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Friday Special…March 14, 2025.
Why the heck was Boise State favored by 2½ points going into their Mountain West quarterfinal against San Diego State Thursday? I mean, the Broncos had been swept by the Aztecs during the regular season. Then they proceeded to go 11-for-40 from three-point range. That’s right, 40 attempts—tying the school record. And Boise State shot just 34 percent from the field.
But Boise State outrebounded SDSU by 12 and pulled down 13 boards on the offensive end. And the Broncos held the Aztecs without a field goal over the final 9:11 of the game. And guess what: they won 62-52. San Diego State had won 17 straight quarterfinal games in the Mountain West Tournament. Let’s just say Boise State has not been quite as successful. But it’s the Broncos advancing to the semifinals tonight against New Mexico in Las Vegas. They turned the tables on their nemesis.
IT WAS NOT A SOLO INTERVIEW
It was the best postgame interview of Tyson Degenhart’s career Thursday. After the grinder of a win, it seemed pretty standard, as Evan Washburn of CBS lobbed a question to the Boise State star to begin. Then suddenly, the entire team rushed the court and mobbed Degenhart as Washburn looked on. The interruption was just fine, thank you. With 14 points against the Aztecs, Degenhart is now 18 points away from the school career scoring record, and the victory gives him an extra game to do it. The Broncos still have at least two left, including tonight’s tilt against New Mexico.
BRONCOS TOUGH IT OUT
After that “no blood, no foul” game, what’s next for Boise State against New Mexico? The Broncos will have to be every bit as physical versus the Lobos. In the win over San Diego State, sometimes there was no foul even when there was blood. The weird barrage of three-pointers aside, I thought Boise State read the room really well against the Aztecs. In the second half, the Broncos recognized how far they could push the envelope on defense under the hoop and got very aggressive. Same thing on the offensive glass at the other end. If Boise State can carry that wisdom into the New Mexico game, they’ll have a chance at the upset.
THE LOBOS LURK
New Mexico got a test from San Jose State in its Thursday quarterfinal. The Spartans, coming off a first round win over Wyoming, were within six points with eight minutes left, but Mountain West Player of the Year Donovan Dent and his 25 points were too much in a 63-52 win. Boise State needs to keep winning, because the bracketology bubbles that have the Broncos in the “Last Four In” are unreliable at best. As Jon Rothstein said Thursday night on CBS Sports Network, “There’s a lot happening out there. Nobody’s safe. The Lobos plastered the Broncos in The Pit, and Boise State got ‘em back in ExtraMile Arena. On a neutral court, maybe it’ll be a one-point game.
CANYON COUNTY MADNESS
As College of Idaho goes for its 30th win of the season tonight versus UC Merced in the NAIA Championships First Round in Caldwell, Northwest Nazarene will be in San Diego for the NCAA Division II West Region. The Nighthawks, seeded seventh with a 20-7 record, take on 25-5 Cal State Dominguez Hills, the second seed. Despite a loss to Seattle Pacific in a GNAC semifinal last Friday, a four-game winning streak to end the regular season was enough to earn NNU an at-large berth in the tournament.
AWARD SEASON NOT OVER FOR ASHTON
While we peruse the mock NFL Drafts out there for Ashton Jeanty predictions, the former Boise State star is still up for awards pertaining to last season. Jeanty has been named a finalist for the AAU’s 95th James E. Sullivan Award that’s presented annually to the most outstanding collegiate or Olympic athlete in the country. Voting goes through next Thursday. Jeanty, of course, was runnerup in the Heisman Trophy race, a unanimous All-American and winner of the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards. He holds two Broncos records that will never be broken, with numbers we have all come to know: 2,601 rushing yards last season and 4,769 career rushing yards. As for the draft? Now that Geno Smith is a Las Vegas Raider, many believe Jeanty will be, too, as the No. 6 overall pick.
LUCRATIVE WEEK FOR THREE NFL BRONCOS
It’s been a big bank week for former Boise State stars in the NFL. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, after 11 seasons in Dallas, agreed to a three-year deal that could reach $42 million with the Seattle Seahawks. Lawrence will get $18 mill guaranteed. He was injured in the fourth game last season but still has tread on his tires. Lawrence has logged 61½ career sacks. Also, tight end John Bates got a huge vote of confidence from the Washington Commanders, signing a three-year, $21 million contract. Bates will be going into his fifth season in D.C. And running back Jeremy McNichols stays with the Commanders as well, on a one-year deal. McNichols has been with 10 different NFL teams since 2017 and has actually appeared in regular season games with five of them.
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March 14, 2018: Chandler Hutchison finishes his brilliant Boise State career with 39 points and 14 rebounds in a 77-74 loss at Washington in the first round of the NIT. Hutchison helped rally the Broncos from a 15-point first-half deficit before they fell just short. It was the 14th 20-point, 10-rebound game of his career, a Boise State record. Hutchison ended with a four-season total of 1,478 points, 12th in Broncos history, and 672 rebounds, sixth all-time.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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