‘Our lights came on.’ Boise State basketball survives nail-biter at Colorado State
Tyson Degenhart’s right hand got just enough of the basketball to make a difference.
The Boise State sophomore blocked John Tonje’s potential game winner in the closing seconds to preserve an 80-78 victory over Colorado State on Wednesday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The victory moves Boise State (20-6, 10-3 MW) into a share of second place in the Mountain West standings with idle Nevada (20-6, 10-3). San Diego State (21-5, 12-2) remains 1.5 games ahead of both teams in the race for the regular-season championship.
“Every win now in February is so valuable and so big,” Boise State coach Leon Rice told KBOI 670 AM in a postgame radio interview. “We’re trying to win a championship, and this keeps you right in the hunt.”
Degenhart was one of four Broncos to score in double figures with 19 points — 17 of which came in the second half — on 7-for-10 shooting. Naje Smith notched 17 points and a team-leading seven rebounds, and Marcus Shaver Jr. and Chibuzo Agbo each chipped in 15 points.
The Broncos would need every point in a close contest against a Colorado State (11-15, 3-10) squad that’s tied for last in the Mountain West standings.
After leading by as many as 10 points, 48-38, in the second half, the Rams used a 12-2 run to tie the game at 50-all with 11:47 to play. It was the first of two ties and four lead changes down the stretch. The Rams would tie the game again at 69 with 4:05 to play on a Patrick Cartier layup.
Shaver responded with a layup of his own to retake a 71-69 lead, but the Rams kept it close until the final buzzer.
Colorado State called a timeout with 34.1 seconds left trailing Boise State 77-75. The Rams fouled Smith after the timeout, and he made both free throws for a four-point advantage, 79-75 with 17.0 remaining.
It was not the Rams’ last gasp, however, as Isaiah Stevens sank a 3-pointer with 11 seconds on the clock to make it a one-point game, 79-78.
Degenhart was then fouled with 6.5 seconds to go, making 1-of-2 free throws. Degenhart missed his second attempt, giving the Rams enough time to get down court and attempt the go-ahead try.
But Degenhart came through with the block to complete the season sweep of Colorado State.
“They had eight days to prepare. I thought they played great,” Rice said of Colorado State. “They were leading us early, and if our lights didn’t come on, they could have blown us out of here. Credit to my guys. We’ve got some toughness, and our lights came on and we fought our way back.”
Boise State turned to its bench early against the Rams, but the move initially backfired. Instead of building an advantage on fresh legs, the Broncos found themselves trailing 26-16 with 7:30 remaining in the first half. Rice called a timeout to regroup his squad, which finished the half on a 20-5 run to take a 36-31 lead into the break.
Smith and Shaver each scored 13 points in the first half with four rebounds apiece. The Broncos opened the game shooting 0-for-6 from 3-point range, but Smith sank the Broncos’ first triple with 6:34 on the clock to start the 20-5 run.
Boise State resumes Mountain West play Sunday against UNLV. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at ExtraMile Arena, and the game will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, or listen on the radio on KBOI 670 AM.
BOISE ST. 80, COLORADO ST. 78
Degenhart 7-10 2-3 19, N.Smith 5-7 6-6 17, Agbo 5-12 3-4 15, M.Rice 3-9 0-0 7, Shaver 7-15 0-0 15, Milner 2-4 1-1 5, Whiting 1-1 0-0 2, K.Young 0-2 0-0 0, NgaNga 0-1 0-0 0, Kuzmanovic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-61 12-14 80.
Cartier 7-15 2-6 18, Hebb 2-2 0-0 4, Rivera 5-8 0-0 13, Stevens 6-12 2-2 17, Tonje 5-11 3-3 16, Jackson 1-4 0-0 2, Palmer 1-2 0-0 3, Moors 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 29-56 7-11 78.
Halftime—Boise St. 36-31. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 8-21 (Degenhart 3-4, Agbo 2-6, M.Rice 1-2, N.Smith 1-2, Shaver 1-4, NgaNga 0-1, K.Young 0-2), Colorado St. 13-22 (Stevens 3-3, Rivera 3-4, Tonje 3-6, Cartier 2-4, Moors 1-1, Palmer 1-2, Jackson 0-2). Rebounds—Boise St. 31 (N.Smith 7), Colorado St. 22 (Cartier, Rivera, Stevens, Tonje 4). Assists—Boise St. 10 (M.Rice 4), Colorado St. 20 (Stevens 12). Total Fouls—Boise St. 15, Colorado St. 14.
This story was originally published February 15, 2023 at 11:14 PM.
