Saturday, February 23
Boise, Idaho / Taco Bell Arena
2 PM MT
Boise State
vs
Utah State
Photo by: Boise State University
Broncos Face Aggies in Blackout at TBA
2/21/2019 3:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Boise State (11-15, 6-7) vs. Utah State (21-6, 11-3)
2 p.m. MT | Saturday, Feb. 23
Taco Bell Arena | Boise, Idaho
Stadium (Facebook) | Live Stats | Listen Live | Tickets
Game Notes
THE GAME: Boise State (11-15, 6-7) will come out the mid-week bye with a home matchup against Utah State (21-6, 11-3), as the two teams will square off at Taco Bell Arena on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.
BLACKOUT: Bronco fans are encouraged to wear black on Saturday as the team will be wearing its black uniforms at home for the first time this season.
WATCH: Ari Wolfe, Doug Gottlieb and Kristen Balboni will cover the game, which is set to stream live on Stadium's Facebook page.
LISTEN: The game will broadcast on both 670 KBOI AM and 93.1 KTIK FM with Bob Behler and Abe Jackson on the call.
LAST TIME OUT: Boise State pushed hard for the comeback last Saturday, but San Diego State was able to hold off the visitors and claim the 71-65 win at Viejas Arena on Feb. 16.
The Broncos trailed by 10 with five minutes to play at 59-49, but battled back and cut it to three after Justinian Jessup hit a triple to make it a 68-65 game with 29 seconds to play. Jessup had another decent look from three 12 seconds later that would have cut it to one, but the corner trey didn't go, and SDSU made two more free throws with nine seconds left to solidify the 71-65 result.
Jessup led the Broncos in points and rebounds, recording 19 and six, respectively. Derrick Alston was the other Boise State player to reach double figures, tallying 12.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: Utah State is currently alone in second place in the Mountain West standings with an 11-3 record. The Aggies are buoyed by junior guard Sam Merrill, who leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points per game. Freshman big Neemias Queta has been dominant in his first year in the conference, as well, pulling in 9.1 rebounds and recording 2.6 blocks a game to rank fourth and first, respectively, in the MW for the two categories.
Utah State has won 10 of its last 11 games, most recently picking up the 71-55 victory at home against New Mexico.
THE SERIES: The Broncos are just 15-32 against the Aggies in the all-time series between the two teams, but the Blue and Orange has won six of the last eight matchups – including the last three games at Taco Bell Arena.
Boise State and Utah State will only face each other once in the 2019 regular season, as the Broncos will not make the return trip to Logan.
GOOD COMING OFF THE BYE: Since joining the Mountain West in the 2011-12 season, Boise State is 10-4 when coming off a bye. The team logged its most decisive road victory of the season coming off its first conference bye earlier in 2019, taking down San Jose State 87-64 back on Jan. 12. Beginning Saturday, the team will play five more regular season games before beginning the MW Tournament (March 13-16).
DIFFERENT BRONCOS STEPPING UP: One of the strengths of this year's roster has been the ability for different players to step up and lead the team in scoring in different games. Five different Broncos have tallied game highs in points this season. RJ Williams, Alex Hobbs, Justinian Jessup and Derrick Alston have each tallied at least five games in 2018-19 as the team's No. 1 scorer.
POWERED BY GUARDS: Boise State is the only school in the league to have three guards who are top-20 scorers in the Mountain West during conference play. Alex Hobbs (15.7 ppg) is No. 11 while Derrick Alston (15.0 ppg) and Justinian Jessup (13.6) are close behind, ranking 13th and 19th, respectively.
The trio has combined for 576 points during the 13 MW games, accounting for 60 percent of the team's scoring.
CONNECTING FROM THREE AND FT LINE: In the team's 11 wins this season, Boise State has shot 77.1 and 39.5 percent from the free throw line and 3-point line, respectively. Those two numbers almost decrease 10 percentage points in losses, as the Broncos are 67.3 percent from the three throw line and 30.4 behind the arc in those 15 games.
As good as the Blue and Orange has been in converting 2-point attempts (55.4% - No. 24 in the NCAA) all season, it will be critical for shots to start regularly falling from the charity stripe and three.
DEFENDING THE THREE: Boise State finished 2016-17 and 2017-18 as a top-two team in the conference in opponent 3-point field goal percentage, and the team is once again rounding into form when it comes to limiting the opposition from distance.
