BOISE, Idaho — The Boise State Broncos defeated San Jose State 76-60 on Saturday as BSU was able to get back to their winning ways after a tough loss at Wyoming earlier in the week.
Tyson Degenhart led the way as he scored a career-high 23 points and also grabbed eight rebounds.
"Confidence helps everything, I wasn’t super confident in the first six games," said Degenhart. "I couldn’t get into a rhythm, now I’m starting to figure out the ins and outs of college basketball."
Degenhart has earned Mountain West Conference freshman of the week five times this season, but he doesn't play like a freshman, Tyson's game has consistency and maturity and that's what his teammates appreciate about the true freshman from Spokane.
"Unbelievable," said Abu Kigab. "The growth he’s shown has been tremendous, he’s continuing to learn and grow and that’s the thing I love about him."
Boise State beat San Jose State despite having Emmanuel Akot who is dealing with a sore knee, the Broncos hope to get him back for their next game on Friday at home against UNLV and BSU will finally get a much-needed breather after an intense slate of games going back to January 12.
The Broncos remain in first place in the Mountain West Conference although they are tied with Wyoming in the loss column, each team has one loss but the Broncos have played two more games.
Boise State has eight games left on the schedule with five of them at home where the team has won eight in a row including this last game against San Jose State.
Thank you to all the fans that came out today! We appreciate the support! https://t.co/j6Zakh6JBc
— Tyson Degenhart (@tdeggie13) February 6, 2022
"It was fun it felt good to have a nice crowd out here we finally broke 10,000 which is a step in the right direction," said Degenhart. "It felt good to have a lot of people behind us especially after a tough loss at Wyoming."
Abu Kigab continues his impressive play as he stuffed the stat sheet scoring 18 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and adding a career-high five steals, in his last two games Kigab has shot 18 free throws because of his aggressive and physical style of play.
"He’s the guy that if you had to go down a wicked alley he’d be the first in line to go with you and those are the guys you love to have out there competing," said head coach Leon Rice about the senior. "I'm going to be sad about losing Abu this is going to be a hard departure for me."
Boise State hosts UNLV on Friday night for a late start at 9:00 p.m. and then they host Colorado State on Sunday at 2:00 on Super Bowl Sunday.
