Thursday, January 26, 2012.
Since the three-point shot was officially instituted 25 years ago, UNLV is the only team in Division I basketball to hit a three in every single game, 827 in all. It was the trey that saved the 12th-ranked Rebels last night in a 77-72 overtime win over Boise State in Taco Bell Arena. BSU had an answer for the threes—until the final stretch of overtime. It was then Oscar Bellfield nailed one last bomb to give UNLV a 70-65 lead that was too much to overcome. And that’s the way it went.
After the Broncos surged to a four-point lead early in the second half, UNLV drilled three in a row from three-point land to seemingly take command. The Rebels hit two more during an 11-0 run, and it looked like this one was over. The Broncos scrapped their way back into the lead a couple times, though, going up by four when Thomas Bropleh connected on a three-pointer with 4:39 left. The Rebels came back with two more threes approaching the four-minute mark, erasing the Broncos’ final lead of the night.
Boise State got some gutty individual performances against the No. 12 team in the country. After the Broncos found themselves behind 12-0 four minutes into the game, Thomas Bropleh almost logged a double-double in the first half alone, with eight points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Bropleh finished with 17 points and 13 boards. Derrick Marks, on the heels of a strong game at TCU, put up a career-high 21 points and continually sparked the offense. Kenny Buckner held his own inside against the physically imposing Rebels, pulling down 12 rebounds. What was striking was that in their first game without Jeff Elorriaga, the Broncos did a collective Elorriaga impression with defensive grit. Can they sustain that effort? Things don’t get any easier when Wyoming comes to town Saturday.
Considering how new this is to Shea McClellin, he’s been performing lights-out at Senior Bowl practices. The former Marsing Husky went into Mobile as a defensive end—and is likely going to come out as something else. Tony Pauline posted this update at SI.com during practice yesterday: “Shea McClellin of Boise State looks better every day at the linebacker position. He's been planted in the middle today and has done a great job remaining patient with assignments, smoothly moving across the field and showing a good degree of awareness.”
There are some positive notes for Kellen Moore, even if they’re a bit backhanded. There was this from Pauline: “Moore shows terrific timing on his passes. The consensus is he'll be a No. 3 quarterback for a West Coast offense in the NFL.” The thing analysts keep pounding on is what they call Moore’s inability to pass outside the numbers—to hit the longer throws along the sidelines. “Many on hand believe the problem with Kellen Moore's poor arm strength starts with his delivery,” said Pauline. “Moore has a short throwing motion and looks like he's pushing the football.” I always thought that was just a facet of his quick release.”
On the subject of Doug Martin, his impact is going far beyond running the rock in Senior Bowl drills. His return ability is a big factor in his rising draft stock. After the North squad began the day yesterday with kick return and coverage game plans for Saturday, Pauline wrote, “Doug Martin of Boise State again looks good showing both a burst and long speed. This is something to keep an eye on during Saturday's game, which will be the first and only time both squads run special teams at full speed and full contact.” And then you have Martin’s receiving ability. “He's showing terrific quickness and just put a great move on former Boise State teammate Shea McClellin to come free in the flat for a nice reception. Martin has shown soft, strong hands all week.”
Boise State athletic director Mark Coyle made his first public comment yesterday on the Broncos’ 2012 football schedule. Coyle told the Statesman that while he wants to schedule a 13th game this year (he can because BSU plays at Hawaii), Arkansas is not among the possibilities. A potential tilt in Cowboys Stadium with the Hogs, who lost the Dallas date against Texas A&M on their schedule when the Aggies became an SEC foe, had been a hot topic this winter. Even though it would be easy for Coyle to schedule a home game against an FCS opponent and call it good, it doesn’t sound like he wants to go that route. "We don't want to schedule somebody to schedule somebody,” Coyle told the Statesman. “We want to make sure we schedule somebody that makes sense for our program, for our fans."
Last week we talked about Baltimore defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano’s Boise ties going into the AFC Championship Game. And I thought that was that. But you know we’ll go to that well again now. The Indianapolis Colts have hired Pagano as head coach, replacing the fired Jim Caldwell. Pagano was always a take-charge guy in his two seasons at Boise State in 1987-88. At the team banquet at the end of the ’87 season, the Broncos’ highlight video was shown for the first time. It included a long kickoff return by Idaho State’s Frank Selto that had shocked BSU in the final minutes, giving the Bengals a 35-32 victory on the blue turf. Pagano went fairly ballistic over the clip being included. An edited version of the tape materialized a couple days later.
The Idaho Steelheads have talked about the urgency of playing well at home, where they’ve been painfully inconsistent this season. But last night the Steelheads turned in a gem, blanking Stockton 1-0 in CenturyLink Arena. Matt Case scored early in the second period, and goalie Jerry Kuhn stopped all 31 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season. The final save was the biggest after the Thunder had pulled their goaltender. With 20 seconds left in the game, Stockton’s leading scorer, Kevin Baker, unleashed a point-blank shot that was smothered by Kuhn. It was just the tonic for the Steelies after Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Thunder.
According to the Idaho Business Review, the Better Boise Coalition has identified two potential new stadium sites: 30th and Main and 27th and Fairview, just west of Downtown Boise. Now comes the tricky part: finding the estimated $25 million to pay for it. Supporters of the BBC surmise that a combination of private and public dollars would be needed. The coalition warns that the Chicago Cubs may seek to relocate the Boise Hawks franchise—or least drop their affiliation with the Hawks—without modernized facilities. The timing is tough considering the plodding economy, but Boise tends to be creative.
The Idaho Stampede are remaking themselves as some pressure starts to build now. The Stampede really want to make the D-League Playoffs, but they’re lagging behind the pack right now with an 8-14 record. And they have a difficult East Coast road trip this week, playing at Springfield tonight and Maine tomorrow night. The Stamps traded guard Eric Devendorf to Reno for guard Chris Davis Tuesday, and they picked up guard-forward Devin Green from Erie yesterday in a three-way deal with Canton, which gets Idaho’s second round pick in the D-League Draft this fall. Davis has averaged six points in 15 games with the Bighorns this season. Green, a one-time L.A. Laker, has scored 15 points a game in 11 starts for the BayHawks.
This Day In Sports…January 26, 1997, 15 years ago today:
Brett Favre finally gets Green Bay back to glory, as the Packers win Super Bowl XXXI over the New England Patriots in the pre-Brady/Belichick era, 35-21. But it was Desmond Howard who won Most Valuable Player honors for the Pack, becoming the first special teams player ever to win the award. Howard returned a kickoff 99 yards for a crucial touchdown and amassed 244 punt and kickoff return yards overall. It was the NFC’s 13th straight Super Bowl championship.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
