Courtesy BroncoSports.com
BOISE, Idaho –Marcus Shaver, Jr. made another clutch 3-pointer for Boise State to force overtime, but Colorado State prevailed 77-74 in a battle between two of the top teams in the Mountain West, Sunday afternoon in Boise.
Boise State (19-6, 10-2 MW) was down three with 35 seconds remaining when it got the ball into Shaver’s hands. After dribbling down the clock, Shaver dribbled to his left, stepped back at the top of the arc and hit a contested triple with 8.3 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the extra period the Rams (20-3, 10-3 MW) found points on all but one of their possessions, pulling ahead one last time with 29 seconds left to close out the game.
Shaver finished the night with 17 points, five rebounds and a team-high five assists.
It was a tale of two big runs in the first half of play. Colorado State used a 16-0 run to put the Broncos down 23-10, the largest deficit of the season for Boise State. In response Tyson Degenhart hit back-to-back 3-pointers and scored eight points to spark a 17-3 run, capped by another triple from Max Rice that put the Blue and Orange up 34-32. Two points separated the teams heading into the break with the Rams on top 39-37.
Rice had a game-high 11 first-half points on 3-of-5 shooting from downtown. He finished the game with 17 points and eight rebounds, both season highs. Degenhart shot a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range on his way to a 16-point day, his fourth-straight game scoring in double figures.
After the Rams served back-to-back buckets to open the second half, Boise State outscored the visitors 20-5 over the next seven minutes to take a 57-50 lead. With the Broncos up seven at the 9:16 mark the Rams rallied to take a three-point lead with under a minute to play, setting up the late-game shot for Shaver.
The Broncos went 13-of-24 (.542) from 3-point range, their fourth game of the season with at least 10 triples. Boise State’s 54.2 percent from beyond the arc was its highest mark of the season.
The loss snaps a streak of nine-straight wins at home for the Broncos. It was just the second loss to Colorado State at home for the Boise State since joining the MW for the 2011-12 season.
Up next Boise State hits the road to face Air Force, Wednesday, Feb. 16.
