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Boise State Basketball Blown Out by #14 Oregon, 106-75
Ducks shoot 70% from the field in big win over the Broncos
Contact/Follow @andrewdieckhoff & @MWCwire
Broncos’ shooting betrays them in big loss
Boise State fell to #14 Oregon on the road, 106-75, giving the Broncos their first loss of the season. The Ducks were led by Anthony Mathis, who scored 30 points and knocked down nine three-point shots. The Broncos’ Derrick Alston ended up with 28 points, which could be a nice feather in his cap to show NBA Draft scouts.
Oregon (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12) was coming off the heels of a 71-57 victory over Fresno State on Tuesday. The Ducks received some bad news when it was announced on Saturday that big man Francis Okoro would sit out with an injury. And while it looked at first that this might bode well for the undersized Broncos, the flip-side is that Boise State doesn’t have anyone to exploit Okoro’s absence.
Grad transfer Shakur Juiston, who came over from UNLV in the offseason, took Okoro’s place in the lineup and did not disappoint. After a relatively quiet debut on Tuesday, Juiston showed why he was such a tantalizing target for Dana Altman. The forward scored 16 points and recorded nine assists, showing off some deft passing skills.
Meanwhile, Mathis—the other Mountain West grad transfer—was hitting just about everything. The former New Mexico guard was lights-out from long range, missing only twice in eleven attempts. Payton Pritchard put up 19 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and three steals. Freshman Addison Patterson was 7-for-7 from the field and ended up with 17 points in just 18 minutes off the bench.
https://twitter.com/Pac12Network/status/1193410800121069568?s=20
It wasn’t just Mathis who was on fire. The Ducks shot 70% as a team. That’s just unbeatable.
Especially for team that shot just 42.9% for the game.
The Broncos (1-1, 0-0 MWC) looked like offensive juggernauts in their first game, but it appears that their slaughter of NAIA minnows Life Pacific didn’t translate well to the hostile confines of a Pac-12 arena. In particular, the team struggled from downtown, hitting just six three-pointers at a 26.1% clip. Justinian Jessup, who is expected to carry a lot of the scoring load behind Alston, managed to get to double figures, but was mostly ineffective throughout the game. Alex Hobbs had 18 in a good effort, while RJ Williams provided 11 points and eight boards.
The biggest issue so far, besides the Broncos’ obvious lack of size, is team depth. Marcus Dickinson is starting almost by default, but he provides precious little on the offensive end for Boise State. The bench was almost invisible for Leon Rice on Saturday, combining to shoot 1-of-9 for four points in 45 minutes. This squad is going to struggle in this department at least until Abu Kigab becomes eligible.
But for now, the Broncos need to find a way to win tough games with the players they have.
Andrew is a current USBWA member, covering college basketball for multiple outlets, including Mountain West Wire of the USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Busting Brackets of the FanSided Network. He also runs the Dieckhoff Power Index, a college basketball analytics system, and provides bracketology predictions throughout the season.
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