BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS...February 28, 2015:
In what was considered the biggest regular-season game in Boise State history, the Broncos end 24th-ranked San Diego State's 29-game home winning streak with a 56-46 win at sold-out Viejas Arena. The Aztecs' defense suffocated Boise State in the first half, but it was the Broncos' defense that ruled the day, holding SDSU to seven points over the final 11 minutes of the game in rallying from a 39-32 deficit and moving into a tie for first place with the Aztecs in the Mountain West. The Broncos completed their “quadfecta” of road breakthroughs, with their first-ever victory at Viejas Arena joining the ones earlier in the season at Utah State, New Mexico and UNLV.
Derrick Marks scored 18 points and James Webb III 16 for Boise State, but just as telling was rebounding. The Broncos, ignoring the roar of the 12,414 fans inside Viejas, topped San Diego State on the boards 42-30, including 12 on the offensive glass. They had come close before at SDSU, losing their first three Mountain West games there by just two, one and three points.
A year later, Boise State would do it again with another late-game comeback, this one even more dramatic. The Broncos rallied from a nine-point deficit with just over a minute left to win 66-63 at San Diego State. Six made free throws and two Nick Duncan three-pointers accounted for a 12-0 run to end it. The Aztecs had won 164 consecutive games when leading with five minutes to go, and they led at the five-minute mark in this one. It was one of the most amazing streaks in sports, and it had lasted more than six years. The Broncos also became the first Mountain West team to win back-to-back games at Viejas Arena since BYU did it in 2010 and 2011.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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