Bronco opponents are now shooting just 33.5 percent from three, putting Boise State third in the MW for the statistic. The team has been exceptional as of late, as well, with opponents going 20-of-64 from behind the arc in the last three games (31.5%).
2 p.m. MT | Saturday, Feb. 23
Taco Bell Arena | Boise, Idaho
Stadium (Facebook) | Live Stats | Listen Live | Tickets
Game Notes
THE GAME: Boise State (11-15, 6-7) will come out the mid-week bye with a home matchup against Utah State (21-6, 11-3), as the two teams will square off at Taco Bell Arena on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.
BLACKOUT: Bronco fans are encouraged to wear black on Saturday as the team will be wearing its black uniforms at home for the first time this season.
WATCH: Ari Wolfe, Doug Gottlieb and Kristen Balboni will cover the game, which is set to stream live on Stadium's Facebook page.
LISTEN: The game will broadcast on both 670 KBOI AM and 93.1 KTIK FM with Bob Behler and Abe Jackson on the call.
LAST TIME OUT: Boise State pushed hard for the comeback last Saturday, but San Diego State was able to hold off the visitors and claim the 71-65 win at Viejas Arena on Feb. 16.
The Broncos trailed by 10 with five minutes to play at 59-49, but battled back and cut it to three after Justinian Jessup hit a triple to make it a 68-65 game with 29 seconds to play. Jessup had another decent look from three 12 seconds later that would have cut it to one, but the corner trey didn't go, and SDSU made two more free throws with nine seconds left to solidify the 71-65 result.
Jessup led the Broncos in points and rebounds, recording 19 and six, respectively. Derrick Alston was the other Boise State player to reach double figures, tallying 12.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: Utah State is currently alone in second place in the Mountain West standings with an 11-3 record. The Aggies are buoyed by junior guard Sam Merrill, who leads the team in scoring at 19.8 points per game. Freshman big Neemias Queta has been dominant in his first year in the conference, as well, pulling in 9.1 rebounds and recording 2.6 blocks a game to rank fourth and first, respectively, in the MW for the two categories.
Utah State has won 10 of its last 11 games, most recently picking up the 71-55 victory at home against New Mexico.
THE SERIES: The Broncos are just 15-32 against the Aggies in the all-time series between the two teams, but the Blue and Orange has won six of the last eight matchups – including the last three games at Taco Bell Arena.
Boise State and Utah State will only face each other once in the 2019 regular season, as the Broncos will not make the return trip to Logan.
GOOD COMING OFF THE BYE: Since joining the Mountain West in the 2011-12 season, Boise State is 10-4 when coming off a bye. The team logged its most decisive road victory of the season coming off its first conference bye earlier in 2019, taking down San Jose State 87-64 back on Jan. 12. Beginning Saturday, the team will play five more regular season games before beginning the MW Tournament (March 13-16).
DIFFERENT BRONCOS STEPPING UP: One of the strengths of this year's roster has been the ability for different players to step up and lead the team in scoring in different games. Five different Broncos have tallied game highs in points this season. RJ Williams, Alex Hobbs, Justinian Jessup and Derrick Alston have each tallied at least five games in 2018-19 as the team's No. 1 scorer.
POWERED BY GUARDS: Boise State is the only school in the league to have three guards who are top-20 scorers in the Mountain West during conference play. Alex Hobbs (15.7 ppg) is No. 11 while Derrick Alston (15.0 ppg) and Justinian Jessup (13.6) are close behind, ranking 13th and 19th, respectively.
The trio has combined for 576 points during the 13 MW games, accounting for 60 percent of the team's scoring.
CONNECTING FROM THREE AND FT LINE: In the team's 11 wins this season, Boise State has shot 77.1 and 39.5 percent from the free throw line and 3-point line, respectively. Those two numbers almost decrease 10 percentage points in losses, as the Broncos are 67.3 percent from the three throw line and 30.4 behind the arc in those 15 games.
As good as the Blue and Orange has been in converting 2-point attempts (55.4% - No. 24 in the NCAA) all season, it will be critical for shots to start regularly falling from the charity stripe and three.
DEFENDING THE THREE: Boise State finished 2016-17 and 2017-18 as a top-two team in the conference in opponent 3-point field goal percentage, and the team is once again rounding into form when it comes to limiting the opposition from distance.
Bronco opponents are now shooting just 33.5 percent from three, putting Boise State third in the MW for the statistic. The team has been exceptional as of late, as well, with opponents going 20-of-64 from behind the arc in the last three games (31.5%).
Players Mentioned
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