BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday Weekly…January 24, 2024.
That was almost disaster Tuesday night for Boise State. Almost. With a 16-point lead midway through the second half at Fresno State, the Broncos hit the ice box, and the Bulldogs went on a 23-5 run to take their first lead of the game with just over two minutes to play. Boise State was able to hang in defensively and recovered to win 72-68 at lightly-populated Save Mart Center. The only Broncos bucket in the last six minutes of the game was a three-pointer by Chibuzo Agbo with a minute and a half remaining—and that’s the one that got the lead back, just in the nick of time. Mistakes by Fresno State helped at the end. Not the way Boise State wanted to set the table for Utah State Saturday in ExtraMile Arena, but it’s easier to stomach when it’s a win rather than a loss.
Boise State’s offense was divided into three phases. (The Broncos really could have used a fourth when they were floundering down the stretch.) Max Rice started the game like he hasn’t for a while, scoring the Broncos’ first two baskets on floaters and totaling 11 points in the first half. He had 16 for the game. Phase II was Agbo, who went on a personal 8-0 run late in the first half to give Boise State some separation. And Phase III was O’Mar Stanley, who drilled back-to-back three pointers toward the midway point of the first half. That’s what gave the Broncos their first 16-point lead, and the whole thing got away until Agbo’s rescue.
STANLEY HAS ADJUSTED
Perhaps the best news coming out of Boise State’s win over San Diego State last Saturday: Stanley getting his mojo back after being out-of-sorts while being double-teamed in back-to-back games. The Aztecs watched the tape of the Nevada and UNLV games, and they came out the same way against Stanley. Less than three minutes into the game, SDSU defenders enveloped him, forcing a bad pass that sailed out-of-bounds untouched for a turnover. Coach Leon Rice immediately sat Stanley, but when he came back in three minutes later, he was a changed man. From there, Stanley went 6-for-10 from the field, made all three of his three-point attempts and both of his free throws, leading the Broncos the 17 points. He scored 14 Tuesday night at Fresno State.
RODDIE’S RISE
Roddie Anderson III’s ascension continues for Boise State, and hopefully some family and friends made the drive up I-5 from SoCal to support him Tuesday night. Anderson put up nine points against Fresno State and tied for the team lead with five rebounds. He’s averaging 10½ points over the last four games after going scoreless in the previous three. Last Saturday’s win over San Diego State had to be kind of symbolic for Anderson. Not only was he playing on CBS instead of the “Big West app” (as he puts it), he was going against the team that totally overshadows UC San Diego, the school he played for as a true freshman last season. Anderson seemed insipred, as he had a season-high 14 points against the Aztecs.
NO ASHWORTH, NO SHULGA, NO BAIRSTOW, BIG UPSIDE
What’s happened at Utah State this season has been nothing short of amazing. After last season, coach Ryan Odom left for VCU, and starters Max Shulga and Sean Bairstow went with him. And the rest of the Aggies scattered every which way. USU hired coach Danny Sprinkle, who had taken Montana State to the last two NCAA Tournaments. Ken Pomeroy, the “KenPom” guy, has been tracking “minutes continuity” since 2008. Never has a team with less than 10 percent of its team’s minutes returning from the prior season made the Big Dance. The Aggies have exactly one returner from last season, Landon Brenchley, who played a total of eight minutes, giving Utah State a 0.1 percent minutes continuity. Now Sprinkle has the Aggies at 17-2, and a solid chance at making history with a re-made roster.
THE TOP TWO ENVIRONMENTS
This is pretty subjective, but if I were to name the top two ExtraMile Arena atmospheres of the Leon Rice era, I’d put last year’s San Diego State game at No. 1 and last Saturday’s a close second. The noise was palpable from the morning throng of 11,705, and the Broncos need a repeat this Saturday against Utah State. It’s funny—I was talking to someone before the game about a number that has been emblazoned in my mind for 14 years: 3,061, Boise State’s average attendance the season before Leon Rice was hired. Then, CBS ran a graphic about it during the game, comparing that very number to the way stands have been filling up in recent years. Saturday’s crowd pushed the Broncos’ average attendance this season over the 10,000 mark (10,089), third in the Mountain West behind New Mexico and SDSU.
