Boise State keeps ‘sawing wood’ until the San Jose State tree ‘falls’ in blowout win
Just two weeks ago, Boise State basketball was 5-4 in Mountain West play, had lost three straight road games following a last-second loss to Colorado State, and didn’t seem to have an identity.
Head coach Leon Rice was adamant his team would heat up from three, but the 3-point shooting remained spotty. He also didn’t seem to have a clear idea of his team’s best starting five, instead thinking the Broncos’ strength may be its rotation.
And every close game seemed to be going against Boise State, with three losses on last-moment 3-pointers.
A solution that was not anticipated was for the Broncos to be a team of scoring runs.
But four games after that Colorado State loss, the Broncos are on a four-game winning streak after crushing San Jose State 79-52 on Friday night at ExtraMile Arena. They have done so by going on big scoring runs either side of halftime.
With Boise State (17-7, 9-4) holding a slender 23-20 lead after 12 minutes, the Broncos erupted for a 12-2 run to pull ahead. A 9-2 stretch out of halftime provided a 46-27 lead that knocked the Spartans (12-13, 5-8) out of the game.
“There’s nobody you’re going to knock out with a 25-0 run to start the game,” Rice said. “You saw wood. And what we mean by that is, on every possession, you’re just sawing wood and sawing wood, and pretty soon, the tree falls.”
Amid Rice’s lineup rotations, sophomore forward Emmanuel Ugbo took hold of his opportunity against the Spartans. Ugbo has started five of the past six games, but Friday night’s performance was by far his most productive: 12 points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
He hit his first 3-pointer since early December to spark the Broncos’ 12-2 first-half run. After hitting the shot, he backpedaled while holding his fingers to his lips — the shush wasn’t aimed at anyone, Ugbo said after the game. However, a wry smile from senior guard Alvaro Cardenas sitting next to him told a different story.
On the Broncos’ next possession, Ugbo finished a layup through contact and drained the free throw. Ugbo finished the first half tied with senior forward Tyson Degenhart with a game-high 10 points; Degenhart finished the game as the top scorer with 22 points.
“I thought (Ugbo’s) energy sparked us,” Rice said, “and that’s the beauty of having some depth.”
Junior forward Javan Buchanan (11) and Cardenas (16) also finished in double-digit scoring. Cardenas finished with nine assists, putting him just one helper off tying the Boise State single-season assist record of 165, set by La’Shard Anderson in 2010-11.
The Broncos opened the second with a 9-2 run across four minutes, extending their lead to 19. The closest San Jose State would get to the Broncos from there was 15 points, which occurred with over 10 minutes left in the game.
The two runs indicate a trend that’s given the Broncos success in recent weeks against teams in the lower half of the standings.
Earlier this week against UNLV, Boise State went on a 10-0 run right before halftime and then a 12-2 run out of the break en route to a 71-62 win. A 24-4 run a few days earlier put the Broncos far out of sight of Fresno State.
“I think we lock in on defense, and our best offense is transition,” Ugbo said. “Whenever we get to play a transition and free basketball, we’re at our best.”
The Broncos will now enjoy their second little bye of the season. They will not play again until a road trip to San Diego State next Saturday at 8 p.m. Boise State will end February with a make-or-break three-game stretch against New Mexico (home), Nevada (road) and Utah State (home).
The Lobos sit atop the league standings at 11-1, followed closely by the Aggies at 11-2. San Diego State and Colorado State both are 8-3, ahead of the fifth-place Broncos.
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 10:51 PM.
