After rough start, Boise State’s Carmichael hits career high in Duquesne blowout
The start to the 2025 basketball season hadn’t been what Pearson Carmichael had envisioned.
Having begun his college career last year with the plan of redshirting, Carmichael burned his redshirt in early January of last season and quickly became a scoring threat for the Broncos. The 2025 season was supposed to be Carmichael’s breakout season, and he even started the first game of the season against Hawaii Pacific.
Yet through the first month of the season, that hadn’t materialized. The sophomore forward was averaging 7.6 points per game and had dropped to the bench, with head coach Leon Rice saying in mid-November that Carmichael was “going through a lot” but trusted him to bounce back.
Carmichael repaid that trust on Wednesday evening, scoring a career-high 26 points as Boise State (7-3) defeated the Duquesne Dukes (6-4) 86-64 at ExtraMile Arena.
“I think the coaches and everybody expected me to be a scorer and a defender, and I kind of had that rough start,” Carmichael said after Wednesday’s game. “But having coaches that trust in you and just not giving up on you and always harping on you and yelling at you... It’s really helpful.”
Junior forward Drew Fielder joined Carmichael in the scoring column with 23 points, marking his 3rd game this season of at least 20 points, and the third-straight game in which he’s scored at least 16.
Senior forward Javan Buchanan was the only other Bronco to score in double digits (15).
Carmichael established himself throughout the back half of last season as a sniper from beyond the arc, and that eye for the basket returned against the Dukes. Having hit just nine 3-pointers all season before Wednesday night, Carmichael went 6-for-8 from beyond the arc and 10-for-13 from the floor.
Boise State led from wire to wire, but that may not have been the case if not for Carmichael. Every time the Dukes looked like they were about to make a run, Carmichael quickly shut them down.
He didn’t score his first points until over eight minutes into the game when he sank a corner three to give the Broncos a 20-13 lead. A mid-range jumper and another 3-pointer followed and kicked off a 12-2 run for the Broncos, forcing Duquesne into a timeout.
The Dukes came back out showing zone defense, and it briefly neutered the Broncos, holding them scoreless for over three minutes. But Carmichael finally broke through, scoring 11 straight points for Boise State to take a 45-30 lead into halftime.
When Carmichael was asked after the game if he felt like a game like this was coming, Fielder quickly interrupted his answer:
“I’ve been feeling it,” Fielder said. “The coaches have been on his case. This one was coming.”
Rice said that the last two days of practice had been the best he’d seen from Carmichael since he arrived at Boise State.
The second half saw much of the same, with the Broncos’ smallest lead of the half being 11 points, while they led by as many as 25 points, 83-58, before Rice sent out his bench. Among those players to come into the game was redshirt junior Rayzhon Bergersen, son of Boise State hoops legend Roberto Bergersen, who went on to score a layup for his first points as a Bronco.
While Carmichael garnered much of Wednesday night’s attention, it also would have been a much closer scoreline if not for Fielder’s work inside.
The 6-foot-11 forward was matched up against Duquesne’s 265-pound forward John Hugley IV, who is 40 pounds heavier than Fielder. Hugley came into the game averaging 15.9 points and six rebounds per game, but Fielder held him to just 11 points and two rebounds.
Offensively, Fielder worked Hugley hard down low, putting his back into the 6-foot-10 forward before using his speed to work around the big man and find easy finishes. Fielder ended the night shooting 8-for-13 from the line, went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line, and had three rebounds.
“(Fielder) has got so much ability… all Drew does is make shots.” Rice said. “But he’s doing the other stuff too, and he’s getting better at all the other stuff.”
Boise State will next head to Idaho Falls, where they’ll play California’s St. Mary’s on a neutral court in the final nonconference game on the schedule. The Broncos will then open Mountain West play on the road on Dec. 20, before finally returning home to play New Mexico on Dec. 30.
This story was originally published December 10, 2025 at 10:44 PM.
