1; Naro 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Wyoming 30 (Davidsdottir 8), Boise St. 36 (McGwire 15). Assists — Wyoming 8 (Olson 5), Boise St. 10 (Naro 6). Total fouls — Wyoming 12, Boise St. 15. Technical fouls — None.
This story was originally published January 11, 2021 at 9:16 PM.
