Effort, Ball Movement Key Bronco Win

Monday, December 23

Honolulu, Hawaii

2:30 pm MT

Boise State

7-5,1-1Mountain West

Portland

8-6,0-0WCC

Portland

Boise St.

12/23/2019 5:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boise State Postgame Notes

HONOLULU - Derrick Alston Jr. poured in 32 points and dished out six assists to lead Boise State men's basketball to an 85-69 win Monday, against Portland on the second day of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The Broncos (7-5) recorded 17 assists and outrebounded the Pilots (8-6) 38-25 in a game that was never closer than 13 in the final 15 minutes.

Boise State jumped out to an eight-point lead in the first five minutes of the game, but Portland fought back to within one at 32-31 with 4:02 remaining in the first half. The Broncos closed the half on an 11-3 run, including a three-pointer from Max Rice at the buzzer to take a 43-34 lead into the locker room.

Alston had 16 points in the first half, while Justinian Jessup added 13 of his own. Alston was even more dominant to start the second half. He scored all 12 Boise State points in a 12-2 run over 2:06 to stretch the lead from eight to 16.

Marcus Dickinson scored eight points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to lead the Broncos on the glass for the second time in his career. Robin Jorch made his second start of the year, finishing with eight points and a season-high seven rebounds.

Jessup finished with 17 points and moved up to No. 11 on Boise State's all-time scoring list. He needs 125 points to crack the top 10.

Boise State will close out the Diamond Head Classic Wednesday, at 10:30 a.m. HT/1:30 p.m. MT, in the fifth-place game against the winner of Ball State and UTEP. The game will be televised on ESPNU.