Boise State falls flat at Utah State but still has No. 2 seed at conference tournament
With their Mountain West Tournament seeding essentially decided before tipoff, the Boise State men’s basketball team played a step behind Utah State all night Saturday.
Thanks to UNLV’s overtime win against Nevada, the Broncos were already assured the No. 2 seed in the tournament regardless of what happened against the Aggies.
Utah State, on the other hand, was playing for its NCAA Tournament life, and the Aggies took it to the Broncos, winning 86-73 at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
“We were in a reactive mode defensively in the first half,” Boise State assistant Tim Duryea told KBOI 670 AM in a postgame radio interview. “We were not dictating anything to them and just a half a count late on everything defensively. From switches to blockouts to contesting shots, it just felt like we were a little bit late.”
Sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Aggies looked motivated for a Quadrant 1 win from the get-go. Utah State shot 62.1% from the floor in the first half, including 5-for-12 from 3-point range, and was 6-for-7 from the free-throw line.
Riding a 10-2 run, the Aggies led by as many as 20 points, 47-27, in the opening 20 minutes and took a 47-33 lead into the break. If not for a 6-0 run to end the half, the deficit could have been much worse for the Broncos.
“I think they came out and really shot the ball super well in the first half,” Boise State redshirt senior Max Rice said. “We got down 20, and that’s not a good formula to win in the Spectrum.”
While Boise State matched Utah State blow-for-blow in the second half, the early deficit was too much to overcome. The Broncos got as close as six points, 77-71, with 2:15 to play, but the Aggies returned from a timeout and immediately sank a 3-pointer to quiet the threat.
“Offensively, we just waited around to start playing,” Duryea said. “I mean, the second half we played tremendous basketball, but you can’t come in here and play a half. Not with what they had riding on it, not with the mindset they were coming in with on senior night. We couldn’t wait around for them, and we just did, and it cost us.”
Taylor Funk led five Aggies in double figures with 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting, while Steven Ashworth added 19 points and eight assists.
Boise State was led by Chibuzo Agbo with 18 points, including a 4-for-7 performance from deep. Tyson Degenhart contributed 14 points and six rebounds, and Marcus Shaver Jr. and Max Rice had 13 points each. The starting guards struggled shooting, though, each going 4-for-12.
The Broncos finished the regular season 23-8 and 13-5 in conference play — with all five losses coming on the road. Utah State improved to 24-7 and 13-5 in the Mountain West, but Boise State got the No. 2 seed via a tiebreaker. The Aggies will be the No. 3 seed and Nevada (22-9, 12-6) will be No. 4.
League champion San Diego State is the top seed.
Boise State will open the Mountain West Tournament at 7 p.m. Mountain time Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas against the winner of Wednesday’s first-round matchup between No. 7 UNLV (18-12, 7-11) and No. 10 Air Force (14-17, 5-13). The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network, or listen on the radio on KBOI 670 AM.
“We’re a little bummed just because we obviously wanted to win that one,” Rice said. “But you’ve gotta flip the page and come back and play hard on Thursday in the Mountain West Tournament.”
UTAH ST. 86, BOISE ST. 73
BOISE ST. (23-8): Agbo 6-11 2-3 18, Degenhart 5-11 4-5 14, Ma.Rice 4-12 3-3 13, N.Smith 2-3 0-0 5, Shaver Jr 4-12 5-6 13, Ko.Young 0-1 0-0 0, Milner 2-2 2-2 6, Whiting 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 25-56 16-19 73.
UTAH ST. (24-7): Ashworth 6-13 4-5 19, Bairstow 6-10 0-0 12, Dorius 2-3 0-1 4, Shulga 4-7 3-3 11, T.Funk 9-12 2-2 24, Akin 4-5 6-6 14, Eytle-Rock 1-4 0-0 2, Hamoda 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-56 15-17 86.
Halftime—Utah St. 47-33. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 7-21 (Agbo 4-7, Ma.Rice 2-6, N.Smith 1-1, Degenhart 0-3, Shaver Jr 0-2, Whiting 0-2), Utah St. 7-20 (T.Funk 4-6, Ashworth 3-6, Bairstow 0-2, Eytle-Rock 0-3, Hamoda 0-2, Shulga 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Boise St. 29 (Shaver Jr 7), Utah St. 29 (T.Funk 8). Assists—Boise St. 11 (Shaver Jr 5), Utah St. 24 (Ashworth 8). Total Fouls—Boise St. 16, Utah St. 16. A—9,963(10,270).
This story was originally published March 4, 2023 at 9:13 PM.
