PREVIEW | MBB:Boise State (19-6, 9-3) at Colorado State University (11-14, 3-9)
Boise State University at Colorado State University
Date: Wednesday February 15,2023
Time:8:00pm MT
Stadium: Moby Arena, (8,083)
TV: FS1
Radio: KBOI 670 AM
Commentators: Bob Behler and Abe Jackson
Know Thy Enemy
Moby Madness will be in full effect as the Broncos head to Fort Collins for one of their last three road games of the season. Both teams come into this mid-week matchup off of wins. Boise State is trying to keep pace in the Mountain West while the Rams of Colorado State try to get on a little bit of a win-streak after losing five straight.
In their last game against Air Force, the Rams were powered by their Senior duo of Isaiah Stevens and John Tonje. The pair combined for 41-points enroute to a 69-53 win. The Rams used a pair of second half runs to build their lead and never looked back.
Colorado State has been dealing with a tough season so far and are not performing as they had hoped coming off of an NCAA bid last season. As mentioned earlier, the Rams are coming off of a win on the 7th of February, but before that had lost five straight including dropping three of those at home. The friendly confines of Moby Arena haven’t been all that kind to the Rams this year as CSU is just 7-6 at home compared to 14-1 a season ago.
It’s a bit of a head scratcher as to why the Rams have struggled so mightily this season. Yes, they are adjusting to life without the Mountain West Player of the Year from last year in David Roddy, but outside of his numbers the majority of the production from last season is still with the team. And they have done a good job of replacing departed talent with someone else. Isaiah Stevens has done a good job filling up the stat sheet with his team leading 18.8 points per game and he is aided by John Tonje and Patrick Cartier both of which are averaging double figures. As far as their team numbers go, the Rams have a top-five offense in the Mountain West, but they also have a bottom 4 defense. They are shooting a conference best 49% from the field, but they also give up 44% from the field which is second worst in the league. The other probable reason for their struggles could be the fact that they regularly are getting out rebounded by their opponent. All-in-all it’s a classic case of being able to score, but not being able to stop anybody from scoring.
Colorado State is coached by Nico Medved. Medved has been on the sidelines in Fort Collins since the 2018 season. Medved is 87-59 in his time with the Rams. Medved, a native of Minneapolis, was a letterman in both basketball and golf in his time at Roseville Area High School. Prior to coming to CSU Medved was the head coach at Drake for one season. Prior to Drake he was the head coach at Furman for four seasons. Medved has never led his teams to an outright regular season title, but did lead the Rams to an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament last season.
Wednesday will mark the 31st time these two schools have faced each other on the roundball court. Boise State leads the all-time series 16-14. Colorado State is a favorable 10-5 in games played in Fort Collins as compared to just 4-11 when the game is played in Boise. Boise State is looking for their first win inside Moby Arena since the 2020-2021 season.
What Happened Last Season
Boise State's offense was firing on all cylinders to defeat Colorado State by 21 points in front of a sold-out crowd of 12,021 at ExtraMile Arena.
The Broncos shot 59% from the field and led by double digits for 26-minutes and 37 seconds to win its fifth conference game by at least 15 points. Tyson Degenhart and Chibuzo Agbo scored 21 and 17 points, respectively, as Boise State surpassed the 80-point threshold for the eighth time this season.
A 19-1 run from the Broncos in the first half, powered by 70% shooting from the field, gave the team a 44-29 lead at halftime. Colorado State used a 9-0 run in the second half to cut Boise State's lead to six points with 14:57 remaining in the game. Back-to-back-to-back baskets from Naje Smith, Max Rice and Degenhart extended the Bronco lead, and from there the home team would not be stopped
Player to Watch
COLORADO STATE
SR., ISAIAH STEVENS, G #4
In the midst of a sour season, Stevens has been a sweet spot for the Rams. The senior is averaging a career-best 18.8 points per game and is on pace to set a career high in points in a season. If he does average his 18.8 for the rest of the season it could land him in the top-eight on the all-time scoring record. Last time out against the Broncos, Stevens was really the only one to get anything going with his game-high 19 points.
BOISE STATE
SO., TYSON DEGENHART, F #2
After a down couple of games, Degenhart was right back to his scoring ways last time out against Wyoming. Degenhart scored a team-high 20 points in the Win. Last Saturday was just the third time this season that Degenhart has cracked the 20-point plateau. Last season in their trip to Colorado State, the Rams held Degenhart to just 8 points. Look for Degenahrt to have a big game this go-around in Fort Collins.
PROBABLE STARTERS
BOISE STATE
COLORADO STATE
Rev's Route to a Bronco Win
Degenhart Bakers Dozen
Degenhart’s NIL deal with the local doughnut shop markets a “Degenhart Dozen” filled with all the sophomore favorites. Well not only are the doughnuts a sure thing, but when Degenhart scores 13 or more the Broncos are also a sure thing. In the games where he scores 13 or more the Broncos are 14-2 this season. Degenhart doesn’t always need to be the leading scorer, but the Broncos need to get him his touches.
All Gas No Breaks
Last week coach Leon Rice said the team was, “leaking oil.” Well the team must have taken the bye week to get an oil change because they came out hitting on cylinders last Saturday. However, with a comfortable 20 point lead it looked like the Broncos let off the gas with about 2:30 left in the game. Now that kind of lead with that little time left is pretty safe, but Wyoming went on a 11-0 run to close out the ball game and ended up only losing by 12. The Broncos can’t let a team like Colorado State hang around late in the second half especially at home. If Boise State can manage to get a solid lead they have to keep the pedal down and finish strong.
Editor Note:
Help Wanted
I’ll take Boise State’s starting five over almost any other starting five in all of the Mountain West. I think Boise State’s starting lineup is just as good if not better than any other teams 1-5. It’s the 6-8 that scares me and is a major concern coming into tournament time. Last time out against Wyoming the bench managed to score ZERO points. This was the second time this season that that has happened. If the Broncos bench scores in the double figures it’s been a huge night. Even Coach Rice is frustrated by the lack of production. And it’s not like these guys aren’t good players. Jace Whiting was a scorer in high school who averaged over 20-points per game. Kobe Young was the number 12 recruit in all of Washington. Kuzmanovic averaged double figures when he was helping lead the Serbian U18 and U19 team to FIBA championships and even Lucas Milner averaged 11 points 9 boards in his final season in high school. All these guys have a history of being able to put up numbers. If this squad wants to become the first team in school history to win an NCAA tournament game they will need more than just their starting five to get it done. I think the bench will rise to the occasion starting this Wednesday. Bench scores 20 in a big win.
Broncos 82, Rams 67
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