Jessup Makes History in Crucial Win

Wednesday, January 8

Boise, Idaho

7:00 p.m. MT

Boise State

11-6,3-2Mountain West

UNLV

8-9,3-1Mountain West

UNLV

Boise St.

1/8/2020 11:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Boise State Postgame Notes Boise State Postgame Quotes

BOISE, Idaho - Justinian Jessup became Boise State men's basketball's all-time three-point leader and the Broncos handed UNLV its first conference loss of the season, 73-66, Wednesday at ExtraMile Arena. Jessup finished 5-of-6 from three-point range. His first triple set the record and his fifth sealed the win, putting the Broncos up eight with 43 seconds to play.

Boise State (11-6, 3-2 Mountain West) scored six straight points in 72 seconds to take a 13-point lead, its largest of the game, with 5:56 to play. The Rebels (8-9, 3-1 MW) responded with an 8-1 run and eventually trimmed the Bronco lead to 67-62 before Jessup buried his final three-pointer at the end of the shot clock.

Jessup finished with 18 points, including 15 in the second half. He surpassed Anthony Drmic's previous school record of 275 career three-pointers and now sits at 280. Jessup is fourth in Mountain West history and 16 shy of Jimmer Fredette's league record of 296.

"I just feel so thankful," Jessup said of breaking the record. "All credit goes to God and the teammates I've had my four years here, that's really why I'm in this position. Shooters aren't anything without the guys that are passing to them so I'm just thankful for those guys that just trusted me and stayed faithful with me even when I had bad games."

A look at 2️⃣7️⃣6️⃣
Justinian Jessup's record-breaking three-pointer. Catch the rest of the game on ESPN3. #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/1ia3y528Uj
— Boise State MBB (@BroncoSportsMBB) January 9, 2020

Derrick Alston Jr. led all scorers with 26 points and 10 rebounds. It is the 11th time Alston has scored at least 20 points in Boise State's 17 games. He has recorded three double-doubles, all coming in games he scored at least 20 points.

RJ Williams added his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Williams had four points and three boards in the final four minutes of the game, helping Boise State hold off the Rebels.

"What a great college basketball game," said head coach Leon Rice. "That was competitive and it felt like two good teams were battling it. (UNLV has) been playing as good as anybody in the league right now. Hats off to them, like I said, that was a great battle."

Boise State shot 42 percent from the field and made eight three-pointers, while holding UNLV to 37.7 percent from the floor, including 24 percent (6-for-25) from beyond the arc. The Broncos are 10-0 this season when holding opponents under 45 percent field-goal shooting.

Boise State returns to action Saturday, at undefeated and seventh-ranked San Diego State (16-0, 5-0 MW). Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MT on ESPN3.