LAS VEGAS – For the first eight minutes the Boise State men’s basketball team looked like it hadn’t played a game in two weeks.
The final 32 minutes they played like a team who didn’t want to stop playing.
Tyson Degenhart had 19 points to lead five players in double figures and the Broncos overcame a slow start to blow out George Washington, 89-59, in the opening round of the College Basketball Crown on Monday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Boise State made just 1 of 11 field goals to start the game and had 3 points in the first eight minutes of the game to fall behind 9-3. But the Broncos scored 86 points over the next 32 minutes – including a 57-33 margin in the second half – to advance to Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup with Butler.
“The way we started offensively – we were a little rusty,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “We hadn’t played for two weeks. Our timing was probably off. We had some good looks and they just went in and out, but our defense got us through those first 10 minutes and we were close enough that once we got our offense clicking, we scored (86) points in the final 30 minutes.”
Boise State trailed 9-3 with 11:17 to go before ripping off a 23-9 run to take a 26-19 lead with 3:22 to go. The Broncos led 32-26 at the half.
The Broncos led just 43-40 with 15:04 left in the game before using another big run, this time a 17-4 spurt, to take control for good at 60-44 with 10:41 to go.
Boise State shot 38 percent in the first half and a sizzling 60.5 percent in the second half.
“We were just getting our legs back,” Degenhart said. “You don’t play for two weeks and you’re not really in a rhythm or anything, so it just took us a little bit of time. We weren’t playing bad, defensively we were pretty good, the offense just wasn’t there and wasn’t clicking. Once we got it going, the game kind of flipped for us.”
Andrew Meadow and Pearson Carmichael each had 15 points for the Broncos, who also got 11 points from Javan Buchanan and 10 points from Julian Bowie.
Boise State’s defense tied a school record with 16 steals and forced George Washington into 22 turnovers. The Broncos had a 27-5 edge in points off turnovers, many of which came on transition buckets. Boise State had an 18-0 advantage in fast-break points.
“You don’t win that game without that, especially because of those first 10 minutes,” Rice said. “They could have been up 20 with the way our ball just wasn’t going in. If our defense wasn’t good in that early stretch, then you are down 20-2 and that’s a problem. As soon as you started making shots you were right back in it and then we kind of edged away from them. The guys did a great job of following the game plan and executing it.”
Boise State and Butler will meet at 5 p.m. MT Wednesday on FOX Sports 1. The winner will earn $50,000 in NIL money for the team in addition to advancing to the semifinals – where another $50,000 will be on the line. The winner of the tournament receives $300,000 in NIL money to split amongst the players.
The Broncos are three wins away from cashing in. And they seem motivated to get it done.
“Obviously this isn’t the tournament we want to be playing in,” Carmichael said. “But I think this opportunity is great for us and there’s a reason we’re here. We’re ready to go. This tournament is no joke and these teams are no joke, but our coaches and players are locked in and ready to go.”
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