Old faces lead, new faces shine in Boise State hoops blowout over lower-division opponent

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — The Boise State men’s basketball team enjoyed a bounce-back rout Tuesday evening, defeating NAIA opponent Corban 100-65 at ExtraMile Arena.

Tuesday night’s game may not have been circled on the calendar for many Broncos fans, sandwiched between Saturday’s 84-73 loss to San Francisco and this weekend’s marquee game against Clemson. But Boise State head coach Leon Rice said Monday the game would give him a chance to provide minutes to players who “deserve them” and to test out some freshmen in a game situation.

Two of those players who saw extended minutes were freshman guard Julian Bowie and sophomore forward Emmanuel Ugbo.

Bowie saw the court for 18 minutes, having played for 25 minutes total in the two games prior, while Ugbo saw 15 minutes after playing for 25 minutes in the first two games.

“You want to get them out there,” Rice said following the game. “There is a real world to it, where they have to get that experience. And so a game like this is really important, and I think they take away a lot from it.”

Ugbo, who didn’t play last year because of eligibility issues tied to playing professionally in Europe, was one of the standout performers for the Broncos off the bench.

He scored 13 points and pulled in eight rebounds, evenly split offensively and defensively.

“He brings everything,” senior forward O’Mar Stanley said about his teammate. “He brings energy, effort, he brings scoring, he works his butt off.”

Stanley was his typical consistent self for the Broncos, scoring 15 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double. He was one of six double-digit scorers for the Broncos, alongside Tyson Degenhart (11), Andrew Meadows (11), Ugbo (13), Dylan Anderson (14) and a team high from Javan Buchanan (16).

As a whole, the Broncos shot 39-for-63 (61.9%) from the field, which is the Broncos’ best shooting performance since shooting 68.8% in an 85-59 victory over Air Force in February 2022.

It was also the first 100-point game for the Broncos since putting up 109 against Western Oregon last season.

Rice said he thought Corban was the perfect opposition for Boise State because of the Warriors’ ability to shoot from beyond the arc. Corban shot 8-for-27 (29.6%) from three, but most of the damage came through 6-foot-1 sharpshooting guard Spivey Word, who scored 32 points.

“Sometimes, as offensive players, it’s weird to play against all these smaller guys around you,” Rice said. “It’s sometimes easier to play against guys your size, but I think our guys adjusted and then handled it really well.”