BSU gets first win in the Spectrum
Boise State won its first game in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum Tuesday, edging the Aggies 68-63. Despite even stats across the board, USU failed to respond to senior guard Derrick Marks’ late-game heroics, falling to 5-5 in conference play while the Broncos improve to 6-3.
“I told our team before that we would have to have one of our best defensive performances of the year to have a chance to win, and we didn’t,” said USU head coach Stew Morrill. “They just got whatever they wanted, and that’s disappointing. We are kind of a soft basketball team right now.”
Four Aggies scored in double-digits in the loss, led by freshman forward David Collette’s 17 points. USU shot 48 percent in the game, but couldn’t keep pace with Boise’s hot three-point shooting. The Broncos finished 11-25 from deep, with three players scoring multiple three-pointers in the contest.
“It was a hard one,” Collette said. “They are a good team. I give them all the credit in the world. They came in here and did what they were supposed to do.”
Marks, who only played six minutes in the first half, led the Broncos with 23 points, including a 30-footer in the waning seconds of the shot-clock that proved to be the biggest shot of the night. The game appeared to be favoring USU and the raucous home crowd as junior guard Darius Perkins and forward Nick Duncan traded three-pointers, until Marks’ deep three followed by a steal and an easy bucket to extended the Bronco lead to 65-60 with under three minutes to play.
“Unbelievable how many times he’s made shots going down the stretch in games,” Morrill said. “I mean when you prepare for them you see it over and over and over again. He’s having an unbelievable year. He’s probably the MVP of the league. I mean, he has so much confidence. The confidence we don’t have, he has all of it.”
Collette was disappointed in the lack of toughness the Aggies showed in the numerous scrambles for rebounds and loose balls in the game’s final minutes.
“We just need to come up with it, that’s it,” Collette said. “We don’t come up with enough of them. We’re not tough enough right now to come up with them and that’s the bottom line.”
Morrill echoed Collette, adding that USU’s foul shooting also contributed to the loss — not an uncommon theme this season.
“They’ve got to get a loose ball, they’ve got to get a rebound when you’ve got to have it, they’ve got to make a free throw when the game is on the line,” Morrill said. “That’s just basketball.”