They got how many steals? Boise State cruises to win in College Basketball Crown tourney
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Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman
LAS VEGAS (Idaho Statesman) — For about eight minutes on Monday, it looked like Boise State basketball would be taking a shock exit in the first round of the College Basketball Crown postseason tournament.
The Broncos had scored just one field goal and trailed 9-3 to George Washington of the Atlantic 10 Conference in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. But over the next 12 minutes, the Broncos literally stole the game from the Revolutionaries.
Boise State had seven first half steals and forced George Washington into 10 turnovers. The Broncos scored 17 points off those first-half turnovers to take a 32-26 lead into halftime. Boise State’s (25-10) lead only grew in the second half, ending in an 89-59 victory over George Washington (21-13).
Boise State will face Butler (15-19) in the second round on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Mountain time; the Bulldogs beat Utah 86-84 on Monday to advance.
“We told them that (George Washington) was going to try to drive them to the hole,” Boise State assistant coach Mike Burns told KBOI after the game. “And credit to George Washington. They got a couple to the rim early, but our guys just stuck with it.”
Boise State opened the game shooting 1-for-11 from the field and 0-for-5 from 3-point range, allowing the Revolutionaries to pull ahead early. The game had early shades of Boise State’s loss in the Mountain West Tournament championship to Colorado State, where a slow start put the Broncos in a 25-9 hole.
Fortunately for the Broncos, though, the defense stood up against George Washington, keeping the game close enough so it wasn’t too big of a comeback when the offense started firing.
“We just had to get our legs underneath us, not playing for two weeks,” senior forward Tyson Degenhart said on Fox Sports 1’s postgame show.
Degenhart scored a game-high 19 points, moving him just 10 points shy of being the first Boise State player to hit 2,000 career points.
Steals and turnovers were a large part of the defense that allowed the Broncos to quickly get back into the game. Boise State tied a program record with 16 steals, equaling its total against Utah Valley State in November 2007. Boise State’s previous high for steals this season was 10 against Corbin and New Mexico.
“Our game plan was to be in the gaps heavy,” junior forward Javan Buchanan told KBOI. “Sort of (like) New Mexico, they like to drive and pitch a lot and really get in the lane. So, just keeping them out of the lane was a big focus, and then they turned into turnovers.”
Buchanan had one steal and 11 points, including a jumper at the first-half buzzer to give the Broncos a six-point cushion into halftime. However, it was freshman forward Pearson Carmichael who led the defensive effort on Monday, racking up six steals in addition to his 15 points. He’s just the fifth Bronco to have six steals in a game and the first since Derrick Marks did so against Seattle in December 2012.
Boise State scored 27 points off turnovers to George Washington’s five. A much-improved shooting performance in the second half also helped open the gap; Boise State finished 26-for-72 (50%) from the field and 9-for-25 (36%) from beyond the arc.
“The guys stuck with it and kept finding each other,” Burns said. “It always goes back to the quality of the shot, if you do a great job getting yourself and your teammates great looks… the numbers are what they are, they’re going to go in, and they did in the second half.”
Boise State will get a day’s rest before facing Butler on Wednesday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Last season, the two teams met at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Florida, with Butler emerging 70-56 winners after ending the game on a 17-4 run.
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