Wyoming storms court after putting end to Boise State’s 14-game winning streak
To gauge the significance of Wyoming’s 72-65 win over Boise State on Thursday, consider this:
The Cowboys’ student section stormed the court at Arena-Auditorium in celebration of a Mountain West regular-season victory. That’s what happens when you hand a team its first loss since November.
Wyoming sophomore Graham Ike tallied 33 points and 10 rebounds to put an end to Boise State’s program-record 14-game winning streak in front of 7,063 fans in Laramie. The Broncos (17-5, 8-1 MW) hold on to first place in the Mountain West despite the loss, with a half-game lead over the Cowboys (18-3, 7-1).
“They’re one of the toughest teams in the country. There’s a reason why they’ve won 14 straight games,” Wyoming coach Jeff Linder told the Mountain West Network after the game. “We knew we had to make more winning plays, and I thought down the stretch our guys just really rallied together and found ways to make those plays. What can you say about Graham Ike? ... Just give the ball to him and get out of the way.”
The 6-foot-9, 252-pound Ike finished 12-for-23 from the floor and made 9-of-15 attempts at the free-throw line. But perhaps even more important was the fact that he drew 10 fouls that helped put Boise State’s Mladen Armus and Tyson Degenhart in foul trouble.
“When you play Wyoming, you always have physicals battles down in the post,” Boise State senior Abu Kigab said. “They got the best of us today, and we’ve just got to get back in the lab and get better. ... It’s a make or miss league, and today Ike was making his shots, so I’ve got to give him credit.”
Thursday’s loss was the Broncos’ first in more than two months. Boise State fell to 3-4 to open the season following an 86-82 overtime loss to Saint Louis on Nov. 30 at ExtraMile Arena. Then the Broncos did nothing but win during the months of December and January.
“After you lose a game after not losing for two months, these guys aren’t used to it,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “We aren’t going to spend any time pouting. We’re not going to spend any time worrying about it. We’re gonna flush it as quick as we can. I like my locker room as far as the right approach to a loss. We’re going to bounce back as quickly as we can.”
Wyoming has won 11 straight games at home, dating to February 2021. Just this week, the Cowboys have taken down two of the top teams in the conference: Colorado State and the Broncos.
Before Degenhart fouled out, the Broncos held a 55-54 lead with 4:46 on the clock. Degenhart’s fifth foul drew ire from Boise State fans who didn’t think the BSU freshman had actually touched Wyoming guard Hunter Maldonado on a drive with 4:23 left.
Maldonado made the basket and a free throw for a 57-55 lead. Boise State soon tied the score at 58-58 courtesy of two Kigab free throws, but Drake Jeffries put the Cowboys ahead for good on a 3-pointer with less than 4 minutes to play. The Broncos pulled within a possession four more times, but they couldn’t come up with the late-game heroics that sustained them during their lengthy winning streak.
“In our other wins, we maybe didn’t play an A-plus game the whole game, but we played an A-plus last two minutes,” Rice said. “... It’s a fine line between winning and losing, and we haven’t felt that pain in a long time.”
Kigab led Boise State with 26 points, and also had five rebounds and two assists. He scored nine of the Broncos’ final 14 points and finished 8-for-15 from the field and 9-for-11 from the free throw line.
Degenhart was the only other Bronco in double figures, scoring 13 points. He added five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
After playing four of their past five games on the road, the Broncos are back in Boise for a Mountain West matchup against last-place San Jose State. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday at ExtraMile Arena, and the game will be streamed live on Stadium, which is available online at watchstadium.com. A live radio broadcast is available on 670 AM.
WYOMING 72, BOISE STATE 65
BOISE ST. (17-5, 8-1 MW): Armus 1-3 1-1 3, Degenhart 4-8 2-2 13, Kigab 8-15 9-11 26, Akot 1-4 0-1 2, Shaver 4-9 1-2 9, Rice 3-9 0-0 8, Milner 2-3 0-1 4, N.Smith 0-5 0-0 0, Kuzmanovic 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 13-18 65.
WYOMING (18-3, 7-1 MW): Ike 12-23 9-15 33, Oden 4-5 3-3 13, Jeffries 1-4 2-2 5, Maldonado 6-12 4-6 16, Wenzel 1-2 0-0 3, Dusell 0-2 2-2 2, Reynolds 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-49 20-28 72.
Halftime—28-28. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 6-24 (Degenhart 3-6, Rice 2-5, Kigab 1-6, Akot 0-1, Kuzmanovic 0-1, Shaver 0-1, N.Smith 0-4), Wyoming 4-13 (Oden 2-3, Wenzel 1-2, Jeffries 1-4, Dusell 0-1, Maldonado 0-3). Fouled Out—Degenhart. Rebounds—Boise St. 31 (Armus 6), Wyoming 32 (Ike, Jeffries 10). Assists—Boise St. 6 (Kigab, Akot 2), Wyoming 8 (Maldonado 7). Total Fouls—Boise St. 21, Wyoming 19. A—7,063 (15,028).
This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 9:27 PM.
