PREVIEW | MBB: #2 Boise State (24-8, 13-5) vs #3 Utah State University (25-7, 13-5)
Boise State University vs Utah State University
Date: Thursday March 9, 2023
Time:10:00pm MT
Venue: Thomas & Mack Center(19,522)
TV: CBSSN
Radio: KBOI 670 AM
Commentators: Bob Behler and Abe Jackson
Know Thy Enemy
“We want the Funk,” Taylor Funk, that is as Boise State turns their focus to the Aggies of Utah State in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament.
It was the tale of two halves (and overtime) for the Broncos as they outlasted a UNLV team who came all the way back from down 22 to force overtime. In Overtime Boise State took over and ended up punching their ticket to the next round of the conference tournament!
The Aggies as the #3 seed in the bracket took on #6 seed New Mexico and used a huge game by Taylor Funk to propel them to the 91-76 victory. Funk finished the game with 32 points and scored 13 points in the first four minutes of the game and the first 16 points total for Utah State.
Utah State all season long and especially in conference play has played like a true team. They have five guys that all score in double figures with Steven Ashworth leading the way with over 15 points per game. With that many contributors on offense points will come and they have as the Aggies have the second best offense in the Mountain West scoring a little over 74 points per game in conference play.
The Aggies play a relatively small rotation with just 8 guys getting regular minutes with most of their starters averaging over 30 minutes per game. They have started the same five guys in the last 15 games and four of their starters have started all 18 conference games this year. They rely heavily on Cal Baptist transfer Dan Akin off the bench as he averages just shy of 27 minutes per game. They also will utilize senior guard RJ Etyle-Rock and Zee Hamoda off the bench.
Utah State is quick off the dribble. They love to use that dribble penetration to set up the “drive and kick” type of play to find wide open looks from deep. Utah State is the number one team in the conference in three pointers made and they average over 8 threes a game. Also this causes defenders to abandon their first defensive priority to “help” which leaves back cuts wide open for easy lay-ins.
The Aggies are coached by Ryan Odom. Odom is in his second season with Utah State. Odom has done a wonderful job with the Aggies this year improving their win total by six and their conference win total by three. The Aggies are squarely on the bubble and might need a win agains the Broncos to punch their ticket to the big dance.
Friday will mark the 24th contest between the two schools and the thrid meeting in the conference tournament. Boise State leads the all-time series 13-9, but is 0-2 against the Aggies in Vegas. Utah State’s win in the regular season finale snapped a five-game losing streak to the Broncos.
What Happened Last Time
Boise State's second-half comeback attempt against Utah State fell short as the Broncos were defeated, 86-73, in the regular season finale inside of the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
The Aggies shot 62.1% from the field in the first half to put the Broncos in a hole early on. Utah State used a 22-7 run across six minutes to build the lead as large as 20, but the Broncos closed the half scoring the final six points to reduce the halftime deficit, 47-33.
Boise State chipped away at the lead throughout the second half, getting as close as six points when Marcus Shaver, Jr.made a contested layup with 2:13 showing on the clock. The Aggies knocked down a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and made their free throws down the stretch to close out the game.
Player to Watch
UTAH STATE
GS., TAYLOR FUNK, F #23
Taylor Funk played that funky music in both the Aggies quarterfinals game against New Mexico and in the season finale against the Broncos. Against the Broncos, Funk scored a season-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting including 4-of-6 from deep. He followed up that performance by scoring his teams first 16 points in their first Mountain West Tournament game and finished the contest with a team-leading 32 points which is impressive for the 6’9” transfer from Saint Joseph’s. Funk is a handful because he can score in such a variety of ways and will stretch a defense with his ability to step back and hit the three.
BOISE STATE
JR., CHIBUZO AGBO, G #11
It’s hard to pick just one player to watch for the Broncos after that sinsational team victory last night. However, I think the player that stood out the most and will need to have another performance similar to his last one is Agbo. Buzo scored 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting in over 42 minutes of play. Last time against Utah State Agbo led the team with 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting in 33 minutes. Agbo came to Boise State from Texas Tech and even though he didn’t play he was on the team and experienced what it was like to make a run in the NCAA tournament and was on that Texas Tech team that made it to the Sweet16. As the new guy on this year’s team it would be easy for him to default to the others around him in big moments, but watching him against UNLV Agbo wanted the ball and he probably could have scored over 20 if his teammates would have found him wide open in the corner.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Boise State
Utah State
Rev's Route to a Bronco Win
Turn Down the Funk
In a tournament format like this one when a player gets hot you just want to ride the hot hand. And the Aggies hot hand right now is Taylor Funk. In the last two games Funk has scored 56 points combined. His 32 point explosion against the Lobos sure has this team confident in their 6’9” forward. Like with Harkless, Boise State will have to limit Funk if they can and force someone else to beat them. With that being said, Utah State doesn’t lack in the #2 scorer department like UNLV did.
Relax
With a chance to play for a title on the line it wouldn’t be any surprise if both these teams came out a little tightly wound. Whichever team can settle down and get into their style of play will have the upper hand. I’m not saying that Boise State needs to come out guns-a-blazing like they did last night, but if they can just relax and get into the flow of their offense they can beat the Aggies. The Broncos need to try and relax and treat this game just like any other game.
Editor Note:
Budding Rivalry
It is now known that Utah State does not like Boise State. These two teams traded games during the regular season and are on a collision course for the chance to play for a conference title. All the games in this conference tournament are played in the same areas so as one game finishes fans from the teams that play in the following game will get to their seats while the previous game is still in progress. This happened last night as the Broncos and Rebels were headed to overtime. Fans from both New Mexico and Utah State found themselves cheering on UNLV for probably a wide variety of reasons, but one of the reasons no doubt is their disdain for the Broncos. You can tell that the Aggie faithful have like when Boise State loses as much as they like when their team wins.
We’ll never know, but I speculate that Boise State is getting their wish with playing Utah State. I think players and coaches alike would like to avenge that season finale loss and put to bed any notion that the Broncos aren’t as good as the Aggies. Boise State started hot like I thought they would have to, but if they want to beat the Aggies they will have to put together two great halves of basketball. I think this one is another stressful nail biter with the Broncos edging out the Aggies in the rubber match.
Boise State 79, Utah State 76
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