LOGAN, Utah – Ian Martinez got the roll of his life, and Boise State had one of its toughest losses in recent memory.
The Utah State guard got fouled while hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer with 7.3 seconds left – after it bounced around six or seven times on the rim – and Alvaro Cardenas missed a shot at the buzzer as the Broncos suffered a 81-79 loss at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday night.
Boise State led by 13 points early in the second half but couldn’t hang on for what would have been its best win of the season.
“Being up two with 10 seconds to go, probably the worst-case scenario you could have, fouling a 3-point shooter and have him make it,” said senior Tyson Degenhart. “It stings because we showed a lot of grit and I think we played really, really hard. Ultimately it was our defense in the second half. We just didn’t get enough stops down the stretch.”
Crazy 3-pointer from Martinez – and the foul – to give Utah State the lead with 7.3 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/t6pvJ8MbGK
— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) January 12, 2025
Utah State shot 61.2 percent from the field for the game, including a ridiculous 80 percent in the second half on 16 of 20 shooting.
“You can’t have the numbers they had in the second half, 80 percent from the field, and expect to win,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “Our defense has to get a lot better. Our offense was good enough, our response was good enough, our toughness was good enough – but you have to tip your hat to Utah State and the clutch shots they made. They made some big shots.”
Degenhart had 22 points to lead the Broncos, passing Abe Jackson for 6th place on Boise State’s all-time scoring list. His layup with 1:30 left put the Broncos up 76-72.
Utah State battled back and took the lead, but Boise State’s Alvaro Cardenas hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 12.2 seconds left to put the Broncos back in front at 79-77.
After a time out, it appeared an official counted to five seconds before the Aggies got the ball inbounds, but no call was made. Martinez caught the pass and connected on a crazy shot from the top of the key as his feet made contact with Degenhart for a foul.
He made the free throw to put the Aggies up 81-79, and a desperation shot from Cardenas hit the back of the rim and missed as a sellout, loud crowd went crazy.
Final shot rims off and Boise State suffers a heartbreaking 81-79 loss at No. 25 Utah State. pic.twitter.com/YooCfBGqZ0
— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) January 12, 2025
Cardenas had 15 points and Javan Buchanan had 13 for the Broncos, who went a season best 14 of 26 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Boise State, which led for 27:33 of the 40 minutes, won the rebounding battle, 30-24, shot 53 percent overall from the field.
But the Broncos made just two defensive stops during a 13-minute stretch in the second half after leading 47-34 and forced Utah State into just four missed shots the entire second half.
“That’s the reason we lost,” Buchanan said of the defense.
Martinez had 18 points to lead five players in double figures for Utah State, which went 11 of 21 from 3-point range – including 7 of 8 from deep in the second half.
Boise State’s offense was great for a second straight game – an encouraging sign for sure moving forward. The defense? That’s another story.
“We have to be able to get our defense better in a hurry because it’s not good enough,” Rice said. “We’ve won the league because of great defense and been in contention to win titles because of great defense and our defense is not at our standard right now.”
Boise State doesn’t have much time to fix it. The Broncos are back in action Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Wyoming at home before a two-game road trip starts Friday night at New Mexico.
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