After a ‘straight-legged’ start, Boise State hoops explodes in second half for win
Boise State men’s basketball rounded out its nonconference schedule Tuesday night in a win over Texas Southern that, for a short while, looked like it may have been a closer game than it was.
The Broncos (8-3) beat the Tigers (2-9) 82-51 at ExtraMile Arena, but it took until the second half for Boise State to pull away from a team that doesn’t have a single Division I victory this year.
Senior forwards Tyson Degenhart and O’Mar Stanley enjoyed double-double nights, while sophomore forward Andrew Meadow impressed with an 18-point performance.
“I think we settled a lot in the first half,” Degenhart said. “… We didn’t really attack the paint as much as we’d like to. And in the second half, we had that ball popping, and we had a way better second half.”
The Broncos led by just four points at one point late in the first half before a flurry of baskets gave them a 36-27 lead at halftime.
Part of the Broncos’ slow start was simply waiting for Degenhart to heat up. He went over 10 minutes without scoring a bucket to start the game before rattling off nine straight points to give the Broncos a 27-16 lead.
Degenhart finished the night scoring a team-high 19 points and pulling in 10 rebounds for his double-double. He was one of three Bronco players with double-digit rebounding as Boise State outrebounded Texas Southern 56-26.
“We just found some open shots and took them,” Degenhart said. “I did a good job getting to the foul line, and so shooting that as well and seeing that first free throw go in always helps and gets the confidence up.”
However, Boise State’s first-half woes weren’t just down to Degenhart’s slow start. The Broncos turned the ball over nine times in the first half, leading directly to 11 Texas Southern points — about 41% of the Tigers’ first-half scoring.
The Broncos cleaned up their sloppy play in time for the second half, and the results soon followed. Committing just six second-half turnovers — with three of those in the final 2 minutes as backups entered the game — allowed Boise State to outscore Texas Southern 46-24 in the half.
“We were just standing around straight-legged like ‘throw me the ball, and I’ll shoot a 3,’ ” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said. “If we throw the ball, we’ve got to get closeouts, and then you’ve got something. So you saw the adjustment in the second half of how they played, and I thought that was a really good second half.”
The scoreline could’ve been closer for the Broncos if not for a strong night from the charity stripe.
Boise State went 22-for-30 (73.3%) from the line, but Stanley missed five of those shots; the rest of the team shot 21-for-24. Degenhart led the charge, shooting a career-high and perfect 12-for-12.
“We actually shot free throws after practice yesterday, and it felt good. I’m starting to get better from the line,” Degenhart said.
The Broncos will remain in town this weekend to play Air Force in their Mountain West opener Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at ExtraMile Arena.
This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 9:48 PM.
