There was only one thing Leon Rice would have drawn up differently from an 87-43 win over Oakland on Wednesday night in a season-opening blowout at ExtraMile Arena.
“Yeah, if the scoreboard worked,” Rice joked.
Technical difficulties to the scoreboard was about the only thing that went wrong for the Broncos.
Boise State burst out to a 10-0 lead, had a 48-18 lead at the half and pushed the margin to as many as 44 points in the second half in a dominant effort from start to finish.
The Broncos, who entered the season with high expectations as the preseason Mountain West favorites, got 15 points each from returners O’Mar Stanley and Andrew Meadow and 13 points from Tyson Degenhart.
Newcomers Dylan Anderson (13 points, four rebounds), Alvaro Cardenas (nine points, six assists, one turnover) and Javan Buchanan (nine points, four rebounds) also were big contributors in their first games for the Broncos, who made 9 of 20 shots from 3-point range as a team and shot 53.2 percent overall.
“It was great,” Rice said. “I wanted them playing with freedom and attacking and boy did they ever. Dylan was firing the 3-ball and O’Mar let one loose right away, and that’s what we wanted – to play with passion and energy and togetherness and that’s what it looked like.”
Asked if the quick 10-0 lead, which ballooned to 21-6 in the early going, helped ease the first-game jitters, Rice said, “it certainly does for the coach – no doubt.
“We have eight new guys basically that didn’t play here last year so there’s so many question marks so it makes you feel a lot better and gives them that confidence right away to see the ball go in. Then they can just loosen up and play and they did a good job of that.”
The Broncos were unable to play videos on the video board due to technical issues that arose just hours before tip off and also couldn’t put the score anywhere inside the arena other than an imbedded Mountain West Network graphic. The PA announcer routinely updated the crowd on the score and time.
But that was about the only negative from Wednesday.
Boise State played nine different guys in the first eight minutes and ended with 10 players getting at least nine minutes of action. Nobody played more than 25 minutes.
Nine of the 10 players scored, including RJ Keene – who had six points, seven rebounds and six assists in 21 minutes off the bench.
“He’s a baller,” Rice said. “He just made a lot of winning plays.”
The same can go for Cardenas, who instantly changes the look and feel of Boise State’s offense. The San Jose State transfer had an early assist to Stanley on a drive on the opening possession of the game, and later added a 3-pointer to make it 13-2.
He showed off his complete game, driving and scoring on multiple occasions but also finding teammates for open looks. He provided a dynamic the Broncos missed last season.
“That’s what you want out of your point guard,” Rice said.
Meadow’s improvement was noticeable as well. The sophomore earned the start and had the best game of his career, knocking down 3 of 6 from 3-point range and 6 of 10 shots overall. He also added five rebounds, three assists and three steals in just 21 minutes.
“Our guys have so much faith in him because of how hard he works,” Rice said of Meadow. “They know it’s a good idea if they can get Andrew an open 3.”
Anderson, a transfer from Arizona, hit 6 of 7 shots from the field including a 3-pointer on the second possession of the game. The 7-footer brings a unique combination of shooting and skill for a big man and seems poised for a big year with the Broncos.
“I’m just glad we won the game,” Anderson said. “I’ve been waiting (for an opportunity like this) and am just happy to have it come. It felt great.”
Boise State was also strong defensively, holding Oakland to 43 points on just 27.3 percent shooting. The visitors made just 3 of 26 shots from 3-point range and had only two assists on 18 field goals.
Boise State had 42 points in the paint, 15 second-chance points, 16 fast break points and 22 points from its bench. The Broncos also had a 45-31 advantage on the glass and had 23 assists on 33 made field goals.
“I think we all expected this out of us,” Meadow said. “There’s some things we need to get better for Saturday, but as a team this is definitely what we expected to do on night one.”
Boise State (1-0) now heads on the road for a tough matchup Saturday at San Francisco. KenPom.com currently projects a 78-73 win for the Broncos.
The Broncos will then be back home for a pair of games next week including Tuesday against Corbin before a showdown with Elite Eight participant Clemson on Nov. 17.
And by then, the video and ribbon boards should be fixed.
“That will be something to look forward to next time,” Rice joked.
The home team is worth coming to see as well.
