Tyson Degenhart’s prolonged 3-point shooting slump isn’t a concern to coach Leon Rice and the Boise State men’s basketball team.
In fact, it’s actually encouraging.
Rice and the Broncos know the sophomore is much better than the 26 percent he’s currently shooting from behind the arc, which means he might have a lot of makes coming in the near future.
“Oh boy, does he ever,” Rice said Thursday. “And that’s huge.”
Degenhart worked tirelessly on his outside shot during the offseason and Rice said back in October he had gone from a “good to great” 3-point shooter. But after shooting 42.5 percent from deep as a freshman last season, he’s made just 15 of 57 shots (26.3 percent) from 3-point range through 15 games this season.
Rice said he’s confident the shots will start falling,. The law of averages says they have to.
“He’s not (a 26 percent shooter),” Rice said. “As long as his mentality doesn’t change, and it’s my job to help him through that, because you forget when you coach a guy like Tyson you expect them to be perfect like ‘I won’t bother him, he’s Tyson, you know, Superman.’ But I’ve seen good golfers come apart – professionals.”
While Degenhart was lighting up the scoreboard as a freshman, his teammate Max Rice faced a slump where he made just 3 of 30 attempts from 3-point range through the first 13 games of last season. At one point he made just 1 of 24 shots from deep.
But Rice kept shooting, and the shots started falling. Rice shot 35 percent from deep in the final 17 games and made at least one 3 in 12 of them. Rice knows what Degenhart is going through – and he’s confident his results will soon change like his did.
“He’ll stay confident, he’ll be fine,” Max Rice said. “When those stats correct it’s going to be really good for us offensively.”
Degenhart said there’s no issue with his mechanics, and no reason he can for the shots not falling to this point.
“They’re just not going in,” Degenhart said. “Even with the misses you just have to stay confident and know you’re going to make the next one.”
The Broncos (11-4, 1-1 MW) will need every shot they can get from their sophomore star in the gauntlet of Mountain West conference play that the next two-plus months hold. And his coach is confident his stats will soon even out.
“He’s still one of the best shooters I’ve coached, especially at the four or five spot,” Leon Rice said. “It’s my job as his caddy to trust that swing and let it fly.”
With the top 3-point shooting team in the nation coming to town in Utah State on Saturday, you wonder if the Aggies’ expertise from behind the arc could rub off on Degenhart.
“Shots are going to fall, I just haven’t found the rhythm that I found last year,” Degenhart said. “But they’re coming, I know it.”
Boise State pleads for sellout of ExtraMile Arena Saturday
Utah State comes into town for a 4:30 p.m. tip on Saturday undefeated in Mountain West play (2-0) and flaunting a 13-2 record overall.
The Aggies are sitting at #20 in the NET rankings, giving the Broncos a rare quadrant one win opportunity at ExtraMile Arena.
“We just hope we can get this entire place filled because we play better in front of more fans we can get,” Max Rice said.
While home teams have just a 9-5 record in Mountain West Conference games to date, wins on the road can be scarce down the stretch in the season. Every game matters, especially when there’s a home court advantage.
It was mentioned by multiple players along with Leon Rice how much the fans made an impact down the stretch against San Jose State. Now, the team is pleading fans to sell the building out for the Saturday showdown with the Aggies.
“We need a sell out. We need a great atmosphere,” Leon Rice said. “We need a great college basketball Saturday afternoon here in Boise.”
