Sunday, February 23
Boise, Idaho
2:00 P.M. MT
Boise State
19-10,11-6Mountain West
74
vs
61
New Mexico
17-12,6-10Mountain West
1
2
F
New Mexico
26
35
61
Boise St.
37
37
74
Photo by: Boise State University
Williams Shines in Senior Day Win
2/23/2020 5:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOISE, Idaho - RJ Williams saved his best performance at ExtraMile Arena for last. Williams matched his career high with 27 points and grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds to lead Boise State men's basketball to a 74-61 win over New Mexico Sunday, in its final home game of the regular season.
Williams' final points came on his third dunk of the day, a fast-break alley-oop slam from fellow senior Justinian Jessup with just over a minute to play, putting the Broncos (19-11, 11-6 MW) up by 15 and an exclamation point on the win over the Lobos (17-12, 6-10 MW).Â
The assist from Jessup was also historic. On the play, Jessup became the first Bronco in school history to amass at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists, 150 steals and 50 blocked shots in his career.Â
Jessup finished his Senior Day game with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He has scored at least 15 points in 10 straight games, helping the Broncos go 8-2 over that stretch. Boise State can secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Championship with a win at UNLV Wednesday, in its regular-season finale. The Broncos can still be seeded anywhere from second to sixth in the upcoming conference tournament.
Sunday's game belonged to Williams from the jump. He had seven points and six rebounds in the first eight minutes and finished the first half with 14 points and eight boards. Early in the second period, he secured his ninth double-double of the season, but still wasn't finished.
Boise State built a 16-point lead early in the second half, before the Lobos cut the deficit to six with under eight minutes left. Williams responded with a bucket. His jumper with seven minutes to play started an 8-0 run for Boise State, pushing the margin to double figures for good.
"When you recruit a kid, you have a vision and how you want his career to end up," head coach Leon Rice said when reflecting on Williams' performance. "It was remarkable. You're so proud of the progress that he made, because you made a lot of promises to the kids and the family and you want to deliver on them. I'd say that we delivered on that. We're putting an unbreakable guy out there into the world."
Derrick Alston, Jr. scored 17 points in his first game coming off the bench this season. Alston was moved out of the starting lineup to make room for all five seniors to take the floor together as the game started.
Boise State hits the road for its regular-season finale Wednesday (Feb. 26) at UNLV.Â
Williams' final points came on his third dunk of the day, a fast-break alley-oop slam from fellow senior Justinian Jessup with just over a minute to play, putting the Broncos (19-11, 11-6 MW) up by 15 and an exclamation point on the win over the Lobos (17-12, 6-10 MW).Â
The assist from Jessup was also historic. On the play, Jessup became the first Bronco in school history to amass at least 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists, 150 steals and 50 blocked shots in his career.Â
Jessup finished his Senior Day game with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He has scored at least 15 points in 10 straight games, helping the Broncos go 8-2 over that stretch. Boise State can secure a spot in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Championship with a win at UNLV Wednesday, in its regular-season finale. The Broncos can still be seeded anywhere from second to sixth in the upcoming conference tournament.
Sunday's game belonged to Williams from the jump. He had seven points and six rebounds in the first eight minutes and finished the first half with 14 points and eight boards. Early in the second period, he secured his ninth double-double of the season, but still wasn't finished.
Boise State built a 16-point lead early in the second half, before the Lobos cut the deficit to six with under eight minutes left. Williams responded with a bucket. His jumper with seven minutes to play started an 8-0 run for Boise State, pushing the margin to double figures for good.
"When you recruit a kid, you have a vision and how you want his career to end up," head coach Leon Rice said when reflecting on Williams' performance. "It was remarkable. You're so proud of the progress that he made, because you made a lot of promises to the kids and the family and you want to deliver on them. I'd say that we delivered on that. We're putting an unbreakable guy out there into the world."
Derrick Alston, Jr. scored 17 points in his first game coming off the bench this season. Alston was moved out of the starting lineup to make room for all five seniors to take the floor together as the game started.
Boise State hits the road for its regular-season finale Wednesday (Feb. 26) at UNLV.Â
Team Stats
UNM
Boise
FG%
.468
.443
3FG%
.300
.290
FT%
.688
.846
RB
27
35
TO
18
16
STL
7
7
Game Leaders
Pts
27
FGM
11
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
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