Fresno State deals blow to Boise State’s at-large hopes with upset at ExtraMile Arena
Consider it the biggest shot of Isaiah Hill’s career.
The 6-foot sophomore guard buried a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with just over a minute to play as Fresno State upset Boise State 67-64 on Tuesday night at ExtraMile Arena.
The loss to the Bulldogs almost certainly ends any chance the Broncos had of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Boise State finishes Mountain West play 14-6 and is 18-7 overall, and will have to wait for the rest of the conference to finish up play this week to learn its seeding for the Mountain West Tournament.
“Right now, it feels devastating,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said in a postgame Zoom interview. “My guys are devastated right now. But you get kind of what you work for, and I think Fresno outworked us on some things tonight.”
Hill totaled just eight points in 35 minutes, and his final 3-pointer was his only make in three attempts from deep. The Bulldogs (11-10, 9-10 MW), who entered the game ranked 10th out of 11 teams in the conference in 3-pointers made per game, knocked down 10-of-23 attempts (43.5%).
The Broncos had two chances to tie the score after Hill’s go-ahead triple.
Redshirt senior Derrick Alston Jr. missed his attempt following a Boise State timeout with 57.4 seconds left. After Fresno State’s Orlando Robinson missed a 3-pointer on the other end, the Broncos got the ball back with less than 20 seconds remaining. Sophomore point guard RayJ Dennis passed to redshirt junior guard Emmanuel Akot, who was unable to find the look he wanted on the left side of the court and dribbled to his right, pulling up for a 3-pointer as time expired.
His shot went long and did not draw iron.
“We got the stop and we ran at them,” Rice said. “You usually can get a little bit better shot than if they have time to regroup their defense. But they guard us pretty good in transition. In hindsight, yeah, I would have loved to have taken (a timeout).”
The Broncos will either finish third or fourth in the league standings. They’ll need Utah State (16-7, 13-4) to lose its final two games against Wyoming (7:30 p.m. Thursday, FS1) and Fresno State (9 p.m. Saturday, FS1) to take third. If Utah State wins at least one then the Broncos will be the No. 4 seed.
Boise State fell behind by 12 points, 33-21, shortly before halftime. The Broncos used a 22-6 run in the second half to retake the lead, and they were up by as many as nine points, 63-54, with 5:01 left after Alston scored eight consecutive points on his senior night.
But Fresno State closed out the game on a 13-1 run to stun the Broncos.
“It’s been a tough six days for us,” said Rice of the Broncos, who were coming off back-to-back close losses at San Diego State. “We lost two heartbreakers (in San Diego) and we lost another heartbreaker today. These guys want it. They probably wanted it too bad, and it probably affected the outcome.”
The Mountain West set aside the week before the conference tournament to reschedule any games that were postponed because of COVID-19 complications. Tuesday’s game was a makeup for a Jan. 22 contest in Boise that was postponed after a false positive test within the Broncos’ program.
The makeup game proved disastrous in more ways than one. Boise State senior forward Abu Kigab exited with 12:25 to go in the second half with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. He returned to the bench with ice wrapped around his right shoulder, which had been stabilized in a sling.
“Well, it didn’t look good. When I ran out there, it was not good,” Rice said. “... I was a little rattled looking at it. ... He’s an emotional leader. He’s a second-half guy for us. He really gets things going, and he seemed like he was getting his rhythm and stuff. To have a guy who is one of our emotional leaders out, that may have affected things for sure.”
FRESNO ST. 67, BOISE ST. 64
FRESNO ST. (11-10, 9-10 MW)
Robinson 3-14 4-4 11, Ballard 2-9 0-0 6, Hill 3-7 1-1 8, Holland 4-8 0-0 12, Stroud 6-13 3-3 16, Campbell 2-5 0-0 5, Colimerio 1-1 0-0 2, Gray 2-3 3-3 7, Harding 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 11-11 67.
BOISE ST. (18-7, 14-6 MW)
Armus 2-4 2-2 6, Kigab 2-4 2-2 7, Alston 4-16 3-3 12, Dennis 1-5 1-2 4, Shaver 2-5 6-7 11, Akot 6-12 3-4 18, Doutrive 1-3 0-0 2, Rice 2-3 0-0 4, Milner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 17-20 64.
Halftime—Fresno St. 35-29. 3-Point Goals—Fresno St. 10-23 (Holland 4-8, Ballard 2-5, Campbell 1-1, Stroud 1-2, Hill 1-3, Robinson 1-4), Boise St. 7-19 (Akot 3-5, Dennis 1-1, Shaver 1-1, Kigab 1-2, Alston 1-8, Doutrive 0-2). Fouled Out—Holland. Rebounds—Fresno St. 30 (Hill 10), Boise St. 32 (Dennis 10). Assists—Fresno St. 11 (Hill 3), Boise St. 6 (Akot 3). Total Fouls—Fresno St. 17, Boise St. 16. A—799 (12,480).
This story was originally published March 2, 2021 at 7:57 PM.
