Presented by ZAMZOWS.
This Day In Sports…December 12, 2015, 10 years ago today:
Hosting a non-conference top 25 team for the first time in eight years, Boise State edges No. 24 Oregon 74-72 before 10,239 fans in Taco Bell Arena. The Broncos had built a 17-point lead with less than seven minutes to play behind senior Anthony Drmic’s 19 points before the Ducks mounted a frantic comeback. Oregon was led by future NBA standout and provocateur Dillon Brooks with a game-high 26 points. It was Boise State’s fourth game against a ranked opponent in 3½ weeks—the Broncos had earlier lost by 12 and nine points to Arizona and by 10 to Michigan State.
Forward Zach Haney keyed a 30-7 Boise State run that ended the first half, when—midway through the surge—he snagged a steal in between three Ducks near midcourt. Less than a minute later Haney canned a corner three-pointer that gave the Broncos their first double-digit lead. Haney’s effort was contagious. “I credit our bench for changing that game in the first half, and then we played a great stretch of basketball there for a long time,” said Rice. Haney contributed seven points and four rebounds in 19 minutes.
Guard Chandler Hutchison, Boise State’s future NBA Draft first-rounder, was alternating between starter and reserve as a sophomore. He was sure good off the bench against the Ducks, denying a three-point attempt on the game’s final play, less than two minutes after he scored the Broncos’ final points of the game on a clutch put-back. Hutchison scored eight points with seven rebounds in 27 minutes.
But Boise State’s catalyst was fifth-year senior Anthony Drmic, the Australian guard who was the centerpiece of the team. Drmic gutted out those 19 points, but a still-healing leg had him exhausted toward the end of the game. That may have explained Drmic‘s two missed free throws and two turnovers in the frantic final three minutes. But there were no excuses from Drmic, who tweeted out an apology after the game.
“We’re senior leaders, and we can’t finish the game like that,” said Drmic in the postgame presser. “We got to put it away at the free throw line and taking care of the ball. Yeah, I’m sorry.” That coming from a guy who had just moved into the top five in Boise State career scoring. The victory marked the Broncos’ first home victory over a ranked team since a WAC triumph over No. 21 Utah State in 2009.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
