Leon Rice Technical Ignites Broncos And Refs
Boise State beat Colorado State by 33 points Wednesday night in Fort Collins but the start of the game had a really weird feeling.
Colorado State coach Larry Eustachy is on administrative leave and the Rams and their fans have been a state of chaos. That can work for or against a visiting team.
Down 8-4 early Boise State coach Leon Rice felt like something was amiss with the atmosphere. So coach decided he'd say something to kick things into gear.
Rice told the media he looked at the referees and said "Hey, we're going to show up and play, you show up and ref." TECHNICAL!
Yep, the refs didn't take kindly to the suggestion and Rice was slapped with a technical. Rice later said he wasn't trying to get teed but felt something needed to be said.
Boise State went on a 17-2 run following the technical and won 87-54. the 33 point margin of victory the largest in a conference road game for BSU since 2004.
Boise State (22-6. 12-4) was absolutely dominant on the road Wednesday night against Colorado State (11-18, 4-12).
The win guarantees at least a third-place finish in the conference standings for Boise State, making it four-straight seasons that the Broncos have recorded a top-three finish in the MW regular season – the longest such current streak for any conference team.
The last MW team to accomplish the feat was UNLV. Their streak spanned from the 2010-11 to 2013-14 seasons.
This is the 12th time in program history Boise State will enter a conference tournament as one of the top three seeds. It is the fifth time in Leon Rice’s eight seasons as head coach.
The Broncos held Colorado State to 28.3 percent shooting from the field (15-of-53). The Rams’ shooting percentage was the lowest for a Bronco opponent since holding San Jose State to 25.0 percent shooting (11-of-44) on Jan. 21, 2015.
Boise State is now 11-0 this season when holding its opponent to under 40 percent shooting from the field.
The 33-point victory was the Broncos’ largest margin of victory in a conference road game since Feb. 26, 2004, winning at SMU 89-50 (39 points).
The 33-point advantage was the largest for the Broncos in a conference game since defeating San Jose State 86-36 on Jan. 21, 2015.
The margin of victory was Boise State’s second largest of the season against a Division I opponent, trailing only the 34-point win against Loyola (Nov. 28, 2017).
…Chandler Hutchison led the way with 27 points, giving him his seventh game this season scoring 25 or more. The game was also his 15th 20-point game of 2017-18.
Hutchison was 10-of-18 from the field and tied a career high with four steals.
The senior also now has 1,396 career points, putting him ninth on the Boise State all-time scoring list.
Justinian Jessup was the No. 2 scorer for the Broncos with 16 points thanks to four 3-pointers. The four triples gives him 79 on the season, putting him in seventh place in Boise State single-season history.
He trails Anthony Drmic (2012-13) and Coby Karl (2006-07) by one trey for fifth place, as both made 80. Drmic’s 80 3-pointers from the 2012-13 season is also the sophomore school record.
Zach Haney tallied his third-straight game scoring in double digits with 13 points. He is averaging 11.3 points in his last three games.
Chris Sengfelder was the leading rebounder with 11 (four of which came on the offensive end). The 11 rebounds was one short of his season high.
Boise State was dominant once again on the boards, outrebounding the Rams 51-31 (+20). The 20-rebound advantage is tied for the third-largest this season and is the most since outrebounding New Mexico at home by 20 on Jan. 3, 2018.
The Blue and Orange has won by 20 or more points in back-to-back games. The last time the program achieved such a feat was in the 2003-04 season when it defeated San Jose State, 72-51, on Feb. 21, 2004 and then SMU, 89-50, on Feb. 26, 2004.
Boise State used a 17-2 run early on in the first half to take the 21-12 lead at the second media timeout of the half (11:57).
The Broncos held a 50-29 lead at the half. The 50 points tied for the highest-scoring first half this season for the team.
Hutchison had 18 points at the half on 7-of-12 shooting from the field – including 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
The Broncos went on a 20-0 run midway through the second half. They also held Colorado State scoreless for over nine minutes in that same span.
The win against the Rams gives Boise State the slight 11-10 advantage in the all-time series. The result also gives the Broncos just its third road win against Colorado State. The team has a 3-8 all-time record in Fort Collins.
Boise State has also won four-straight games against Colorado State.
The result gives Boise State its 22nd win of the season. The 22 wins ties for the second most in head coach Leon Rice’s eight years at the helm. The team went 22-13 in 2011-12 and 25-9 in 2014-15.
The victory also gives the team its sixth road win of the season (6-4).
Boise State’s win gives the team the regular season sweep over Colorado State. The Broncos now have secured regular sweeps against four MW teams: Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico and UNLV.
The Broncos will utilize a bye this weekend before taking on San Diego State on the road (Feb. 27) next Tuesday. The game will tip 9 p.m. MT and broadcast on CBS Sports Network.