‘We just ran out of gas.’ Utah State outlasts Boise State in Mountain West semifinal
Tyson Degenhart was sprawled out on the court with two fingers in the air. He thought he’d just taken a charge.
Nope. The tide had suddenly turned.
Utah State took its first lead of the game on that play in the second half, and the Aggies never looked back on their way to a 72-62 victory over Boise State in the Mountain West men’s basketball tournament semifinals late Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center.
“I tried to do my best to get out of the restricted area before he was going up,” Degenhart said. “It was just one of those calls that could go either way. It’s unfortunate that it went not our way tonight.”
The blocking call sent Utah State’s EJ Eytle-Rock to the free throw line — where he made both — and simultaneously gave Degenhart his fourth foul of the game with 7:53 to play.
While the Aggies found their spark, Boise State found itself in a shooting funk. The Broncos took a four-point lead on a Degenhart layup with 9:57 left and didn’t make another basket until there was 2:05 left — a span of 7:52. Meanwhile, the Aggies went on a 19-4 run.
“We just ran out of gas,” Boise State fifth-year senior Marcus Shaver Jr. said. “We were missing shots that we usually make, easy ones, but I’m just extremely proud of this team. We fought to the end.”
Utah State (26-7) shot 42.9% from 3-point range in the second half to claw back from as much as a nine-point deficit. After Degenhart’s blocking foul, the Aggies’ next three buckets were 3-pointers to pad their lead.
The defending tournament champion Broncos (24-9) shot just 27.6% from the floor in the second half and were outscored 44-26. The Broncos also struggled at the free-throw line, going just 14-for-22 (63.6%).
“Really proud of our guys the way we battled,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “You know, you’ve got to make some shots, and we missed some free throws at a crucial point when they built a little bit of a lead.”
Just as he did in Thursday night’s quarterfinal win over UNLV, Degenhart started the scoring for Boise State with a 3-pointer as the Broncos raced out to a 10-4 lead. The Aggies would eventually tie the game at 16.
Despite chants of “Shut up, Leon!” from the Utah State student section, Boise State held its composure on the court, heading into the locker room with a 36-28 advantage on 53.8% shooting compared to the Aggies’ 37.5%.
The Broncos maintained the lead despite starters Chibuzo Agbo and Marcus Shaver Jr. each sitting for stretches with two fouls. Freshman Jace Whiting and senior Lukas Milner filled in, contributing six points each.
“A three-day tournament like this benefits the deeper you can be,” Leon Rice said. “You need that depth. You know, last night, the overtime game, that was a hard-fought battle. That’s probably maybe one of the weaknesses of this team is the amount of guys I play.
“So that probably showed up in our shooting a little bit. We missed some shots maybe that you are like, ‘Oh, I have seen us make those.’ But you’ve got to credit Utah State. We knew it was going to be a heck of a game.”
The Broncos now wait to hear their name called in the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which begins at 4 p.m. Mountain time Sunday on CBS. They seem to be safely in the field.
“I think we’re in a good spot. I think our résumé speaks for itself,” Degenhart said. “A lot of quad 1 wins and no Quad 4 losses like we did last year, so I’m hoping we get a good spot. Hopefully somewhere close, like Sacramento or Denver. It’s going to be hard waiting a couple of days for that, but we’ll be ready.”
UTAH ST.. 72, BOISE ST. 62
UTAH ST. (26-7): Ashworth 4-13 3-5 14, Bairstow 5-12 1-3 12, Dorius 0-1 0-0 0, Shulga 5-11 6-6 19, T.Funk 2-6 2-2 7, Akin 1-3 5-6 7, Eytle-Rock 4-6 4-4 13, Hamoda 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 21-26 72.
BOISE ST. (24-9): Agbo 3-11 1-2 8, Degenhart 5-6 2-3 13, Ma.Rice 0-6 1-2 1, N.Smith 4-8 4-6 14, Shaver Jr 4-13 6-8 14, Ko.Young 0-0 0-0 0, Kuzmanovic 0-0 0-0 0, Milner 3-5 0-0 6, Whiting 3-6 0-1 6. Totals 22-55 14-22 62.
Halftime—Boise St. 36-28. 3-Point Goals—Utah St. 9-29 (Ashworth 3-10, Shulga 3-7, Bairstow 1-6, Eytle-Rock 1-2, T.Funk 1-4), Boise St. 4-14 (N.Smith 2-3, Degenhart 1-2, Agbo 1-6, Shaver Jr 0-1, Ma.Rice 0-1, Whiting 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Utah St. 39 (T.Funk 10), Boise St. 30 (Shaver Jr 8). Assists—Utah St. 14 (Shulga 5), Boise St. 8 (Shaver Jr 3). Total Fouls—Utah St. 20, Boise St. 21.
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 1:43 AM.