NEVER TOO EARLY TO TALK JEANTY
We’re always talking college football’s way-too-early top 25 lists. Well, ESPN.com’s Chris Low has a “Way-Too-Early All-America team” for 2024. And his all-purpose player is Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. Low goes through the things we already know: “The decision by Jeanty, one of the most dynamic and entertaining players in the country, to return was a real coup for Boise State. He was a first-team All-America selection on ESPN's 2023 postseason squad and the only FBS player to rush for more than 1,300 yards and have more than 500 receiving yards. Ashton had 58 plays of 10-plus yards, leading all returning FBS players.” And there’s this: Low’s tight end is Gooding’s Colston Loveland, the Michigan star. Loveland was first-team All-Big Ten and gets props for his blocking as well as his pass-catching.
IS THE TABLE SET FOR SHAKIR, OR WHAT?
Let’s do a Khalil Shakir season wrap, because man he deserves it. On Sunday, Shakir became the first Boise State alum to score two touchdowns in the NFL Playoffs after that incredible catch in the front corner of the end zone during Buffalo’s 27-24 loss to Kansas City. These stats posted on Twitter are amazing. Since Week 8 including the playoffs: Stefon Diggs with 557 receiving yards, Shakir with 567; Diggs with zero 100-yard games, Shakir with two. During the regular season, Khalil had 39 catches on 45 targets. His catch rate of 86.6 percent was No. 1 among all NFL receivers. Unfortunately, Shakir’s not in the Super Bowl. For the sixth consecutive season, there will be no former Boise State Broncos in the Super Bowl. The last one was Jay Ajayi with the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52.
STEELIES BACK IN FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The Idaho Steelheads looked like themselves again last weekend in Rapid City, roughing up the Rush in a sweep, 5-2 and 6-1. Willie Knieirm scored five of the Steelheads’ goals, a whopping four of them last Friday night, and he has been named ECHL Player of the Week. It was Knieirm’s first professional hat trick (I guess you’d call it a baker’s hat trick). He has 15 points this season and has accumulated 51 points overall in parts if three seasons with Idaho. The Steelies are 25-11-2 and are four points behind Kansas City in the ECHL Mountain Division standings. They have three games in three days on the road this weekend—visiting the Tulsa Oilers Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
ON TO TORREY PINES FOR TROY
Troy Merritt’s second event of the new year didn’t go like his first, as he missed the cut last week at the American Express (the old Bob Hope Desert Classic) despite a second-round 64. The former Boise State star had tied for 24th the week before at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Next up is the Farmers Insurance Open, beginning tomorrow morning on the iconic Torrey Pines layout in La Jolla.
C OF I CIRCLES THE WAGONS
If there were chin straps in hoops, College of Idaho would be buckling them up for its two games this weekend at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center, because it’s not going to be like last week. Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon, the two teams chasing the Coyotes in the Cascade Conference standings, will be in Caldwell Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Yotes have scored in triple-digits in three straight games, including a 107-40 blasting of Evergreen State their last time out. Coach Colby Blaine played 15 guys in that one, and all but two of them scored. I don’t think Blaine will be going quite that deep this week.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS…January 24, 1950:
Jackie Robinson signs what is, at the time, the highest-paying contract in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was for $35,000 per year ($455,000 in today’s dollars). Robinson and club owner Branch Rickey had become very close in the three seasons since Robinson broke big league baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Robinson played his entire career with the Dodgers and retired in 1957 rather than accept a trade to the rival New York Giants. Today, Robinson’s No. 42 is retired throughout the majors.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
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