PREVIEW | CBK: BOISE STATE (16-7, 7-3) AT #22 UTAH STATE (19-4, 7-3)
Boise State University at #18 Utah State University
Date: Saturday February 10th, 2024
Time: 8:00 pm MT
Venue: Dee Glen Smith Spectrum
TV: FS1
Radio: KBOI 670 AM
Know Thy Enemy
Boise State gets another shot to be top of the table as they head to the Spectrum to face the reeling Utah State Aggies. The Aggies held a firm grip on the top spot in the Mountain West, but after losing two straight they found themselves in a four-way tie for first place.
The Aggies suffered their first home loss of the season on Tuesday night to the Wolfpack in a game which coach Sprinkle said, “We didn’t play hard enough.” After a strong first half finish for the Wolfpack, the Aggies went into the locker room down by 9 points. Utah State struggled to match Nevada's physical brand of basketball and could get nothing going on the offensive side of the ball, finishing the first half shooting 31% from the field and just 21% from the 3-point range.
Despite losing back-to-back games for the first time this season, the Aggies are still looking like a shoe-in of the ‘Big Dance’ come march. Many bracketologist have Utah State as the Mountain West automatic qualifier and a 6-seed or better in the tournament. Utah State right now is still top-2 in the Mountain West in both scoring offense and scoring margin. USU has a top-50 offensive rating and is 37th in the nation in points per game average, scoring just shy of 80 points per game. Great Osobor has been really on another level this season for the Aggies and he continues to put up monster numbers night in and night out. In the three games since last playing Boise State, Osobor has scored an average of 19.6 points per game and had 31 points against San Jose State.
The Aggies are coached by Danny Sprinkle. Born in Pullman, Washington, Sprinkle enjoyed an outstanding career at Helena HS, which included earning all-state honors twice in basketball, while also competing in football and track. He graduated from Montana State in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in health and human development.
Boise State and Utah State have had a long standing rivalry between the two schools on the hardwood. The Aggies rank #5 in Boise State's opponent history with their 58-all time meetings. Utah State is second to only Nevada for most games played against the Broncos by a current Mountain West opponent. Boise State hasn’t fared too well in their trips to Logan, losing three out of the last four meetings inside the Spectrum.
What Happened Last Time in Logan
Boise State's second-half comeback attempt against Utah State fell short as the Broncos were defeated, 86-73, at 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., DARIUS BROWN II., G#10
Darius Brown is on of two players that came over to Utah State from Montana State when coach Sprinkle got the job in Logan. Brown has really been an integral part in making this team of strangers what they are at this point in the season. He may not lead the team in scoring, but he doesn’t need to. Brown makes his impact on the game, by facilitating offense and playing lock-down defense. Brown leads the Aggies in minutes, assists and steals. He also takes care of the ball extremely well with a better than 3:1 assist to turnover ratio. Brown killed the Broncos last time out and will be looking to do it again on Saturday.
BOISE STATE
JR., CHIBUZO AGBO, F#11
Tuesday night's 7 point effort broke a 16-game streak where Agbo scored at least 10 points. Agbo had a really rough night from the floor and was unable to get to the freethrow line against the Rams. Abgo has had other “rough” shooting nights in the past several games, including his worst shooting percentage in conference play against Utah State, but was able to make a bigger impact by getting to the charity stripe. Agbo never looked comfortable out there on Tuesday so it will be interesting to see if he can get into a better flow with the offense on Saturday.
PROBABLE STARTERS
BOISE STATE
UTAH STATE
Rev's Route to a Bronco Win
Conviction
The night Boise State went to “The Pit” and took care of business, the whole team played with purpose and conviction. The other night against the Rams it honestly felt that Tyson was the only one playing with any sort of fire in their belly. Boise State has yet another chance to make a statement and show the basketball world that they need to be taken seriously, but it will take a total team effort to do so.
Hit your average
Boise State didn’t play their best basketball on Tuesday night and it certainly showed. There seemed to be some tired legs out there towards the end of the second half which, to me, was the ultimate difference in them only being able to get back within six. When you look down the box score both Buzo and O’Mar didn’t even come close to hitting their season averages. If Boise State is going to win this game all players have to play to the level that they are capable.
Revs Rant and Prediction
Oh the difference a day can make. After a perfect 2-0 last week with a road win in a hostile environment and then a total beatdown in front of a capacity home crowd, Bronco Nation was feeling pretty good, but then came Tuesday night. Man, the Broncos just looked flat from the tip and never seemed to be locked-in. They showed signs of life, but couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole. This game Saturday feels like a “must-win.” Usually that would be almost impossible seeing as though no one in the Mountain West can seem to win on the road, but Utah State showed that they too aren’t invincible after losing to Nevada earlier this week.
A win on Saturday night on national TV would just be another feather in their cap and when you start looking down the schedule there aren’t really many tough road games left after this one. They do have to go to Laramie, which the Cowboys are 4-1 at home in conference play, and then they head to San Diego in the season finale. All the other “tough” games are inside the “X” which is a tough place for opponents to win. With all that considered, if they could pull out a win on Saturday there is a really good chance that the Broncos are on a 7 game heater heading into the date with the Aztecs in early March. But winning this game doesn’t seem likely. Utah State is really good and they can attack you from so many different angles. It’s going to be another class, but Boise State falls short in this one.
Boise State 68, Utah State 70
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