With best start to league play in program history, Boise State extends record win streak
“The Microwave” nickname has been passed around over the years, but the moniker’s original owner, former Detroit Pistons sixth-man Vinnie Johnson, probably wouldn’t mind loaning it to Devonaire Doutrive.
For the second time in as many games, Doutrive led the Boise State men’s basketball team in scoring off the bench, notching 17 points in the Broncos’ 90-70 victory over Wyoming on Wednesday night at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming.
As the nickname suggests, Doutrive can heat it up quickly. Just four games into his Boise State career, the Arizona transfer has 50 points, 15 rebounds, four steals and four assists. He’s displayed a knack for scoring in spurts with five straight points in 50 seconds in the first half and six consecutive points over a 73-second span in the second half. Doutrive also made three 3-pointers in a 90-second stretch during Monday’s win over the Cowboys.
“He’s been huge for us,” Boise State redshirt senior Derrick Alston Jr. said in a postgame Zoom interview. “This gives us another dynamic player on offense and defense. … People were saying it was going to take a while, but I think it only took him technically one game to really identify his niche and be comfortable.”
Doutrive was one of eight Boise State players who scored — including six in double figures — in a game that saw the Broncos start out by making 13 of their first 16 shots (81.3%). Boise State finished the game shooting 32-for-59 from the floor (54.2%) to collect its program-record 12th straight win. The Broncos (12-1) remain atop the conference standings with a perfect 8-0 mark, which is the best start to league play in program history.
Wednesday’s victory concludes a stretch of six games in 14 days.
“This was a hard stretch as far as playing on the road at 7,000 feet back-to-back games, a team that had eight days to prepare. We had a lot going against us,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “… I’m just really impressed by these guys and their approach to it, because we were tired. No doubt about it. We were tired, but they had the mentality to fight through it and the mental toughness and the grit that it took to get this done.”
Abu Kigab (15 points), Alston (14), RayJ Dennis (14), Marcus Shaver Jr. (12) and Mladen Armus (10) also scored in double digits for the Broncos. Dennis paced the Broncos in rebounding (seven) and assists (five). The Broncos outscored the Cowboys 52-36 in the paint and held them to a season-low 28% (7-for-25) from 3-point range.
“That’s the greatest thing about our team is we come at you in a little bit of waves,” Rice said.
The mood on the Boise State bench was just as hyped, providing perfect clips for CBS Sports Network’s social media feed with sideline dances and wild celebrations.
“It feels great, and another thing that makes it great is we have guys that like each other and the chemistry is really good,” Dennis said. “The bench might even be a greater environment than on the floor. The bench is crazy good. Every time we step out, they’re dancing, always cheering for us, whether it’s going good or bad. They’re great.”
Boise State has now won eight conference games by an average of 23.4 points, and it has done so recently without the help of Emmanuel Akot, who has missed the last three games with a sore Achilles. The Broncos entered Wednesday’s game tied for 10th in the nation in scoring margin at 20 points per game.
Boise State will be back home for two Mountain West games against Fresno State next week. The games are set for 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20 (Fox Sports 1), and 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22 (CBS Sports Network), at ExtraMile Arena.
The Broncos will take the next few days off.
“I told our guys: ‘We are off.’ We need to get our minds right and get relaxed,” Rice said. “Then we’ll pick it up and get intense again in a few days. But we need time to breathe a little bit, our staff does and our players do.”
Notes: With his 14 points Wednesday, Alston moves to No. 13 on Boise State’s career scoring list with 1,216 points. He passed Gerry Washington (1,210 points; 1995-99) and has climbed from No. 30 to No. 13 on the career list over the first 13 games of the season. … Dennis has scored 151 points in 13 games this season. He had 137 points in 32 games last season.
WOMEN: BOISE STATE 68, WYOMING 62
As she continues to work back to full strength from a knee injury she sustained in high school, freshman guard Anna Ostlie has been limited to 12 minutes per game for the Boise State women’s basketball team.
Ostlie ended up logging 13 minutes on Wednesday at ExtraMile Arena, and that extra minute proved to be crucial.
The Broncos were clinging to a one-point lead over Wyoming when Ostlie drove into the key for a floater with 1:08 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Phoenix product then closed out the victory with two free throws with 0.4 seconds left to send Boise State to its second win over Wyoming in three days.
“She’s a really good player, like a really good player,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a postgame Zoom interview. “She can shoot a little bit like (former Boise State standout) Riley Lupfer can shoot, with a little more point guard ball skills. We’ve been having her on like a 12-minute limit, so I’m trying to play her 3 minutes in the first half and 9 minutes in the second half. And I’m telling you, we’re counting, because we need her out there.”
Ostlie contributed nine points, one rebound and one assist in 13 minutes off the bench to help Boise State improve to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in Mountain West play, including a 7-0 mark at home.
“We had such a nucleus last year that took great pride in everything — wearing white, playing at home, winning the tournament,” Presnell said. “So we kind of start with winning our home games and defending ExtraMile Arena and that sort of thing. Then hopefully, if we get to the tournament, we get to wear white. White’s a big deal, because that means you’re supposed to win. That’s kind of how we look at it right now. We’re just trying to take over and play well at home.”
Wyoming took a 57-56 lead on an Alba Sanchez Ramos 3-pointer with 3:45 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Boise State junior Jade Loville answered by drawing a foul on a drive to the hoop and making a pair of free throws at the 2:35 mark for a 58-57 BSU advantage. It was the ninth and final lead change of the game, but the Cowgirls (4-5, 2-4) didn’t go away quietly.
With the Broncos in the bonus, Wyoming sent Boise State to the free-throw line five times over the final 30 seconds. The Broncos converted on 8-of-10 freebies during the stretch and went 17-of-21 overall to seal the win.
Loville was a perfect 6-for-6 at the line and finished with a team-leading 22 points. Freshman forward Alexis Mark added 12 points and tied her career high with eight rebounds. Redshirt senior center Mallory McGwire totaled nine points and eight rebounds, and freshman point guard Mary Kay Naro had seven points, four assists and four rebounds.
“Obviously on our (pregame) video it says ‘leave a legacy,’ ” Mark said. “That means a lot to us, because previous players all put in the work to be as successful as they are, and we want to be the next to do it, no matter how young we are.”
The Broncos will be on the road next week for a pair of Mountain West games against Fresno State. The games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21, and 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Both games will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network, which is available at BroncoSports.com/mwn.
The Broncos and Bulldogs (4-5, 2-2 MW) faced off in the 2020 Mountain West Tournament championship game, with the Broncos winning 80-76 in overtime for their unprecedented fourth consecutive tournament title. Fresno State returns all five starters from last season, although the Bulldogs have not had their full roster available for every game this season. Reigning Mountain West Player of the Year Maddi Utti did not play in Fresno State’s most recent 81-69 loss to CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 10.
“We’re going to prepare and start working on their zone defense and stuff on Friday,” Presnell said. “(We’ll) prepare that they’ll all be there and gangbusters and ready to beat us. It’s just really good for our freshmen to get to play at that kind of environment in terms of the intensity and the level of play.”
MEN: BOISE ST. 90, WYOMING 70
BOISE ST. (12-1, 8-0 MW)
Armus 4-4 2-2 10, Kigab 6-10 3-4 15, Alston 5-11 3-4 14, Dennis 7-9 0-0 14, Shaver 2-7 7-7 12, Doutrive 5-11 5-5 17, Rice 2-5 0-0 5, N.Smith 1-2 1-1 3, Kuzmanovic 0-0 0-0 0, Milner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-59 21-23 90.
WYOMING (7-4, 1-3 MW)
Oden 3-10 4-4 10, Dusell 1-4 4-4 7, Foster 4-14 0-0 8, Maldonado 6-11 3-4 17, Marble 4-10 0-0 10, Williams 5-11 2-2 13, Jeffries 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 25-65 13-14 70.
Halftime—Boise St. 55-33. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 5-19 (Doutrive 2-6, Rice 1-3, Shaver 1-3, Alston 1-4, Dennis 0-1, Kigab 0-1, N.Smith 0-1), Wyoming 7-25 (Marble 2-2, Maldonado 2-4, Dusell 1-2, Jeffries 1-4, Williams 1-4, Oden 0-3, Foster 0-6). Rebounds—Boise St. 32 (Dennis 7), Wyoming 30 (Maldonado 9). Assists—Boise St. 10 (Dennis 5), Wyoming 13 (Maldonado, Williams 3). Total Fouls—Boise St. 14, Wyoming 19.
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 68, WYOMING 62
WYOMING (4-5, 2-4 MW)
Alba Sanchez Ramos 7-12 1-2 17; McKinley Bradshaw 5-8 2-2 14; Dagny Davidsdottir 4-9 4-4 12; Grace Ellis 1-3 2-2 5; Tommi Olson 2-4 1-2 5; Jaye Johnson 1-6 1-2 4; Quinn Weidemann 1-14 0-0 3; Marta Savic 1-4 0-0 2; Ola Ustowska 0-0 0-0 0; Paula Salazar 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 11-14 62.
BOISE ST. (8-1, 5-1 MW)
Jade Loville 8-14 6-6 22; Alexis Mark 5-8 2-2 12; Anna Ostlie 3-7 2-2 9; Mallory McGwire 2-5 3-5 9; Mary Kay Naro 2-4 3-4 7; Abby Muse 2-4 0-0 4; Raigan Reed 1-4 0-0 2; Kimora Sykes 1-4 0-0 2; Rachel Bowers 0-1 1-2 1; Elodie Lalotte 0-1 0-0 0; Martina Machalova 0-0 0-0 0; Cristina Gil 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 17-21 68.
Wyoming....................... 14 12 18 18 — 62
Boise St...................... 10 22 14 22 — 68
3-point goals — Wyoming 7-19 (Sanchez Ramos 2-3; Bradshaw 2-2; Ellis 1-1; Johnson 1-4; Weidemann 1-7; Salazar 0-1; Davidsdottir 0-1), Boise St. 3-11 (McGwire 2-2; Ostlie 1-4; Reed 0-2; Sykes 0-2; Gil 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Wyoming 35 (Bradshaw 6; Sanchez Ramos 6; Davidsdottir 6), Boise St. 34 (McGwire 8; Mark 8). Assists — Wyoming 11 (Olson 5), Boise St. 10 (Naro 4). Total fouls — Wyoming 15, Boise St. 15. Technical fouls — None.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 9:15 PM.
