What Happened?

Boise State beats Utah Valley 101 to 77, all while never trailing in the ball game. Jackson Holcombe from UVU led all scorers with 22 points, shooting 50% from the field. Drew Fielder led the Broncos with 20 points, shooting 72% from the field. He also grabbed 6 rebounds while only playing 15 minutes due to foul trouble. There were 4 other Broncos that finished in double figures: Javan Buchanan 10, Andrew Meadow 18, Spencer Ahrens 19, and Aginaldo Neto 12. Every Bronco that saw the court filled the stat line. We love those types of games.

Course Corrected

After Monday’s loss, Leon Rice said he would hold tryouts to see who would play on this team. Looks like he found his players. He made one change to the starting lineup, switching Pearson Carmichael for career glue guy RJ Keane. From the beginning, you could tell there was more urgency on both sides of the ball, but what impressed me was Drew Fielder. He scored the first 9 points for the Broncos before getting into foul trouble. Those 9 points came from a variety of spots on the court. Top of the key 3, a couple of 90s-era post moves, and free throws. He demanded the ball on the block, and great things happened.

It was evident in the Hawaii Pacific that there wasn’t a guy out there demanding the ball like the Bronco leaders of the past. You knew that when the Broncos got into a rut offensively, there was a Max Rice or Derick Marks demanding that ball and making something work. Tonight, Drew was that guy in the first half. That gave more players confidence to move the ball, and by halftime, the Broncos were in the driver’s seat.

Bronco Stampeed

One thing about this team is that when they are rolling, get out of the way. The Broncos opened the second half with a 7-0 run, defense leading to easy offensive buckets on the other end. If this is the team going forward, we are in for a treat because every night we will get highlight reel after highlight reel, leading to a Broncos win.

Building For The Future

I know it’s only the first 2 games of the season, but Spencer Ahrens is on pace to top Tyson Degenhart’s MW Freshman of the Year campaign. In that Freshman season, Tyson averaged 9.9 ppg and had 17 games in double figures. Currently, Spencer is averaging 14 ppg and has scored in double figures in 2 games. If this trend continues, we could have another Freshman star on our hands. He’s not even the only star Freshman on this team

Aginaldo Neto is already making his mark on this team. He may be coming off the bench, but his points and minutes are impactful. He guards his man all the way up the court on defense and has acrobatic finishes on the offensive end. Look for him to be that spark off the bench when the starters are cold.

What’s Next?

The Broncos welcome UT Rio Grande to Extra Mile Arena on Tuesday at 7pm. Balcony tickets should be $4 since the Broncos allowed only 4 three-pointers tonight.

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