Boise State basketball dominates in paint, struggles from perimeter in season opener
Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice said before the season that he’s still trying to figure out who is going to start at center.
He got a good look at his top two options on Tuesday.
Cam Martin and O’Mar Stanley combined for 28 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Broncos to an 89-55 season-opening win over Vanguard, an NAIA school.
“Both of those guys are only going to get better and better as the season goes on,” Rice said after the game. “They’re learning where they fit and how they can be effective, and I’ve seen a lot of growth.”
Martin, a 6-foot-9 transfer from Kansas, finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. He scored his first points as a Bronco on a two-handed dunk early in the first half and finished the game with four assists.
“It’s been a while since I played, so I tried to come out and get some momentum going,” said Martin, who played in only four games last year before taking a medical redshirt. “I tried to guard hard and set the tone on defense and let the offense come.”
Stanley, a 6-8 transfer from St. John’s, rattled the rim with two dunks in the first half and finished the game with 16 points and seven rebounds. He was a physical presence near the basket and shot 6-for-7 from the floor.
Martin and Stanley weren’t the only Broncos crashing the boards. As a team, Boise State (1-0) outrebounded Vanguard 60-27.
“It’s easy to win when you dominate the boards,” Martin said. “We want to win the rebounding battle every game.”
The Broncos took the court Tuesday without junior Tyson Degenhart, whose streak of 63 straight starts was snapped thanks to a broken nose he suffered in practice. He was a first-team All-Mountain West pick after leading the team with 14.1 points last season.
Rice said he expects Degenhart to play Sunday when Boise State hosts San Francisco (2 p.m.). His absence didn’t slow the Broncos down on Tuesday.
Boise State built a comfortable lead with a 13-0 run in the first half and went into halftime up 46-32. The Broncos opened the second half with a 10-2 run and led by 36 points at one point late in the game.
Chibuzo Agbo scored 13 of his team-high 19 points in the first half and finished the game with seven rebounds.
The one area the Broncos struggled Tuesday was from 3-point range. They hit just two shots from beyond the arc in the first half and one in the second, finishing the game 3-for-26.
Rice said the shooting was an anomaly that will get fixed.
“We’ve got a lot of great shooters on this team,” Rice said. “We were a little out of rhythm because we didn’t run one play tonight, but there will be more structure moving forward.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Boise State basketball dominates in paint, struggles from perimeter in season opener."
