SPOKANE, Wash. – It wasn’t the homecoming Tyson Degenhart, Max Rice and the Boise State men’s basketball team had hoped for.
The Boise State stars returned home to Spokane, Washington, with a chance to help the Broncos pick up a big nonconference win ahead of a break for Christmas. Instead they combined to go 5 of 25 from the field and struggled in a 66-61 loss to Washington State at Spokane Arena on Thursday night.
“Sometimes that is a factor – they do want to play well in front of their folks,” said Boise State coach Leon Rice, a longtime resident of Spokane while an assistant coach at Gonzaga.
Both Degenhart and Rice entered the game with 980 career points and were hoping to eclipse the 1,000-point mark in their hometowns. But Degenhart was 3 of 13 from the field and had just 12 points while Rice was 2 of 12 and finished with six points.
“I just couldn’t make one,” Degenhart said. “I felt like I got some good looks and just didn’t make them. … I’m very appreciative of all the people I’ve come across in Spokane and to see a lot of them in the stands, it’s really heartwarming to me, I just wish we could have got the win tonight.”
Omar Stanley had a career-high 23 points and six rebounds for the Broncos (8-4), who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
Boise State led 54-50 with 5:31 remaining but Washington State used a 12-4 run to lead 62-58 with 1:30 to go.
Chibuzo Agbo hit a corner 3-pointer and the Broncos forced a turnover to get the ball back with 50 seconds to go, but no foul was called when Roddie Anderson drove the line and the Broncos were forced to foul.
Washington State hit both free throws to go up 64-61, and Rice missed a wide-open 3-pointer in the final seconds which would have tied the game.
All four of Boise State’s losses have come to teams ranked 66th or higher at KenPom. The Broncos also have four top-100 wins. They’ve played the hardest schedule in the Mountain West to date, and while the overall record may not be where they want it, the Broncos are confident they’ll eventually be rewarded for challenging themselves early on.
“There’s not a lot of teams in our league – none – that have done what we’ve done as far as played the schedule we’ve played, and we’re going to reap dividends for that,” Rice said.
Boise State’s players will disperse across the country for Christmas and regroup in Boise on Dec. 26 ahead of the final nonconference game of the season against Utah Valley on Dec. 29. Conference play opens Jan. 6 at San Jose State.
