Boise State survives a late surge from the Shockers for big home victory

Boise State forward Drew Fielder dunks the ball after a baseline move on Wichita State forward Noah Hill in the first half at ExtraMile Arena in Boise, Tuesday. | Darin Oswald, Idaho Statesman. BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Boise State welcomed the Wichita State Shockers into ExtraMile Arena on Tuesday night for an early-season nonconference clash, but the ones shocked were the visitors. Wichita State arrived undefeated at 3-0 and as one of the nation’s best shooting teams, but the Broncos did nearly everything right to neutralize the Shockers for a 62-59 victory. The Shockers missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have sent the game to overtime. The opportunity came after senior forward Javan Buchanan missed two free throws, giving Wichita State about five seconds to get down the court and take a shot from the logo. “If we missed (the free throw), we were going to foul, and we never got to him,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said. “And that thing was right on the line, I was like, ‘Oh, here we go.’” Much to Rice’s relief, the shot bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded and cheers erupted around ExtraMile Arena. Wichita State began the season shooting 42.3% from beyond the arc, averaging 10 3-pointers a game. And when their shots weren’t landing, 7-foot-2 Swedish center Will Berg had been on hand to mop up and kick the ball back out. So the visitors were left feeling shellshocked as they departed the court shooting just 4-for-15 (26.7%) from 3-point range, while Berg was kept to just two offensive rebounds and five points. Berg, who weighs 265 pounds, played just five minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls, which helped open the inside up for the Broncos. “He’s huge; that was probably one of the biggest guys I’ve played,” Boise State junior forward Andrew Meadow said. “It was just trying to get physical with him early and making sure that he feels our presence, even though we’re smaller than him.” The Broncos went 7-17 (41.2%) from beyond the arc, led by three 3-pointers from Meadow. But it wasn’t always looking rosy for Boise State, which started the game by missing its first nine field goal attempts before junior forward Drew Fielder slammed down a dunk after almost 7 minutes of play. Despite the slow start, the Broncos trailed only 7-4 by the time of Fielder’s dunk — a pair of free throws from sixth-year forward Dominic Parolin provided the Broncos with their first two points. “Shots are going to fall, and sometimes shots are not going to fall,” Fielder said. “We’ve got to be able to stand on something to win us the game, and we were able to stand on defense and our rebounding.” Fielder ended the game with game highs in points (17) and rebounds (6). He was one of three Broncos to end the night scoring in double digits, alongside Meadow (15) and senior guard Dylan Andrews (10). It was also Fielder’s dunk that sparked a back-and-forth for the next three minutes before the Broncos took their first lead of the game at 13-12 by way of a Meadow 3-pointer. A couple of quick buckets would see two more lead changes, but once the Broncos took a 16-14 advantage, they led for the rest of the game. And despite all of the hard work to limit the Shockers on offense, the home fans could have been sent home disappointed if not for a critical 15-2 run by the Broncos early in the second half to open up a 50-35 lead. Boise State still led 62-51 with just 91 seconds left on the clock. But, in a similar manner to the 62-58 win over Montana State over the weekend, the Broncos allowed the visitors back into the game late before eventually closing it out. “I think we had good finishes in both games — we won the game — but I think just having the experience and the tape to go watch and learn how to be even better, I think we’ve done a great job,” Fielder said. “We’ve just got to continue to nitpick ourselves so we can work on it and prepare for the next game.”The post Boise State survives a late surge from the Shockers for big home victory appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com