Second Half Stretch Lifts Broncos to Win at Air Force

Tuesday, February 27

USAF Academy, Colo.

7 p.m. MT

Boise State

20-8,11-4Mountain West

Air Force

9-18,2-13Mountain West

Boise St.

Air Force

Chibuzo Agbo going to take a free throw.

Photo by: Boise State University

Second Half Stretch Lifts Broncos to Win at Air Force

2/27/2024 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

USAFA, Colo. – Boise State ground through a 17-1 run over a 7:37 span in the second half to pull away from Air Force for a 79-48 win, Tuesday at Clune Arena. The Broncos led by two at halftime but outscored the Falcons 51-22 in the second half.

Tyson Degenhart scored seven points through that stretch, while Jace Whiting and Max Rice had 3-pointers on consecutive possessions as Boise State (20-8, 11-4 MW) pulled away from 17:51 to 10:14 in the game.

Air Force (9-18, 2-13) went 0-of-8 from the field during that stretch, with its only point coming on a free throw.

Roddie Anderson III and Chibuzo Agbo combined for 17 points in the second half. The Broncos clinched their third-straight 20-win season, and 11th in Leon Rice's 14 years with the program.

Quotable

"This is a hard place to win back-to-back games at 7,000 feet," said head coach Leon Rice. "We went through a lot of guys so we were able to have them fresh, like Roddie came out ready to go in the second half. It was key to beating this team that had some mojo after beating New Mexico."
"The biggest difference in the second (half) was that I got more open looks and wasn't going to turn them down," said Chibuzo Agbo. "We've got a lot of highly skilled guys that can attack the basket, putting pressure on the defense and that's where we score the ball well. That's why we're also getting to the line more often than not."

Top Broncos

Tyson Degenhart knocked down a game-high 21 points with five rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Chibuzo Agbo scored 17 points to go along with six rebounds and a block.
O'Mar Stanley tallied 15 points, two rebounds and an assist.
Roddie Anderson III added eight points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Notable

The win marks the 20th of the season for Boise State — the third-consecutive 20-win season for the program.
Leon Rice owns 11, 20-win seasons in his 14-year tenure with the Broncos . . . his eleven are more than the seven other 20-win seasons in 39 seasons before he took the helm of the program.
Boise State is 17-9 in Mountain West road games since the start of the 2021-22 season — the best road record in the conference in that stretch.
The Broncos have won 20 true road games in that span.
The Broncos held a conference opponent under 50 points for the first time since a 42-37 win over San Diego State (Jan. 22, 2022).
Boise State won its seventh-straight meeting against Air Force to take a 20-6 lead in the all-time series.
The Broncos went 2-0 in their extended road trip at Wyoming and Air Force — the two-highest arenas in college basketball.
Both of Boise State's wins against Air Force this season came by a combined 69 points this season.
Neither team made a field goal for the first 4:49 with both teams combining to miss their first six attempts with five total turnovers.
The Broncos outscored Air Force by 29 (51 to 22) in the second half.
Boise State improved its shooting percentage in the second half — 39.1% to 55.6% to end the game at 48%.
The Broncos had a season low six turnovers.
Boise State had three players score 15+ points: Tyson Degenhart (21), Chibuzo Agbo (17) and O'Mar Stanley (15).

What's Next
Boise State's next two games will be the final two home games of the season. The Broncos host New Mexico, March 2, and Nevada, March 5, at ExtraMile Arena.