Boise State, riding a four-game winning streak, faced what some would call their toughest opponent to date-finals. With that opponent seemingly bested, the Broncos welcomed Abilene Christian into Taco Bell Arena for an 11 am tip off. The Broncos were without two of their Aussies as Anthony Drmic missed his fourth straight game with a back injury, and Nick Duncan missed his first game of the year with a sprained ankle. With both normal starters out for BSU, junior transfer Kevin Allen got his first start of his career.
The Broncos came out of the gate on fire, opening up with a 13-0 run, with Derrick Marks scoring or assisting on the first seven Bronco points. True freshman David Wacker got into the game at the 16:10 mark and quickly made his presence felt with a great post move for a bucket. The Broncos did not allow their first field goal until the 12:47 mark, when ACU finally hit a three-pointer from the top of the key. The highlight of the game came shortly after that, as James Webb III (who finished in double figure scoring for the fifth game in a row) had a monstrous dunk in transition. Abilene Christian would not go away however, the Cougars went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to ten points, but Mikey Thompson and Derrick Marks closed the half out with five quick points, and BSU took the 34-19 lead into halftime.
The second half was more of the same for BSU. James Webb III hit two buckets back-to-back to get the Broncos off and running. The story of the second half, however, was Montigo Alford. Alford's speed and athleticism were too much for the Cougars; he was able to get anywhere he wanted on the floor, creating opportunities for himself and others. Alford dished out a team-high five assists with zero turnovers. Every available Bronco played in the game, including Jake Ness who grabbed a career-high six rebounds, five of them being defensive; Ness had only had nine defensive rebounds in his past 35 games. Montigo Alford says he loves when Jake can get in and make big plays for them, "It gets me hype[d]; I love seeing it, it's like a five hour energy."
Even though none of the Broncos knew it at the time, their defense down the stretch was enough to produce a new school record for fewest points allowed in a game, giving up only 33 points. The previous record set in 1994 was 35 points. Coach Rice says beating this record is a great accomplishment. "When we found out it was a school record for points, I told the guys 'that's impressive for lots of reasons, the history of this school has had some great defensive coaches.'" When asked about the defensive performance of the team, Junior Mikey Thompson said it has been a focus all year and a personal goal of his to be better on the defensive end, "I feel like I can be the best defender in the Mountain West."
The Broncos now have a few hours off until they travel down to Las Vegas, to finish up the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. The Broncos play the University of Houston at 8:30pm local time on Monday.
The Broncos came out of the gate on fire, opening up with a 13-0 run, with Derrick Marks scoring or assisting on the first seven Bronco points. True freshman David Wacker got into the game at the 16:10 mark and quickly made his presence felt with a great post move for a bucket. The Broncos did not allow their first field goal until the 12:47 mark, when ACU finally hit a three-pointer from the top of the key. The highlight of the game came shortly after that, as James Webb III (who finished in double figure scoring for the fifth game in a row) had a monstrous dunk in transition. Abilene Christian would not go away however, the Cougars went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to ten points, but Mikey Thompson and Derrick Marks closed the half out with five quick points, and BSU took the 34-19 lead into halftime.
The second half was more of the same for BSU. James Webb III hit two buckets back-to-back to get the Broncos off and running. The story of the second half, however, was Montigo Alford. Alford's speed and athleticism were too much for the Cougars; he was able to get anywhere he wanted on the floor, creating opportunities for himself and others. Alford dished out a team-high five assists with zero turnovers. Every available Bronco played in the game, including Jake Ness who grabbed a career-high six rebounds, five of them being defensive; Ness had only had nine defensive rebounds in his past 35 games. Montigo Alford says he loves when Jake can get in and make big plays for them, "It gets me hype[d]; I love seeing it, it's like a five hour energy."
Even though none of the Broncos knew it at the time, their defense down the stretch was enough to produce a new school record for fewest points allowed in a game, giving up only 33 points. The previous record set in 1994 was 35 points. Coach Rice says beating this record is a great accomplishment. "When we found out it was a school record for points, I told the guys 'that's impressive for lots of reasons, the history of this school has had some great defensive coaches.'" When asked about the defensive performance of the team, Junior Mikey Thompson said it has been a focus all year and a personal goal of his to be better on the defensive end, "I feel like I can be the best defender in the Mountain West."
The Broncos now have a few hours off until they travel down to Las Vegas, to finish up the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. The Broncos play the University of Houston at 8:30pm local time on Monday.
