BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday Weekly: February 22, 2023.
This is Boise State’s one late tipoff of the season in ExtraMile Arena. The fact that the game is against New Mexico sure helps. It’s strange how little information has come out regarding the bizarre halftime incident at The Pit a month ago, when the Broncos were harassed in the hallways outside the locker room by the Lobos baseball team. Well, the Albuquerque Journal reports this week that the baseball team was trash-talking and booing Boise State players, with UNM claiming that the only physical moment during the incident came when coach Leon Rice went chest-to-chest with one of the Lobos. But consequences for New Mexico? Sure doesn’t seem like there were any. It was something we can safely say would never happen in Boise. Broncos and Lobos tonight at 8:30. Ahem…enjoy the game.
FORGET THE FORECASTING
Well, my Boise State “player to watch” going into Sunday night’s game against UNLV was Chibuzo Agbo. That didn’t work out so well. Agbo struggled mightily, scoring only two points, going 1-for-7 from the field, turning the ball over four times and fouling out. Had he been even normal, it wouldn’t have been just a 73-69 win against the Rebels. The Broncos need Agbo to be above normal the rest of the way. Going into tonight’s New Mexico game, let’s go with Lukas Milner, who picked up where he left off at Colorado State. Milner scored nine points — hitting all three of his shots from the field and even going 3-for-4 from the free throw line. His reverse dunk with six minutes left kept the Rebels at arm’s length. Milner’s most amazing stat was plus-21: Boise State outscored UNLV by 21 points when he was in the game.
SOME PIVOTAL PREP TEAMMATES
Boise State missed Marcus Shaver Jr. when he was out with an injury at San Diego State almost three weeks ago. Do ya think? The Aztecs won 72-52. Shaver’s been the saving grace for the Broncos since he’s been back. Jaelen House is that guy for New Mexico. House missed two games the past two weeks, and the Lobos were thumped in those by Air Force and Wyoming. He was back in the lineup last Friday at San Jose State, and UNM routed the Spartans 96-68. House scored only seven points, but he also had five assists and five steals. And get this: Shaver and House were high school teammates at Shadow Mountain in Phoenix. Better that they meet on the floor rather than in the handshake line in street clothes.
SHAVER SLIPS INTO AN ELITE CLUB
It happened so quickly Sunday night that fans hardly had a chance to appreciate it. Shaver dropped in a free throw just over two minutes into the game to top 1,000 points for his career with Boise State. Shaver scored 868 points in his two seasons at Portland, so he’s got a shot at 2,000 for his college career. One thing I’ll watch is Shaver’s 1,945th point. That would eclipse Tanoka Beard’s school record total in his four years as a Bronco. It will just mean that no one who has ever worn a Boise State uniform has had a higher-scoring college career overall. What’s important is what Shaver did to save the night against the Rebels. What could have been a bad loss was the Broncos’ 21st win due to his six final-minute swishes from the free throw line.
MARCH MADNESS SENSORY OVERLOAD
Bracketology is exhausting. Is Boise State safely in the field of 68 for the NCAA Tournament? Will the Broncos be relegated to the First Four in Dayton like they were in 2013 and 2015? The NCAA NET rankings say no, but some so-called bracketologists say yes. After the win over UNLV Sunday night, Boise State remained at No. 23 in the NET rankings (this morning it’s No. 24), yet they’re still down in the “others receiving votes” category in the polls. The committee is not supposed to look at that. But who knows? The Broncos’ only choice: just win, baby.
BRANCHES OF THE BRONCOS’ COACHING TREE
In 2003, Boise State had a junior college transfer offensive lineman named Klayton Adams. He was a backup — until coach Dan Hawkins had to send a player home from the Fort Worth Bowl. Adams was a surprise starter at guard and led a stellar effort by the O-line in a 34-31 win over TCU. Adams started at center during the Broncos’ top 10 season in 2004 and then had a cup of coffee in the NFL. The NFL got into his blood. Adams has since made the rounds in coaching. Twice he was hired by college programs, and twice he reneged and stayed in the NFL. Adams briefly joined Arizona State’s staff in 2021 before returning to the Indianapolis Colts a week later. He then signed on with Stanford’s staff this past December, but on Monday he was hired away to be the Arizona Cardinals O-line coach.
AND THE YOTE BEAT GOES ON
Same ol’ same ol’ in Caldwell, as College of Idaho pelted Bushnell 87-70 Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Cascade Conference Championships. The Coyotes, who already have a ticket to the NAIA Tournament, have now won 28 games in a row, the longest active winning streak in men’s college basketball. The Yotes have also won eight straight games over Bushnell, formerly known as Northwest Christian. C of I has home court advantage the rest of the way in the conference tournament — next up are the quarterfinals Friday night at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center. The Yotes could have another 30-win season when the weekend’s over.
NO POIRIER BETWEEN THE PIPES
Idaho Steelheads goaltender Remi Poirier was called up by the Texas Stars last Thursday. Poirier’s last game before departing was not his best, a 6-5 overtime loss at Wichita, but everything else has been fairly spectacular. Poirier holds the ECHL’s best goals against-average at 1.99 and save percentage at 93.1 while posting a record of 18-2-2 with three shutouts. He was named ECHL Goaltender of the Month in both December and January. Bridging those awards was Poirier’s 12-game winning streak, the fourth-longest in ECHL history. Adam Scheel is the main man now going into the Steelheads’ first-ever series against the Maine Mariners beginning tonight in Idaho Central Arena. Standings check: Idaho is 33-8-3 with a staggering 23-point lead in the ECHL Mountain Division.
THE BRONCOS & THE HAWKS
The Boise Hawks involved in NIL deals? Yes. As you’ve probably heard, the Hawks are partnering with Boise State to bring seven athletes to Memorial Stadium this summer to throw out first pitches, meet fans and sign autographs. From football: Taylen Green, George Holani, Ashton Jeanty and Tyler Crowe. From men’s basketball: Tyson Degenhart and Max Rice. And from soccer there’s Genevieve Crenshaw. That’s a pretty good lineup. The Boise Hawks are gettin’ creative. They connected with those players through Boise State’s NIL Exchange and will be paid by the Hawks.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS…February 22, 2018, five years ago today:
The U.S. women’s hockey team provides one of the defining moments of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, ending Canada’s run of four straight gold medals by beating its rival 3-2 in a shootout for the title. Sun Valley’s Hilary Knight scored a power play goal late in the first period to give Team USA a 1-0 lead. But the Americans appeared to be on the ropes in the third until Monique Lamoureux-Mordano tied it 2-2 with 6:21 left. Lamoureux-Mordano’s sister, Jocelyn, then potted the deciding goal in a dramatic shootout to end it. The U.S. won the first women’s hockey gold medal in Nagano in 1998 but had been tormented by the Canadians ever since.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
Watch more Sports:
See all of our sports coverage in our YouTube playlist:
