Boise State basketball earns series split with night-and-day turnaround at Colorado State
Mladen Armus looked downright mad, and Marcus Shaver Jr. was the silver bullet Boise State needed offensively.
Two days removed from their first loss in two months, the Broncos outlasted Colorado State 85-77 on Friday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colorado, to maintain the top spot in the Mountain West men’s basketball standings.
“I’m just really proud of the team and the staff,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said in a postgame Zoom interview. “We’ve had great responses to adversity and anything that’s thrown at us this year and tonight was no different.”
Shaver led four Broncos in double figures with a season-high 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting. The 6-foot-2 redshirt junior from Phoenix, Arizona, punished the Rams’ defense as he shifted between long-range triples and lightning quick moves to the hoop.
“It was a quiet bus ride (after Wednesday’s loss),” Shaver said. “Everybody was just in their thoughts and just had time to reflect on that loss. And we just played with so much passion and anger today and just let it all on the court.”
Armus personified that anger in the early going, scoring six of his 12 points in the opening 3:36 to help the Broncos set the tone. The 6-10, 232-pound Serb grabbed a team-best nine rebounds while adding two assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
“Maybe the biggest thing is the way he guarded tonight. I mean, he was so impressive,” Rice said. “He’s such a good defender and so tough and just does it possession by possession, holds down the middle. (He’s) maybe the best defensive center I’ve ever had here in Boise.”
Boise State trailed Colorado State by one, 39-38, at halftime. The Broncos then opened the second half with a 32-8 run to stockpile as much as a 23-point lead, 70-47, with 9:41 to play.
Had the Broncos performed better at the free-throw line (18-for-30), the final margin would have felt more substantial. Colorado State (12-4, 9-3) got within 71-77 with 2:09 left.
But senior Abu Kigab didn’t let the Broncos’ coveted Quadrant 1 victory slip away. Kigab went 6-for-6 from the free-throw in the final 31.8 seconds and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots, two steals and two assists. Redshirt junior Devonaire Doutrive was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor for 13 points in 25 minutes off the bench.
“I feel like we really took (the loss) personally,” Kigab said. “We went to the hotel and guys were very mad and disappointed, because we know that’s not who we are, what we showed two days ago. We just wanted to come out here and just make a statement.”
Boise State (14-2, 10-1 MW) reversed course from a lackluster effort during Wednesday’s 78-56 loss, forcing 18 Colorado State turnovers that led to 24 points. The Broncos shot 52.7% from the floor Friday compared to a season-low 38.2% in the opener. BSU also had 18 assists on 29 made field goals.
“We felt like if we could get the ball moving we could cause their defense some problems, because they defend the strong side really, really well,” Rice said. “I think in that first game we took the bait and kind of just dribbled into the teeth of their defense. We did that over and over again the first game, and that was our big adjustment offensively. We get it to the second side and then we can attack and then we can get it moving, and that’s why we had 18 assists tonight.”
Boise State will be on the road again next week for two games against Nevada (10-7, 5-5). The games are scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada. Both games will be televised on Fox Sports 1. The Broncos have not won in Reno since 2016, but they did end an eight-game losing streak against the Wolf Pack with a victory in Boise last season.
WOMEN: COLORADO STATE 75, BOISE STATE 53
Boise State’s losing streak extended to four games as Colorado State left ExtraMile Arena on Friday afternoon with a series sweep.
It was the Rams’ first sweep of the Broncos in Mountain West play since the 2015-16 season, which was also the last time Boise State lost four in a row.
“I felt like we really struggled with any form of synergy or chemistry, which has always been a strong part of our program,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said in a postgame Zoom interview. “Basically, they spread us out and they just diced us up offensively. I don’t know how many layups they had in the first half.”
Colorado State senior guard Lore Devos led all scorers with 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor, including a 3-for-4 performance from 3-point range, to go with nine rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal. McKenna Hofschild, a 5-foot-5 sophomore guard, added 16 points, six assists and four steals. Centennial High graduate Tori Williams had seven points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The first-place Rams (12-2, 8-2 MW) outrebounded the Broncos 52-38.
Boise State trailed 8-7 with 4 minutes left in the first quarter when the Rams exploded for a 14-2 run over the final 3:30 for a 22-9 lead. The Broncos shot 18.8% (3-for-16) in the first quarter and were never able to recover from the early deficit.
“It’s taking pride in our defense, pride in those rebounds, pride in the little things, not always points,” Boise State freshman forward Abby Muse said.
Boise State junior guard Jade Loville scored a team-high 13 points, and freshman guard Cristina Gil notched a career-best 10 points. Muse contributed eight points, six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Junior forward Rachel Bowers, who missed the Broncos’ past two games with an ankle injury, was eased back into the lineup Friday. She played 7 minutes.
The Broncos (8-5, 5-5) are home again next week for a two-game series against Nevada. The games are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, and noon Sunday, Feb. 7, at ExtraMile Arena. A live stream of both games is available at BroncoSports.com/mwn, or listen on the radio on 1350 AM.
Boise State released an updated schedule Friday that includes changes to tipoff times and some dates. The Broncos’ series with New Mexico will not be made up and was declared a no contest.
UPDATED BSU WOMEN’S SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 5: vs. Nevada, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 7: vs. Nevada, noon
Wednesday, Feb. 10: at UNLV, 1 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 11: at UNLV, 3 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 18: at Utah State, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 20: at Utah State, 2 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 26: vs. San Diego State, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 28: vs. San Diego State, 1 p.m.
MEN: BOISE ST. 85, COLORADO ST. 77
BOISE ST. (14-2, 10-1 MW)
Armus 5-7 2-5 12, Kigab 3-8 8-10 17, Alston 3-8 1-2 9, Dennis 2-8 1-2 5, Shaver 8-13 3-3 21, Doutrive 5-5 1-6 13, Akot 2-4 0-0 4, Rice 1-2 2-2 4, N.Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 18-30 85.
COLORADO ST. (12-4, 9-3 MW)
Moors 2-3 0-1 4, Thistlewood 8-13 3-3 24, Moore 1-5 0-0 3, Stevens 7-15 2-2 17, Roddy 6-13 3-4 16, Byrd 1-2 0-0 2, Tonje 2-4 0-0 5, Thomas 2-2 2-2 6. Totals 29-58 10-12 77.
Halftime—Colorado St. 39-38. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 9-21 (Kigab 3-6, Doutrive 2-2, Shaver 2-4, Alston 2-6, Akot 0-1, Dennis 0-2), Colorado St. 9-22 (Thistlewood 5-9, Tonje 1-2, Roddy 1-3, Moore 1-4, Stevens 1-4). Rebounds—Boise St. 27 (Armus 9), Colorado St. 27 (Stevens 9). Assists—Boise St. 18 (Alston 4), Colorado St. 16 (Stevens 8). Total Fouls—Boise St. 16, Colorado St. 19.
WOMEN: COLORADO ST. 75, BOISE ST. 53
COLORADO ST. (12-2, 8-2 MW)
Lore Devos 7-12 0-0 17; McKenna Hofschild 6-14 3-4 16; Ellie Boni 5-8 0-1 11; Jamie Bonnarens 4-10 0-0 9; Karly Murphy 4-7 0-0 8; Tori Williams 2-10 2-2 7; Cali Clark 2-7 2-2 6; Bengisu Alper 0-1 1-2 1; Maria Torres 0-0 0-0 0; Makayla Hemingway 0-0 0-0 0; Petra Farkas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-69 8-11 75.
BOISE ST. (8-5, 5-5 MW)
Jade Loville 5-15 3-4 13; Cristina Gil 4-9 0-0 10; Abby Muse 4-5 0-0 8; Martina Machalova 3-6 0-1 7; Anna Ostlie 2-9 0-0 6; Mallory McGwire 1-8 0-0 2; Alexis Mark 1-3 0-0 2; Mary Kay Naro 1-5 0-0 2; Raigan Reed 1-3 0-0 2; Kimora Sykes 0-4 1-2 1; Elodie Lalotte 0-0 0-0 0; Rachel Bowers 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-69 4-7 53.
Colorado St................... 22 19 16 18 — 75
Boise St...................... 9 20 13 11 — 53
3-point goals — Colorado St. 7-22 (Devos 3-4; Williams 1-7; Bonnarens 1-4; Hofschild 1-4; Boni 1-2; Clark 0-1), Boise St. 5-19 (Ostlie 2-9; Gil 2-3; Machalova 1-2; Naro 0-1; Reed 0-1; Sykes 0-3). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Colorado St. 52 (Clark 9; Devos 9; Murphy 9; Williams 9), Boise St. 38 (McGwire 8). Assists — Colorado St. 13 (Hofschild 6), Boise St. 8 (Gil 2; McGwire 2). Total fouls — Colorado St. 11, Boise St. 15. Technical fouls — None.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 11:18 PM.
