The Broncos struggled to hit shots on the road, and couldn’t overcome many factors on the way to falling to Colorado State on Tuesday night. After two big wins last week, the Mountain West did its thing and brought the Broncos back down to Earth, but not all is lost. The Aggies getting smacked in Reno means that the Broncos are still tied at the top of the league.
The Skinny
Boise State only led once in the game at 4-2 thanks to an O’Mar Stanley jumper. The first half especially was rife with officiating decisions that were questionable at best, as well as many missed shots by the Broncos. Boise State was under 40% from the field and under 30% from three in the first 20 minutes, while Colorado State was over 50% from the field and over 30% from three. That is not a combination that sets the Broncos up for success, yet they only trailed by seven at the break. The second half was more from Boise State, where shots didn’t fall. Colorado State shot poorly from three but was money from the field, shooting 60% from the floor.
The elephant in the room was the officiating. The Broncos were stuck in foul trouble for a decent amount of the first half, and that really hurt their rhythm. Bronco fans have a reason to be upset as well, the crew that took control of the game is one that fans will be familiar with, including a certain ex-baseball coach from BYU. It’s frustrating to see a league with as much quality as the Mountain West continue to roll out subpar referees, but for the time being, Boise State is going to have to overcome it down the stretch.
Some positives that came from the night, Tyson Degenhart scored 25, while Degenhart and Max Rice both snatched seven rebounds. The Broncos got good bench minutes from a number of players, and Kobe Young continues to get minutes.
Next Up:
This Saturday still will be a massive game, and the Broncos will need to get some things figured out, but Leon and Co. don’t put two bad games out in a row very often. After New Mexico, I called for the Broncos to win two of the next three, and that dream is still alive. If they find a way to win on Saturday, it’s going to set the Broncos up about as good as they can ask for.
The officiating was terrible but it was terrible both ways for the most part. Broncos played like dog poo. I downloaded the MW app on the TV and watched the game just fine. I don’t know why people complain so much about it online. It was easy. The broadcast sucked but I just muted it.
I know no one likes to hear this, but they simply don’t look like a legit tournament team. They just don’t pass the eye test.