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Wednesday Weekly: February 4, 2026.
Dylan Andrews played his best game since transferring to Boise State from UCLA, and the Broncos needed every sliver of it to get past Nevada 91-87 in overtime Tuesday night at ExtraMile Arena. Andrews scored 25 points, adding six assists and turning the ball over only twice. But it was a finish that has eluded the Broncos lately that he can hang his hat on. Andrews drilled a step-back three-pointer with 43 seconds left in the OT that gave Boise State the lead for good. He then hit the two free throws that clinched it with six seconds remaining.
Boise State had built a 20-point lead with just under eight minutes left in the first half and still had the margin at 15 with 11½ minutes remaining in the game. But the Wolf Pack duo of Corey Camper Jr. (35 points on the night) and Tayshawn Comer (24 points) just lit it up and got Nevada its first lead just four minutes later. The game see-sawed until Comer tied it 79-79 on a buzzer-beating floater. Uh-oh. But the Broncos dug in during overtime, and they finally grabbed a win over a team ahead of them in the Mountain West standings again—and 6-6 sure sounds better than 5-7. Javan Buchanan, by the way, gets honorable mention here with his 25 points.
REVISITING THE PHOENIX FINISH
Boise State had played well in the first half at Grand Canyon last Friday, trailing by only two points at halftime. Then the Broncos made just two field goals in the first 12 minutes of the second half, and that was all she wrote in the 86-69 Lopes victory. GCU, meanwhile, shot 59 percent for the game. It’s hard to keep up with that. After a close first half, the margin of defeat for Boise State ended up being exactly the same as in the first game between the two teams in early January in ExtraMile Arena. That was the game the Broncos needed if they had legit hopes of a first-round bye in the Mountain West Tournament next month. The victory over Nevada is a boost, but it’s probably too little, too late.
THE ATMOSPHERIC CORE IN THE ARENA
There was plenty of focus on the student section Tuesday night after what the Broncos experienced at Grand Canyon last Friday. There was a good crowd for the previous home game, especially considering Air Force was the opponent. But the student section was mostly empty. I’m not sure what can be done about that. Despite vast improvements in the campus life experience on campus over the years, there’s still a big commuter component to the student body. That puts Boise State at a disadvantage compared to places like Grand Canyon and Utah State. But San Diego State’s situation is closer to that of the Broncos, and the Aztecs have a thing going with their student section, “The Show.” Boise State’s section was better for the Nevada game, but it needs to be full.
R.I.P. BUS CONNOR
Saddened to hear of the passing of former Boise State basketball coach Bus Connor last Saturday. He was 93 years old. Connor, with his son Steve as the team’s leading scorer, led the Broncos to their first Big Sky championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 1976 and was looking forward to a 50-year reunion of that team later this month. Connor was named Boise State head coach midway through the 1972-73 season and was at the helm through 1980.
Connor was a former coach at a number of other places. But he’ll will be most remembered for his 1975-76 Broncos team that featured three sophomore stars: Steve Connor, Trent Johnson and Danny Jones. In the final game of the regular season, Boise State needed a win over Montana in old Bronco Gym to get into the first Big Sky Tournament—and got it 67-66 on a long left-handed swish from Steve Connor, a bucket that would have been a deep three today. The Broncos went to the tournament in Ogden and knocked off Idaho State and host Weber State in double-overtime to punch their ticket. When Paul J. Schneider on KBOI exclaimed, “The Broncos are going to the NCAA Tournament,” well, that was a pretty cool moment.
NOW, GET ‘EM ON THE FIELD
Nathan Carroll of Bronco Nation News notes that the final recruiting rankings for the 2026 class ae out from 247 Sports, and Boise State has its highest finish ever at No. 53. The Broncos netted two four-star prospects: wide receiver Terrious Favors from Atlanta and offensive tackle Kole Cronin out of Reno. Four stars don’t guarantee success—for example, linebackers Clay Martineau and DiShawn Misa were in that category in 2024 and 2022, respectively. Both have since transferred—to New Mexico and Eastern Washington. But you’d rather have four-stars than not.
CASEY’S DRAFT STOCK GOES LATERAL
The consensus is that now-former Boise State star Kage Casey had a middle-of-the-road week at the Senior Bowl. Casey struggled sometimes at tackle and also played some guard, which may be his position at the next level. He told one beat writer that he was anxious to get work at center during Boise State’s Pro Day, hoping to prove five-position versatility during the draft process. Most projections have him in the neighborhood of the fourth round this spring, but if he can show value as a “utility” offensive lineman, that could help move him up the ladder. You know he’ll interview well.
DUELING TV PACKAGES
The new-look Mountain West has its new-look TV package set for the next six years. There are similarities with the Pac-12 package in that the MW is looking for exposure as much as revenue. Both conferences have deals with CBS and CBS Sports Network and the CW Network, while the Mountain West has a third arrangement with Fox, and the Pac-12’s third outlet is USA Network. Each league will put its spin on the third network—Fox is better than USA, but there are no guaranteed games on big-boy Fox for the Mountain West. In men’s basketball, the Pac-12 will have almost twice as much exposure as the Mountain West on linear TV. What we don’t know are financial terms of either package, and that’s where the Pac-12 probably has significant separation.
THE NAME ‘STEELHEADS’ STILL STICKS
You aren’t a modern minor league franchise if you don’t have a mascot that’s, shall we say, out there. Boise’s franchises are tame by comparison—as the Idaho Steelheads go back to the 1990s and the Boise Hawks to the 1980s (and I like those names). Enter the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, the Steelheads’ opponent in a three-game series beginning tonight in Idaho Central Arena. At least a swamp rabbit is a real thing, as it’s the largest species of cottontail rabbit in the world. On the ice, it’s a two-way race right now in the ECHL Mountain Division, with the Steelies trailing the Kansas City Mavericks by five points. And Idaho’s Brendan Hoffman continues to lead the league in goals with 27 and has tallied in seven straight games.
NEVER SAY NEVER FOR THE YOTES
College of Idaho is 10-4 in the Cascade Conference and is in fifth place right now. But the Yotes are one game out of the four-way first-place logjam in the league. C of I has a solid chance of keeping pace this week, as two of the lower-tier CCC teams visit Elgin Baylor Arena—Northwest University on Friday and Evergreen State on Saturday. The Yotes lost a week ago at Eastern Oregon, but when they’re good, they’re still elite, as they rolled past Warner Pacific 87-71 in Portland last Saturday. I mean, they are still the defending NAIA national champions.
NOTE: I’ll have a special Scott Slant column Friday talking about the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics as it pertains to local eyes.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by CORSO ITALIAN STEAK…it’s about food, cocktails and vibe.
February 4, 1969: At 33 years old, John Madden becomes the youngest head coach in pro football when Oakland’s Al Davis taps him to take over the Raiders. Madden would lead the team for 10 glorious years, compiling a 103-32-7 regular-season record and, of course, a 32-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI. He’s even better-known, though, for his NFL broadcasting career that spanned three decades, from 1979-2008. One of Madden’s classic quotes: “I’ve always said, I never really had a job. I was a football player, then a football coach, then a football broadcaster. It’s been my life.”
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
