FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The longest winning streak in the history of the Boise State men's basketball program came to a close on Wednesday and for the first time in exactly two months, the Broncos are dealing with the taste of defeat.
"It's a sour taste," said Boise State senior Derrick Alston right after the game.
Colorado State beat the Broncos, 78-56, at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo., late Wednesday night. The defeated snapped a streak of 13 consecutive wins by Boise State. The Rams also handed them their first loss in Mountain West play this season.
"No matter how long it's been our guys don't like it," added Boise State head coach Leon Rice. "You go two months without losing you think maybe it would lessen the pain or how you feel about it, but we still feel the same way about it.
"Losing sucks," said Rice.
The Broncos struggled in every area they've excelled at this season: rebounding, defense and bench scoring.
REBOUNDING
Boise State entered the game as one of the best rebounding teams in college basketball, but they got absolutely crushed on the glass against Colorado State.
The Rams finished plus-16 on the boards, their second-best effort of the season and the largest margin they've ever had against a Leon Rice-coached Broncos squad.
"We got out hats handed to us on the glass tonight," said Rice. "We won 13 straight games and we won the boards in all 13."
Rams sophomore David Roddy was a beast, finishing with 27 points and 15 rebounds. With that rare achievement, he became the first Boise State opponent to grab at least 15 rebounds and score 20-plus points in over a decade.
"He's a load for sure," said Alston. "We have to take that challenge more personally. We gave him a lot of space and he made us pay."
"He shoots it outside, he's a great rebounder, he's tough around the basket, and he's a good passer," said Rice. "He's a great player."
#TuSTATS: Boise State still ranks 25th in rebounding margin (+7.5 per game) in college basketball.
DEFENSE
After missing their very first shot of the game, Colorado State made ten straight field goal attempts. They shot 55.8% for the game, the highest mark against Boise State this season.
Of their 29 total field goals made, 15 were either layups or dunks. Thanks to sophomore Isaiah Stevens, the Rams racked up a 17 assists, the most allowed by the Broncos this season.
Stevens, Mountain West leader in assists, had ten assists against Boise State on Wednesday, becoming just the fourth player in the last 10 years to reach a double-digit assists total against Boise State.
#TuSTATS: Boise State has held opponents under 40.0% shooting nine times this season, tied for 8th most in the NCAA.
BENCH SCORING
This Boise State team is complete as any team we've ever seen for the Broncos. They bring both Devonaire Dourtrive (10.2 PPG) and Max Rice (8.2 PPG) off the bench, and Emmanuel Akot (7.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG) was available as a reserve as well on Wednesday.
That trio combined four just eight points, with Doutrive accounting for all of them. The Colorado State bench outscored the Broncos bench 18-8. What has become a reliable competitive advantage for the Boise State team just wasn't there in Fort Collins.
One second-half substitution particularly stood out, however.
Alston, who had just six points in the first half, came out of the locker room and made his first six shots. He scored 12 points in just over eight minute and helped cut a 15-point deficit down to five.
Rice gave Alston a break with 11:02 remaining in the game. The Preseason Mountain West Player of the Year re-enter at the game at the 8:17, but during his two-minutes and 45-second breather on the bench, the Rams pushed their lead back out to nine and never looked back.
"That's where out depth as helped us," said Rice. "We've got to be able to do that. All year long we haven't got hurt by that."
#TuSTATS: Boise State sophomore Max Rice has 123 points off the bench this season, the most in the Mountain West.
NO TIME TO POUT
Due to a unique scheduling arrangement that can be credited to COVID-19 precautions, the Broncos will remain in Fort Collins for a re-match with the Rams on Friday.
That game will likely have significant ramifications on who wins the Mountain West this year. At 9-1 in league play the Broncos still sit in first-place, but the Rams (9-2) are right behind them. Boise State needs a win on Friday in order to stay atop the standings and avoid losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Colorado State.
"We knew this series was a big one and playing in Fort Collins is always hard," said Rice. "It's sets up for another big one on Friday.
'We've got a lot of tough guys in that locker room. Obviously this one is going to hurt because nobody likes losing," explained Alston. "Being a leader of this team, I take a lot of the blame myself. I'm not going to hold my head down. You've got to go back out there and respond. We've be ready to go on Friday for sure."