NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – Boise State earned its first true road win of the season Tuesday, downing CSUN 74-48. Tyson Degenhart led the Broncos with a career-high 21 points, becoming the first Boise State 12th freshman to register a 20-point game and the first since Justinian Jessup during the 2016-17 season.
The Broncos (5-4) took control early, claiming their largest halftime lead of the season at 38-21. They shot 57.1 percent in the opening period, including 6-of-13 from three-point range.
CSUN (3-5) made a charge to start the second half, trimming Boise State’s advantage to 10 at 43-33, with 15:06 to play. Boise State answered the run on both ends.
Naje Smith scored after an offensive rebound to start a 16-0 run. The Broncos recorded 11 consecutive stops on defense during the run. By the time Smith slammed home a putback dunk with 6:57 left, he was putting the exclamation point on a 22-2 run and Boise State led 65-35.
Smith finished with a career-high 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. He also had four rebounds, blocked three shots and recorded one steal.
The Broncos limited the Matadors to 34 percent field goal shooting and 1-for-10 from three-point range. Boise State has held six of its nine opponents to fewer than 60 points and have not allowed more than 70 points in any game to finish in regulation.
Marcus Shaver, Jr. finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Shaver has scored in double figures in seven of the eight games he has played. Emmanuel Akot had nine points and seven assists without committing a turnover.
Boise State returns home for its next three games. The Broncos host Prairie View A&M (Dec. 10; 7 p.m.), Santa Clara (Dec. 14; 7 p.m.) and Montana Tech (Dec. 19; 4 p.m.) during the home stand.
