BOISE – If the Boise State men’s basketball team could have picked just one game this week to win, Saturday night against Washington State would have been it.
And that’s exactly how it played out.
After suffering a heartbreaking 68-66 loss to South Dakota State earlier in the week, the Broncos rebounded with an impressive 71-61 win over Washington State on Saturday night at Idaho Central Arena in downtown Boise.
Boise State (1-1) next heads to the Myrtle Beach Invitational next week.
“I was really proud of our guys with the toughness and the way we bounced back,” coach Leon Rice said. “We looked like a good basketball team for a lot of stretches. … I think you saw a better team tonight.”
Marcus Shaver Jr. and Max Rice each had 15 points for the Broncos, who broke a 48-48 tie with 8:48 to go with an 8-0 run on two dunks from Lukas Milner and two buckets from Shaver Jr.
Tyson Degenhart had 14 points and Naje Smith added 12 for Boise State.
“I was proud of our toughness,” Rice said. “We made some mistakes but we did a better job playing through them compared to the other night.
“They responded tonight. … That was two high-level teams.”
Washington State entered the game ranked No. 62 at KenPom, meaning the win could be a Quad 1 win by the end of the season should the Cougars finish in the top 50.
Boise State led 29-22 at the half and extended it to 36-27 on a free throw from Naje Smith with 16:59 to go in the game. The Cougars cut it to one possession on numerous occasions, but the Broncos never trailed in the second half.
Watch Boise State coach Leon Rice and players meet with the media after the game…
