Boise State’s ‘Beast’ plays downright beastly as Broncos rally for win over Santa Clara
When a 6-foot-10, 240-pound ‘Beast’ wants the basketball, there isn’t a whole lot an opposing team can do.
The Santa Clara men’s basketball team can certainly attest to that.
Mladen Armus imposed his will in the second half to help Boise State take down Santa Clara 72-60 on Tuesday night at ExtraMile Arena. Armus notched his second double-double of the season, scoring a season-high 17 points to go with 12 rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot.
“I really take it personally on the offensive and defensive (glass),” said Armus, who hails from Belgrade, Serbia. “That is part of my game through my whole career, being able to secure the defensive (rebounds) for our team and the offensive (rebounds) as well. It’s a lot of pride in me doing that.”
Armus collected 11 of his 17 points and eight of his 12 rebounds in the second half, and he brought his teammates to their feet while chasing down a loose ball along the sideline. He was whistled for a foul on the play, but the extra effort ignited a lockdown defensive effort down the stretch.
“He was playing with great authority down there,” said Boise State coach Leon Rice, whose Broncos scored 44 points in the paint and won their fourth game in a row. “... He’s just dominant as far as physically, and it’s so nice to have a guy who can do that, who can battle through stuff and get hit. It’s a man’s game underneath the basket. That was physical, and both teams were playing really hard, and he was able to finish through a lot of contact.”
After a layup from Josip Vrankic brought Santa Clara (7-5) within 60-58 with 6:28 to play, Boise State (7-4) closed the game on a 12-2 run. Santa Clara’s only basket during that span came courtesy of a goaltending call with 29 seconds left.
“It feels great,” Armus said of the win. “We just knew that we needed to protect our house and protect our arena.”
Boise State led 21-9 with 7:41 remaining in the first half before Santa Clara rattled off an 18-2 run for a 27-23 advantage with 2:26 on the clock. Santa Clara went into the locker room up 30-27 after an official review determined Emmanuel Akot’s jumper at the halftime buzzer did not get off in time.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw 13 lead changes, but Boise State reversed its fortunes from deep, recovering from a 0-for-9 performance from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes to knock down 5-of-8 in the second half.
“We go downhill pretty strong, so you kinda have to pick your poison,” Rice said. “I think we set guys up and got good shots. That’s the key to making threes is if you can get a shot for somebody else, it makes it a lot easier. Those are the ones that you make.”
In his fifth start, freshman Tyson Degenhart reached double-digit scoring for the fifth consecutive game. Degenhart led all scorers with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Armus, Abu Kigab (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Marcus Shaver Jr. (12 points, 3 assists).
“Things kind of gelled nicely tonight, and that’s what you want. You want your team moving forward,” Rice said. “Because that’s what I tell these guys, you’re either getting better this time of year, or you’re getting worse. You look around the country, there’s already some teams that are getting worse, and we’re certainly a team that looks like we’re kind of starting to come together.”
The Broncos have a non-Division I tuneup against Montana Tech, an NAIA squad, at 4 p.m. Sunday in ExtraMile Arena. The game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network, which is available online at broncosports.com/mwn.
Then the Broncos head to Spokane, Washington, for their final nonconference game of the regular season against Washington State (7-3). Tipoff is 6 p.m. Mountain time Wednesday, Dec. 22, at Spokane Arena, and the game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
BOISE ST. 72, SANTA CLARA 60
SANTA CLARA (7-5): Braun 4-5 0-0 8, Justice 2-6 0-0 5, Vrankic 5-9 2-2 12, Pipes 2-9 0-0 5, J.Williams 4-10 2-2 12, Tongue 2-4 0-0 5, G.Williams 3-5 0-0 9, Stewart 1-4 0-0 2, Holt 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-54 4-4 60.
BOISE ST. (7-4): Armus 8-11 1-3 17, Degenhart 7-15 4-4 18, Kigab 7-14 0-0 16, Akot 2-8 1-3 6, Shaver 4-12 3-3 12, Rice 0-4 0-0 0, N.Smith 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 29-67 9-13 72.
Halftime—Santa Clara 30-27. 3-Point Goals—Santa Clara 8-19 (G.Williams 3-4, J.Williams 2-3, Tongue 1-2, Justice 1-4, Pipes 1-5, Braun 0-1), Boise St. 5-17 (Kigab 2-2, N.Smith 1-2, Shaver 1-4, Akot 1-5, Degenhart 0-2, Rice 0-2). Rebounds—Santa Clara 25 (Braun 6), Boise St. 38 (Armus 12). Assists—Santa Clara 10 (Pipes 5), Boise St. 11 (Akot 4). Total Fouls—Santa Clara 16, Boise St. 9. A—6,187 (12,480).
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 9:01 PM.
