Boise State’s Tyson Degenhart had 20 points and the Broncos mauled Nevada’s men’s basketball team on the glass by a 43-24 advantage to hand the Wolf Pack their first Mountain West conference loss by a count of 64-56 in front of a nearly sold-out house on Friday night.
“They were just tougher than we were,” said head coach Steve Alford. “We got dominated on the glass. That’s a toughness stat and we got out-rebounded by 19.”
Nevada (15-2, 2-1 MW) entered the contest after a home victory over Air Force on Tuesday night.
Boise State arrived in Reno victorious in their last three games, including a home win over #17 Colorado State.
The Broncos are led by junior forward Degenhart (15.1 points, 5.3 rebounds), senior Chibuzo Agbo (15.1 points, 46.3% shooting beyond the arc), and St. John’s transfer Omar Stanley who is averaging 22.9 points and 9.7 rebounds during Boise State’s three-game streak.
Boise also brought with it some size to deal with Nevada’s Kenan Blackshear, who is often a nightmare matchup at the point for opposing guards.
There was a palpable buzz wafting around Lawlor before tip-off, with the biggest crowd of the season thus far ready for a battle of two evenly-matched conference foes.
Both teams displayed suffocating defense to open the game with the score knotted at 4-4 through the first five minutes. Nick Davidson broke the tie with hard-nosed inside play leading to seven straight Nevada points in a 7-2 run to pull ahead 11-8 with 12:14 left in the first half.
The Broncos would deliver a 5-0 run of their own to tie things at 16-16 before Boise State’s Agbo would reel off five points to push the Broncos ahead at 22-19.
The 6-foot-7 Agbo began a string of success from deep and, along with Degenhart, combined to can four straight attempts from long distance to keep them in front 28-25 with 1:40 left in the half.
A pair of buckets would leave Nevada trailing 30-27 at the break and Boise State holding advantages in rebounding 20-12 and points in the paint 16-10.
Agbo led Boise with 10 points while the Pack’s Davidson and Jarod Lucas had seven each.
The second half opened with a pair of quick Nevada turnovers, and the Broncos capitalizing on their opportunities.
Boise State’s Roddie Anderson netted five points and Tyson Degenhart had seven as the Broncos built a 10-point lead at 44-34 with 12:41 left.
The Pack would battle and draw within six at 48-42 on a Jarod Lucas jumper, but Boise would surge once again. When Degenhart hit a pair of free throws with 5:55 left, the bulge was back to nine at 52-43.
The 7-0 Nevada run over the next two minutes gave the 10,200 in attendance the belief that despite a rough shooting night, the Wolf Pack would somehow pull out an improbable win.
First, Tre’ Coleman got Nevada back within six after a little turnaround in the lane and converting the three-point play to make it 52-46 with 4:31 on the clock.
Coleman would follow that up with a steal off Degenhart’s inbound attempt, and Lucas would drive hard to the rim and pot the layup.
A Davidson steal moments later found its way to Kenan Blackshear and his deft finger-roll would pull Nevada within a bucket at 52-50 with 3:40 left and the Lawlor crowd absolutely roaring.
But the Wolf Pack would miss five of their final six shots, the exception being a Nick Davidson three with 25 seconds left to draw Nevada back within four at 60-56, but the Broncos would continue to convert free throws with Nevada forced to foul.
The Broncos converted 17 of 19 free throws in the second half to hold off the Pack and hand them their first defeat at home of the 2023-24 campaign.
“I thought the ball was just stagnant tonight,” said Alford. “We’ve got to work on it before the next road trip because it’s a very difficult trip.”
Next up: Nevada travels to Southern California to take on San Diego State on Jan. 17 at 8 p.m., and then on to Laramie to take on the Wyoming Cowboys on Jan. 20 at 4:30 p.m.
Notes:
- Jarod Lucas had 14 points to reach double figures in all 17 games this season.
- Lucas also matched a program record with his 3-3 night from the line by converting his 34th straight free throw.
- Kenan Blackshear had 15 points for Nevada, and added three assists, three rebounds, and a pair of steals.
- Nevada forced 18 Bronco turnovers, including 10 steals.
- The Wolf Pack was outmuscled on the offensive glass 11-2.
- Boise State won the battle in the paint 24-20, and second chance points 12-2.
