DAYTON, Ohio – Tyson Degenhart knows one thing that has to change if Boise State plans to make history Wednesday night with its first NCAA Tournament win in school history.
The Broncos have to start faster.
In each of Boise State’s NCAA Tournament games the past two seasons the Broncos fell behind early and were unable to complete comebacks.
“We dug ourselves a 19-point hole against Memphis (two years ago) and we played really well in the second half, but we just couldn’t dig ourselves out of it,” Degenhart said. “It’s really important to keep the game close and take an early lead.”
Two years ago No. 8 seed Boise State fell behind 12-6 early against No. 9 seed Memphis and trailed 38-19 at the break. The Broncos responded with a huge run to pull within five in the final minutes but couldn’t get any closer and eventually fell 64-53.
Last year as the No. 10 seed against No. 7 seed Northwestern the Broncos fell behind 5-0 early and 20-10 in the first eight minutes of the game. Boise State, which trailed 38-32 at the half, eventually tied the game at 40 and got within two on multiple occasions before galling 75-56.
Boise State never held the lead in either game.
“That will be important for us to get off to a great start and we’re really looking forward to doing that,” senior Max Rice said. “We know we can’t get down early in this tournament. We’ve got to come out and play at the very start.”
The Broncos last lead in an NCAA Tournament game came here in Dayton in 2015 when they had a 29-20 lead at halftime over Dayton and led 55-53 in the final minute before the Flyers stormed back and dealt the Broncos a gut-wrenching 56-55 loss.
Boise State’s formula this season has been to get a lead and hold it. The Broncos are 19-1 this season when leading at the half, and 2-9 when trailing.
“I think personally for me, in the past I’ve tried to let my nerves settle, tried to just like smooth my way into the game. But now I realize you’ve gotta go for it. Go get some O boards and rebounds and things like that to really get yourself started. I think that’s going to be really big for us.”
A win would be Boise State’s first in the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos are 0-9 all-time in the Big Dance, including an 0-4 mark under coach Leon Rice. The Broncos lost in the First Four in both 2013 and 2015 before falling to Memphis and Northwestern the past two years.
“This team has never lost a game in the NCAA Tournament,” Leon Rice said. “You look at those stats and those can go way back and some of them I wasn’t even at Boise State. So that’s not something we pay attention to. That’s not something that the team talks about or looks at.”
They don’t think about the losses. They sure as heck talk about being the one to get the first win.
Although it has been motivation dating back to the end of last season. Seventh-year senior Cam Martin said when he committed last summer after transferring at Kansas that his goal was to help Boise State break the streak and pick up its first NCAA Tournament win.
Players have talked since the start of the season about wanting to be the team that makes history.
“That was one of the first things
And now they finally have their shot.
“That was one of the first things we talked about during our team meetings during the summer,” Agbo said. “It’s been on our list as something we want to do. And it’s right here in front of us.
“I feel like we’re really motivated and locked in to go get this done and make some Boise State history. Plus, getting this first one and really get that monkey off our back and get some momentum going forward, that would be great.”
Tip off is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. MT and the game will air nationally on TruTV. Should Boise State win, they’d advance to play No. 7 seed Florida on Friday at 2:30 p.m. MT in Indianapolis.
