BOISE, Idaho — The Boise State Broncos picked up their first win of the season beating Washington State 71-61 inside Idaho Central Arena.
The Broncos played some exciting basketball highlighted by three alley-oops, a dunk and some big time rejections at the rim that got the crowd into a frenzy in this neutral site game played mostly in front of Boise State fans.
Thank you for your enthusiastic support tonight Bronco Nation! Tonight was a lot of fun. With your help we’re able to contribute to our Alston fund which supports our student-athletes. Go Broncos! https://t.co/gGsOubB9v9
— Leon Rice (@CoachLeonRice) November 13, 2022
The Broncos got down 8-0 early, but Boise State's defense played great in the first half, they didn't allow many baskets at the rim, they held Wazzu without a field goal for 7:17 and the BSU guards were rebounding machines with Marcus Shaver Jr. grabbing ten and Max Rice getting eight.
Boise State used their defense to generate offense and once the Broncos took the lead with 11:17 to play in the first half they would never trail again, although the game was close in the second half with the Cougars tying it at 48-48 with 8:48 to play.
The Broncos would go on an 8-0 run from there and get their first win of the season by ten over a PAC 12 opponent in the Capital City Classic.
.@BroncoSportsMBB picks up its first win of the season with a 1️⃣0️⃣-point victory over Washington State‼️#AtThePEAK | #MWMBB | #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/xe6yKDuwXz
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) November 13, 2022
Boise State had five players in double figures, Marcus Shaver Jr. and Max Rice each had 15, Tyson Degenhart had 14 while Najee Smith added 12 and Lucas Milner had 10.
Chibuzo Agbo scored his first points for Boise State he had five, but he was the only newcomer to score as the Broncos went with a seven-man rotation and really a six-man rotation in the second half.
It will be interesting to see what this win means because in this era of college basketball every win counts and this could be a big one depending on how Washington State's season goes.
Boise State plays at Charlotte next Thursday and they have their next home game the Saturday after Thanksgiving when they welcome Utah Valley to Extra Mile Arena.
