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Tuesday, March 4, 2014.
While the seniors are being honored against Nevada tomorrow night in Taco Bell Arena, Boise State needs its junior stars to come through. Whether Anthony Drmic can or not is out of his control as he nurses his ankle sprain. Then there’s Derrick Marks and the wisdom tooth that is supposed to be extracted sometime before the Broncos meet the Wolf Pack. How long has this wisdom tooth been infected, anyway? Perhaps that explains recent struggles by Marks. Outside of that brilliant overtime performance against UNLV a week and a half ago, Marks has gone just 9-for-37 from the field in the past five games. Marks’ junior year has been uneven—he’s averaging 15 points per game, with a high of 39 and a low of four. Last season he scored 16.3 points a game.
On Valentine’s Day I handicapped Boise State’s chances at a 20-win season. Here was the assessment at that time, when the Broncos were 16-9: “Chances at a third 20-win season in four years have become a bit dicier—still very possible, but no layup. Obviously Boise State needs four more Ws. Left on the schedule are road games at Colorado State, Fresno State, Wyoming and Air Force, and home dates against UNLV and Nevada. There are no gimmes there, not even at the Academy. Perish the thought, but the best path to a 20-win season may be through some postseason event other than the NCAA Tournament.” It was a ye-of-little-faith moment. The Broncos go for No. 20 tomorrow night against the Wolf Pack. And for better or for worse, they’ll be favored.
On his KBOI postgame show after the win at Wyoming Saturday, coach Leon Rice appealed to Bronco Nation for a sellout tomorrow night, hoping for a proper Senior Night sendoff for Ryan Watkins, Jeff Elorriaga and Thomas Bropleh. The game won’t sell out, but the attendance—whatever it is—will assure the Broncos of their best season at the gate in 13 years. The current average is 6,804 per game, up from 6,394 a game last season. The figure in 2000-01 was 7,807.
The spate of upsets among Top 25 teams the past week has given Mountain West teams a boost. San Diego State rose from No. 13 to No. 10 in the AP Poll yesterday, and New Mexico jumped from No. 25 to No. 21. The Aztecs and Lobos hold identical spots in the Coaches Poll. No other conference team is receiving votes. Elsewhere in the Mountain West, Utah State’s Stew Morrill earned his 600th career victory with a 75-58 win at San Jose State Saturday night. Morrill became the 14th active Division I coach and the 41st overall with 600 wins. He’s 600-279 in 28 seasons as a head coach at Montana, Colorado State and USU.
The College of Idaho has built quite a resume as it heads into tonight’s Cascade Conference championship game against Northwest Christian in Caldwell. The Coyotes are now 27-5 and have won 14 games in a row, the longest streak since a record 18-game run by the 1954-55 squad that was led by R.C. Owens and Elgin Baylor. This is the third time C of I has won 27 games in a season—the 1986-87 team had 28 victories, and the 1995-96 team that took the NAIA Division II national championship won 31.
KTVB’s Jay Tust provided me with this bit of trivia. When was the last time the College of Idaho men's basketball team so much as won a postseason game? Key words: College of Idaho. It had been eight years since the program itself won in the postseason before the drought ended last week. But in 2006 it was known as Albertson College. The last time the actual College of Idaho men’s basketball program was victorious in a postseason game was 1991 (the 1996 national championship team, for example, was also under the Albertson moniker). So there you go.
Fruitland’s Garrett Larson, Boise State’s first football commit of the 2015 recruiting class, is not a one-trick Grizzly. Larson won the Idaho 3A wrestling championship at 285 pounds at the Ford Idaho Center Saturday, pinning Gooding’s Cole McGinnis as Fruitland was crowned the 3A champion. McGinnis was the two-time defending state champ at 285. Larson is actually listed at 250 pounds by Scout.com. Bronco strength and conditioning coach Jeff Pitman will probably have him up to 285 in no time.
Finally, an update on Titus Young. The former Boise State and Detroit Lions wide receiver took care of the first two of his arrests last May by pleading guilty Friday to one count of disturbing the peace. That comes from two episodes in 24 hours—when Young was arrested for DUI, and then when he tried to retrieve his impounded car by climbing a fence. Once again, Young wasn’t present in court. His attorney entered the plea for him. But he wasn’t fined or sentenced to jail; all he has to pay is a $35 court fee. Young is scheduled to be back in court March 20 to deal with the 11 charges still pending against him, including four felony burglary counts. The question still to be answered: how is Young, really?
Bill Buckner’s long career in baseball has come to an end, as he and the Boise Hawks have announced that he is retiring as the Hawks’ hitting coach. Buckner, a Boise resident who played 22 major league seasons and won the 1980 National League batting crown with the Cubs, has been with the Hawks the past two years. “It goes without saying the type of influence Bill Buckner had on our young hitters,” said Hawks manager Gary Van Tol. “He was at his best in the cage helping players build their swing before the game and in the dugout helping them with their approach and plan during the game.” Under Buckner’s tutelage, the Hawks led the Northwest League in hitting and home runs in each of his two seasons.
Buckner will turn 65 this December. He has lived in Boise for nearly 20 years, since escaping the tension of life in New England in the years following the incident in the 1986 World Series that saw Mookie Wilson’s ground ball roll between his legs, allowing the New York Mets to score the winning run in Game 6. Forgotten are the facts that the Red Sox had blown a 5-3 lead in the 10th inning before the infamous grounder, then frittered away a 3-0 lead in Game 7 the next night. Buckner has forgiven those who needed to be, but it took a long time. When the Red Sox were playing Game 1 of the 2004 World Series, Buckner wasn’t watching. He was attending the Boise State-Fresno State football game at Bronco Stadium. Reconciliation came at Fenway Park in 2008, when Buckner walked onto the field and received an emotional four-minute standing ovation.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by HANDYMAN CONNECTION…trusted home improvements.
March 4, 1990: In the West Coast Conference Tournament, Loyola-Marymount forward Hank Gathers slams home a dunk in a semi-final game against the University of Portland. As he ran back to the defensive end, Gathers high-fived a teammate—then slowed, staggered and collapsed. Suffering from arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat, he couldn’t be revived and died at the age of 23. Gathers had led the NCAA the season before in both scoring and rebounding.
(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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