FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Tyson Degenhart and Naje Smith combined to make three free throws in the final minute as Boise State held on to beat Colorado State, 80-78 Wednesday night at Moby Arena.
Smith made both free throws on a one-and-one with 18 seconds and Degenhart converted the opening end of his one-and-one with 6.5 seconds remaining, and the Rams’ (11-15, 3-10 MW) missed their final second shot as Boise State secured its 10th, 20-win season under head coach Leon Rice.
After getting into foul trouble early, Degenhart scored seven points with four fouls over the final 7:24 of the game. He scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to go along with six rebounds. Smith (17), Chibuzo Agbo (15) and Marcus Shaver (15) scored in double figures for the Broncos (20-6, 10-3 MW).
Boise State missed its first six shots from beyond the arc before Naje Smith sunk one from the left corner with 6:34 in the first half. In that span, the Rams were 5-of-6 on 3-pointers. Smith’s trey fueled a 17-4 run for the Broncos to take a 36-31 lead at halftime.
TOP BRONCOS
· Tyson Degenhart led the team with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go along with six rebounds.
· Naje Smith scored 15 points – 13 in the first half – with a team-high seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
· Max Rice had seven points with four assists.
NOTABLES
· Boise State secured a 20-win season for the 10th time in program history.
· The Broncos won despite allowing a season-high 13 3-pointers from the opposition.
· Boise State opened the game 0-for-6 from beyond the arc but ended making eight of their next 15.
· The win improves the Broncos to 9-0 this season when scoring 80 points.
· Marcus Shaver is one point shy of 1,000 points in his Boise State career.
WHAT’S NEXT
Boise State returns home with a Sunday night game against UNLV. Tipoff from ExtraMile Arena is at 7 p.m.
