ST. LOUIS – On a night when Boise State couldn’t buy a bucket offensively, the Broncos turned to their defense to save the day.
Despite shooting just 30.5 percent (18 of 59) on the road, the Broncos locked down defensively and earned an impressive 57-52 win at Saint Louis on Saturday.
Boise State (8-2) held the Billikens to just 31 percent from the field (18 of 58) and 22.2 percent from 3-point range (4 of 22) while limiting them to 52 points.
“I think we can get stops and we showed that today,” said Boise State guard Chibuzo Agbo, who led the way with 18 points. “Towards the end when things were on the line we started getting stops and hunkering down.
“We didn’t back down when things weren’t going our way. We stuck together and we pulled it out.”
The Broncos have now won seven games in a row following a disappointing 1-2 start. They improved to No. 53 at KenPom and now hold wins over four teams ranked in the top 60 at KenPom: Washington State (59), Colorado (52), Texas A&M (57) and Saint Louis (60). All could be coveted ‘Quad 1 wins’ by the end of the season.
And they won Saturday in their first true road game of the season. The Broncos have played five neutral court games but faced a hostile road environment for the first time.
The crowd got loud – especially as the Billikens made a run to tie the game late – but Boise State kept its composure and didn’t appear to ever get rattled.
“This atmosphere was great,” coach Leon Rice said. “This was a high level Mountain West atmosphere. There were probably 10,000 fans here and they were loud and we played a great team. This is a team I think will win the A-10. Nobody had won here and I don’t think many will.
“They hit some big shots. I knew we wouldn’t knock them out with the first few punches. It was going to take a lot of punches. We had to keep punching.”
Boise State made just 1 of its last 11 shots from the field and didn’t have a field goal in the last 4:52 but relied on its defense to hang on after leading 47-40 with 7:42 to play.
The Broncos improved to No. 13 in defensive efficiency at KenPom with the win.
Saint Louis tied the game but never took the lead. Max Rice put the Broncos up with two free throws with 45.3 seconds left and iced the game with a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left.
The Billikens had a chance to tie the game when Marcus Shaver Jr. missed two free throws with 10.8 seconds left and the Broncos leading 55-52, but SLU missed a game-tying 3-point in the final seconds.
“This was a two-minute game and we won the last two minutes,” Leon Rice said. “If you play it 10 times who knows (what happens), but I do know our defense was great down the stretch.
“I’m just really proud of our guys. W’ve got a lot of ahead of us, but we’ll enjoy this win.”
Agbo had 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting, while Rice had 14 points thanks in part to a 6-for-6 night at the free throw line.
Tyson Degenhart and Marcus Shaver Jr. each had 8 points for the Broncos, who had a 43-42 rebounding edge.
Boise State is back in action Tuesday night against New Orleans at 7 p.m.
Watch the Lithia Ford of Boise Postgame Show from Chaifetz Arena, with interviews with Leon Rice, Chibuzo Agbo and Max Rice:
