Presented by CORSO ITALIAN STEAK.
This Day In Sports…January 13, 2021, five years ago today:
Two nights after setting a new school record for longest winning streak, Boise State men’s basketball establishes its best start ever in any conference with a 90-70 win at Wyoming. The Broncos, with their 12th straight victory, improved to 8-0 in the Mountain West with another dominant performance. COVID forced a very strange schedule—the conference season consisted of two-game series between MW foes on home floors. It was the second time in three days Boise State played in Laramie (the Broncos won the first game 83-60).
Boise State just stayed the course, completing the sweep with a blazing hot start. Derrick Alston, back on the floor after turning his ankle in the first Wyo matchup, drained a three-pointer just 13 seconds into the game, and the Broncos didn’t look back. They made 13 of their first 16 shots and shot 61 percent in the first half to build a 55-33 lead. Boise State would have easily hit the century mark had it not gone seven minutes in the second half without a field goal.
Coach Leon Rice had assembled a team punctuated with talented transfers, including Emmanuel Akot and Devonaire Doutrive from Arizona, Abu Kigab from Oregon, Marcus Shaver Jr. from Portland and Mladen Armus from East Tennessee State. These were the best back-to-back performances in Doutrive’s stay at Boise State. He led the Broncos with 17 points after putting up 21 against the Cowboys in Game 1. It looked like Doutrive was just getting started. But early in the following season, he was dismissed from the team.
It ended up being a bittersweet campaign for Boise State. With three games remaining in the regular season, the Broncos were 18-4 and were in great shape for at least an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament. But they would be swept at San Diego State, and then they’d be stunned by Fresno State 67-64 in the ExtraMile Arena finale in a COVID makeup game. Then Boise State was ushered out of the Mountain West tournament by Nevada in the first round.
The Broncos would go to the NIT and break their four-game losing streak with a win over SMU before falling to Memphis. And alas, they were one victory short of a 20-win season, finishing 19-9. Granted, Boise State would normally have several more chances to hit 20 had the season not been shortened by COVID, but it remains the last time the Broncos failed to notch 20 wins. The adventure now is: can they do it this year?
(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.)
