Boise State followed up one of its worst defensive outings of the season with one of its best.
And the results were startling.
Boise State held Wyoming to 35 percent shooting, forced 14 turnovers and dominated the boards in an impressive 96-55 win on Tuesday night at ExtraMile Arena.
After allowing Utah State to shoot better than 60 percent from the field last Saturday in a 81-79 loss in Logan – including a ridiculous 80 percent in the second half – the Broncos turned the page quickly and looked much more engaged and mistake-free on the defensive end of the floor Tuesday.
“Our defense got everything going,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “I was pleased with the defensive jump that we made.”
The defense led to maybe the best offensive performance of the season from the Broncos, who shot 58 percent from the field and made 13 of 26 from 3-point range. The 27 made 3-pointers in the past two games is the best two-game stretch of the season for the Broncos from beyond the arc.
Boise State’s 58.5 percent shooting mark and 96 points were both its best of the season against a Division I team.
Andrew Meadow had 18 points to lead a balanced scoring attack that saw five Broncos reach double figures. Freshman Julian Bowie had a career-high 16 points on 5 of 6 from 3-point range, while Tyson Degenhart had 14 points and Alvaro Cardenas had 14 points and eight assists. Freshman Chris Lockett Jr. added 11 points in his third-straight start.
The Broncos had a 33-22 edge on the glass which contributed to a 15-3 edge in second-chance points. Boise State also won the battle in the paint, 32-18, had a 17-7 advantage in points off turnovers, won 9-0 in fastbreak points and saw its bench outscore the Cowboys’ bench, 32-29.
Even in the close loss at Utah State last Saturday the Broncos saw several encouraging signs. Combine that with a win over UNLV last week and Tuesday’s thrashing of Wyoming and that’s three solid games in a row for Boise State, which appears to be trending in the right direction.
“I think you’re seeing a team that is coming together in all aspects of the game,” Rice said.
Wyoming (9-8, 2-4) got 16 points from Obi Agbim and 11 points from Dontaie Allen – but nobody else had more than five. The Cowboys, one of the better shooting teams in the conference, made just 5 of 18 from 3-point range.
Boise State is now 18-2 in its last 20 games against the Cowboys, who haven’t won in Boise since 2014.
“There’s only one thing a box score can tell you tonight – we got our butt’s whipped,” Wyoming coach Sundance Wicks said. “Hats off to Boise. They shot the cover off it. The ball wasn’t even hitting the rim. It was unbelievable. I’m not sure it even hit the net to be honest with you, but that’s a response from a championship level team. I’ll give them their flowers. That was a must win for those guys and how they responded, and making four of the last five NCAA Tournaments, they’ve won the league title. That’s a championship level caliber team that knows the expectation and the standard.”
Boise State now hits the road for a pair of tough road games, starting with a near must-win game for its at-large NCAA Tournament homes Friday night at New Mexico.
The Lobos, who dominated San Diego State in a 14-point home win last Saturday, were 6-0 in Mountain West play before suffering a 71-70 upset loss at San Jose State on Tuesday night.
“Our guys will go battle,” Rice said. “It seems like it’s coach Pitino’s best team. They are doing all the things and the dirty work and that’s how they beat San Diego State so bad. They out-toughed them, and that’s saying something because San Diego State came in here and out-rebounded us and they hammered them on the glass. It was so impressive. (Coach Richard Pitino) is doing an amazing job. We know what we’re in for.”
Tip off Friday night at The Pit is slated for 9 p.m. on FOX Sports 1. Bronco Nation News will be LIVE with the Lithia Ford of Boise Pregame Show from Albuquerque at 8 p.m. on our YouTube, Facebook and X accounts.
POSTGAME COVERAGE