Boise State basketball: Men’s team 1-1 in ESPN tourney, women lose first game of season

The Boise State men’s and women’s basketball teams are spending Thanksgiving away from home, playing in holiday tournaments.

These tournaments generally sport tough fields and tough matchups. That’s what both teams expected, and that’s how it’s played out so far.

The Boise State men lost their opening game Thursday to Virginia Tech at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Florida, but rebounded Friday night with a 65-61 win over VCU. The Broncos (3-2) will face Butler (4-2) in the tournament’s fifth-place game Sunday at 2 p.m. Mountain time on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.

The Boise State women, playing in a round-robin format at the South Point Classic in Las Vegas, lost their first game of the season Friday, 62-52 to Santa Clara.

Boise State’s men outlasted VCU in a rough-and-tumble game that featured pressure defense and contested shots. The Broncos held the Rams (3-3) to 39.6% shooting (21-of-53) and forced 14 turnovers while committing just eight.

Sophomore guard Jace Whiting, who made all three shots he took, scored five points early in the second half to give Boise State a 34-33 lead, and the Broncos never trailed again. They built the lead to as many as eight points and kept VCU at bay.

Freshman Andrew Meadow scored 12 points and Tyson Degenhart 10 to lead a balanced attack for Boise State, which saw seven players score at least seven points. The Broncos were outrebounded 39-28 but gained possessions by coming up with eight steals, and they made 17-of-21 free throws.

Against Virginia Tech on Thanksgiving night, the Broncos led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but the Hokies closed with a 24-10 run to lead 44-41 at halftime.

Boise State’s last lead was 58-56 in the second half, but turnovers and timely baskets by Tech’s Sean Pedulla ultimately made the difference. Pedulla, who had 18 points, hit a 3-pointer for a 75-70 lead with 2:12 remaining and added a layup with 1:37 left to make it 77-70.

Degenhart scored 18 points to lead the Broncos, and Chibuzo Agbo had 15 points and nine rebounds. Max Rice scored 12 points but had six of the team’s 16 turnovers.

Boise State women’s game

Santa Clara (6-1) handed the Broncos their first loss with a big fourth-quarter rally Friday afternoon.

Boise State (4-1) led 28-21 at halftime and was still up by four entering the final quarter, but the other Broncos limited BSU to just nine points the rest of the way in a come-from-behind win.

Guard Natalie Pasco scored 14 points to lead Boise State, and forward Abby Muse had nine points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. The Broncos shot just 34% (18-for-52) in the loss but had a 43-36 rebounding advantage.

Olivia Pollerd scored 18 points to lead Santa Clara, which erupted for 23 of its 62 points in the final quarter.

Boise State continues play in the South Point Classic on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Mountain time against Rutgers.

This story was originally published November 24, 2023 at 9:15 PM.