‘We tried everything we could to stop ‘em.’ Boise State comes up short in NCAA Tournament
Coach Leon Rice stood with his hands on his hips and shook his head as the final seconds ticked off the clock.
Another NCAA Tournament game, another loss for the Boise State men’s basketball team.
The 10th-seeded Broncos fell to 0-9 in March Madness action — and 0-4 under Rice — with a 75-67 loss to No. 7 Northwestern in the first round Thursday at the Golden 1 Center.
“I don’t think anyone expected us to be here,” Boise State redshirt senior Max Rice said. “I still think it was an amazing season. Obviously we wanted to get our first win in the tournament. But (Northwestern) played good tonight. They played better than us tonight and made a bunch of big shots.”
Northwestern advances to the second round, where it will play No. 2 UCLA (30-5).
Northwestern senior guard Boo Buie paced the Wildcats (22-11) with a game-high 22 points, five rebounds and five assists with just one turnover. The Wildcats’ starting trio of guards combined for 55 points, as Chase Audige added 20 points and Ty Berry had 13.
“That’s just a credit to those dudes. They’ve been doing it all year,” Max Rice said. “We tried everything we could to stop ‘em. They just kept scoring tough buckets when they needed them. Just a credit to those dudes. They’re really good players and they’ve had a great season.”
The Broncos shot just 31.6% from the floor in the second half and were held without a field goal for nearly 5 minutes after sophomore Tyson Degenhart scored on a putback dunk with 5:52 remaining.
“I thought we had great energy,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “I just thought every time … they tried to put game pressure on us with a five-point run or six-point run, we really executed well and found a way to score, found a way to make a big shot.”
Max Rice led the Broncos with 17 points on 6-for-19 shooting, and had four rebounds and four assists. Fifth-year senior Naje Smith contributed a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Marcus Shaver Jr. and Chibuzo Agbo added 12 points apiece.
“I definitely feel like we got a lot of good looks as a team that we usually knock down that just didn’t go our way,” Smith said.
Boise State started 1-for-6 from the floor and committed seven turnovers in the first half, similar to the Broncos’ start against Memphis last season when they went 1-for-8. Northwestern then used a 10-2 run to take a 10-point lead, 20-10, with 12:39 left.
But the Broncos didn’t let the gap widen any further, producing a 6-0 run of their own to pull within 20-16. Later, a Max Rice 3-pointer made it 32-29 with 3:05 to play. But any momentum the Broncos had gained came to a halt when Marcus Shaver Jr. was injured under the Wildcats’ basket with 2:33 to go. Shaver had to be helped off the court and wasn’t bearing any weight on his right foot.
Smith added another 3-pointer before the half was over, sending the Broncos into the break down 38-32.
Shaver returned in the second half, but the Broncos never quite looked like themselves, and Buie and the Wildcats took advantage. Each time the Broncos got within a possession, the Wildcats responded.
Max Rice tied the game at 40-all on a 3-pointer with 17:29 to play, and Audige countered with a 3-pointer of his own.
Then Max Rice made a pair of free throws to make it 43-42, only to watch as Berry connected from deep to go up 46-42.
Boise State was as close as 60-56 with 5:52 left, but Northwestern was 5-for-7 from the floor the rest of the way while making 7-of-8 from the free-throw line to seal the win.
The loss ends Boise State’s season at 24-10. The Broncos have won a combined 51 games the past two seasons — the program’s most victories in a two-year stretch — culminating with back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our effort,” Leon Rice said. “To get 20 offensive rebounds against that team, that just shows you we were trying to find a way. Our guys never — just like they always do — never gave up, kept battling till the bitter end.”
No. 7 NORTHWESTERN 75, No. 10 BOISE ST. 67
BOISE ST. (24-10): Agbo 5-13 0-0 12, Degenhart 4-8 0-2 8, Ma.Rice 6-19 2-2 17, N.Smith 5-8 3-6 14, Shaver Jr 4-12 4-4 12, Milner 2-2 0-0 4, Whiting 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-65 9-14 67.
NORTHWESTERN (22-11): Audige 5-12 7-8 20, B.Buie 8-14 5-6 22, Beran 1-5 0-0 3, Mt.Nicholson 2-2 1-1 5, Ty.Berry 5-7 0-1 13, Bo.Barnhizer 4-10 2-2 10, N.Martinelli 1-1 0-0 2, Verhoeven 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 15-18 75.
Halftime—Northwestern 38-32. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 6-23 (Ma.Rice 3-10, Agbo 2-7, N.Smith 1-2, Degenhart 0-2, Shaver Jr 0-1, Whiting 0-1), Northwestern 8-21 (Audige 3-9, Ty.Berry 3-4, Beran 1-2, B.Buie 1-4, Bo.Barnhizer 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Boise St. 41 (N.Smith 11), Northwestern 33 (Audige, Ty.Berry 6). Assists—Boise St. 15 (Shaver Jr, Ma.Rice 4), Northwestern 9 (B.Buie 5). Total Fouls—Boise St. 17, Northwestern 16.
This story was originally published March 16, 2023 at 7:46 PM.
