Breakthrough No. 3: rather weird

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Thursday, February 19, 2015.

It was ugly, but it’s in the books. Boise State won for the first time ever at the Thomas & Mack Center last night, out-grinding UNLV 53-48. The Broncos did it despite shooting just (are you sitting down?) 5½ percent from three-point range. That’s 1-for-18. You can't blame anything on the Tark effect, with UNLV honoring the late Jerry Tarkanian in its first home game since his death. The game was there for the taking, as the Rebels were as shaky as the Broncos. The crowd of 13,675 flattened quickly after starting the game with energy following the emotional pregame ceremony. Still, Boise State was down by five points at halftime before clawing back for a third landmark win this year that joins the first-ever victories in Albuquerque and Logan.

It was the first time the Broncos have won in the Leon Rice era when not scoring 60 points. We should have known off the top this was going to be a strange night. Nick Duncan, the three-point specialist, began the game by banking in a skyhook. James Webb III hit a three-pointer less than three minutes into the game after missing all five of his treys at Fresno State. Then Boise State went more than five minutes without another field goal. And—incredibly—it wouldn't make another three the entire game. But Duncan and Webb got it done on the boards, pulling down nine and 11 rebounds, respectively. The Broncos had a 47-36 advantage on the glass, and that was probably the difference in the game.

UNLV had a plan for Derrick Marks last night. He was blanketed by the Rebels from the outset and badly missed his first two shots (the first was an airball from beyond the arc). He was stripped on his third attempt. Marks put up only five points in the first half—then started the scoring in the second half with a fadeaway jumper out of the gate. He ended with 16 points and made some of his patented big plays down the stretch. Yes, things were a bit uneven. Marks missed two free throws while the Broncos were nursing a two-point lead with six minutes left. UNLV tied the game on its next possession, capping a 7-0 run. But they were never able to retake the lead. Marks dropped in a finger roll layin with 51 seconds remaining to give Boise State a 48-44 cushion, which was huge with the Rebels enduring a 30 percent shooting night.

Former Boise State star Jay Ajayi is going through the interview grinder at the NFL Combine and is slated to do the bench press tomorrow and participate in on-field testing Saturday. NFL Draft expert Tony Pauline comments on Ajayi’s status at DraftInsider.net. “Right now I’m told there’s a wide opinion on where Ajayi ranks amongst ball carriers,” writes Pauline. “Some teams grade the Boise State junior as the second or third rated running back on their board while others have him listed as low as the eighth or ninth back. For the record Ajayi is our third rated running back.”

Grant Hedrick is not part of the NFL Combine, but that hasn’t stopped ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. from catapulting him up his big board. Kiper now rates the former Boise State standout as the No. 10 quarterback available in the NFL Draft. “I'm not sure any QB has moved up for me more in the past month than Hedrick, who has a chance to stick on a roster,” writes Kiper. “He lacks height (he is just under 6 feet) but does a lot of other things well.” Not many knew Hedrick’s name at the end of September. Incidentally, Kiper is one of those who rates Ajayi as only the No. 8 running back on the board.

Rumors have been swirling about this incident—now it's out there after a story in the Long Beach Press-Telegram. Boise State wide receiver Rick Smith was allegedly assaulted by a teammate in the Bronco locker room last week and suffered head injuries that have required treatment at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Very disturbing. An incident report has been filed with the Boise Police Department, and the story said Smith's family is going to press charges. It appears Smith, even if he wanted to return, would be unable to next season due to his injuries. The Arizona State transfer was Boise State's Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year in 2014 and was set to play a prominent role in the Bronco passing game.

There’s a great update on former Boise State safety Jeremy Ioane in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser by longtime columnist Dave Reardon. Ioane and his twin sister Jasmine celebrated their 23rd birthdays yesterday. Jasmine, who played softball for Weber State and is attending her final semester there, is the one currently undergoing tests to see if she is a match for a kidney transplant for Jeremy. Ioane has a rare disease, IgA nephropathy, that has wracked his body for more than 2½ years, sometimes decreasing his kidney function to one percent. He continues to deal with dialysis five times a week. On Tuesday pain forced Ioane to go to the ICU at a Boise hospital for treatment. A donation fund organized by Boise State has raised $74,000 and a similar one has now been initiated in Hawaii. We will not soon forget Senior Day on the blue turf.

Graham DeLaet is looking for consistency, and Troy Merritt is looking for a check as the Northern Trust Open begins today near Los Angeles. The former Boise State stars were lacking in those departments up the coast last week. DeLaet shot 76-64-65-76 in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, while Merritt missed his second consecutive cut. Merritt and DeLaet teed off with the second and third groups this morning, respectively.

The front row is set for Sunday's Daytona 500, but the rest of the field, including the status of Boise's Brian Scott, will be determined by performances in the Daytona Duels tonight. There will be 49 drivers split into two races—Scott will start in the 16th position in Budweiser Duel #2. He'll be guiding the No. 62 Premium Motorsports car for Richard Childress Racing this time, but it's still tabbed the "Shore Lodge Chevrolet."

The women’s giant slalom kicks off the 2015 U.S. Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association Western Regionals this morning at Brundage Mountain. A total of 15 women’s teams and 17 men’s teams (including guest teams from Montana State and Colorado) will compete in the three-day event. At stake are four berths for both men and women in the USCSA National Championships at Mount Bachelor the first week of March. The College of Idaho, which suddenly became the host when regionals were moved from Colorado to Brundage due to snow conditions, goes in with high expectations. The C of I men are coming off their first Northwest Collegiate Ski Conference title since 2009, with the Lady Yotes claiming their first league crown since 2012.

More basketball notes: the Idaho Stampede fell to Austin 126-118 last night in CenturyLink Arena despite Jack Cooley’s 25 points and 20 rebounds. The Idaho Vandals have their work cut out for them with a test tonight at Northern Arizona. The Vandals have just one Big Sky road victory—the Lumberjacks have only one conference loss at home. The Northwest Nazarene men get some rare regional exposure, as their home game against Alaska-Fairbanks will be televised on ROOT Sports tonight at 7 p.m. NNU got on a roll in January but has now lost three games in a row. The Crusaders are led by Erik Kinney’s 14.7 points per game. And the Boise State women took a 74-60 defeat at the hands of UNLV last night in Taco Bell Arena. The Rebels moved into a fourth-place tie with the Broncos in the Mountain West at 8-5.

This Day In Sports…brought to you by ZAMZOW’S…nobody knows like Zamzow’s!

February 19, 2010, five years ago today: Tiger Woods holds one of the most-watched sports press conferences in television history. Although it wasn’t really a press conference—it was a 13½-minute statement apologizing for as many as a dozen affairs revealed after a Thanksgiving night incident that had Woods leaving his Florida home and crashing his SUV down the street, with wife Elin not far behind to presumably lend assistance. A wide array of sponsors subsequently dropped him, and he went into rehabilitation for sexual addiction. At his media event, Woods gave no indication as to when he would return to golf.

(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.)

 

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