‘I thought it was in.’ Boise State’s buzzer beater rolls out in heartbreaker at Nevada
From Leon Rice’s vantage point on the Boise State bench, RayJ Dennis’ shot was definitely going in.
It looked so good, in fact, that Boise State’s reserves had already set foot on the hardwood with their arms raised in celebration when the basketball took one last cruel twist around the rim and rolled out.
Instead of a one-point victory, the Broncos were left mourning a two-point loss. Nevada sophomore Grant Sherfield ended up the hero after his fadeaway jumper in the key with 3 seconds left lifted Nevada to a 74-72 win on Friday at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
“How about RayJ’s last look?” Rice asked in a postgame Zoom interview. “I already saw that on the replay and, man, that thing was all the way in and came all the way out.”
Following Sherfield’s go-ahead bucket, the Broncos got the ball back with 2.9 seconds left needing to go the length of the court. Rice called a timeout to devise the Broncos’ final plan of attack.
The play unfolded to near perfection as Derrick Alston Jr. made the inbound pass to Marcus Shaver Jr., who took two swift dribbles and launched it over to Dennis with just enough time for a long-range triple.
“That thing was in. I thought it was in,” Rice said. “Those guys executed it perfectly and we got a great look, as good as you could hope for with 2.9. He got it off, too. ... That’s the tough part about basketball. Sometimes those go and you feel great, and those don’t go and you feel terrible.”
With the loss, Boise State (14-3, 10-2 MW) falls a half-game behind first-place Utah State (14-5, 11-2) in the Mountain West standings. The Broncos have lost five straight in Reno, with their last victory coming more than five years ago on Jan. 13, 2016.
“We’re gonna have to dust ourselves off quickly and get back ready to go,” Rice said. “This two-game thing is tough.”
Over the final 3:39, the Broncos and Wolf Pack were tied at 65, 67, 70 and 72.
Redshirt junior Emmanuel Akot made a triple on a kickout from Alston with 2:42 to play that put the Broncos ahead 70-67. Nevada’s Desmond Cambridge Jr. followed with a 3-pointer of his own for another tie at 70, and the Wolf Pack went up 72-70 on a runner from Sherfield.
Dennis knotted the game again at 72 when he banked in a jumper just outside the left block with 31 seconds left. Nevada worked the ball across halfcourt and called a timeout. The Wolf Pack put the ball in Sherfield’s hands, and the 6-foot-2 transfer from Wichita State dribbled the clock down to about the 10-second mark before making his move.
Sherfield momentarily escaped his defender coming off a screen, but Dennis fought his way through in time to stop Sherfield on the left elbow. Sherfield crossed over, made a slight hesitation, and dribbled into the key where his turnaround jumper over the outstretched arm of Dennis found nothing but net.
Sherfield finished with a double-double of 20 points and 14 assists, and Cambridge added 21 points and four rebounds to lead the Wolf Pack. Nevada shot 64.3% from the field in the second half, 52.6% for the game and had 22 assists on 30 made field goals.
“In games like this, it comes down to defense, and I think late in the game we were letting them score too much,” Akot said. “It seemed almost as if they weren’t missing. And we have to do a lot better job contesting shots. I have to do a lot better job contesting shots, and that’s something we’re going to bring next game.”
Akot poured in a career-high 19 points, including four triples, and Alston led all scorers with 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Senior Abu Kigab totaled 15 points and five boards.
The Broncos play the Wolf Pack again Sunday in Reno. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT and will be televised on Fox Sports 1. A live radio broadcast of the game is available on 670 AM.
“We have a team that really responds,” Akot said. “We have a lot of veteran guys. We know what to do in order to win. So we’re just gonna look at the film, keep a positive mindset and next game come out a lot better.”
NEVADA 74, BOISE ST. 72
BOISE ST. (14-3, 10-2 MW)
Armus 0-1 5-8 5, Kigab 6-12 1-2 15, Alston 9-14 0-0 23, Dennis 3-9 0-0 6, Shaver 2-6 0-0 4, Akot 6-11 3-4 19, Doutrive 0-1 0-0 0, Rice 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-55 9-14 72.
NEVADA (13-7, 8-5 MW)
Coleman 1-2 0-0 3, Washington 1-4 2-2 4, Cambridge 8-14 1-2 21, Foster 1-3 0-0 2, Sherfield 9-16 0-0 20, Meeks 2-7 0-0 4, Hymes 7-8 3-4 17, Milling 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 30-57 6-8 74.
Halftime—Boise St. 33-28. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 11-25 (Alston 5-7, Akot 4-8, Kigab 2-5, Rice 0-1, Shaver 0-1, Dennis 0-3), Nevada 8-22 (Cambridge 4-9, Sherfield 2-4, Coleman 1-2, Milling 1-2, Foster 0-1, Hymes 0-1, Meeks 0-3). Rebounds—Boise St. 28 (Armus 8), Nevada 22 (Washington 4). Assists—Boise St. 15 (Dennis 4), Nevada 22 (Sherfield 14). Total Fouls—Boise St. 11, Nevada 16. A—50 (11,536).
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 10:45 PM.
