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Monday, March 24, 2014.
The Mountain West rolled five teams into the NCAA Tournament last season, and not a one made it to the Sweet 16. Boise State was eliminated in the First Four. UNLV and New Mexico didn’t make it out of the round of 64. San Diego State and Colorado State both won their first games but lost in the next round. This year just two Mountain West schools made the Dance, but at least one is in the Sweet 16 now. After a shaky debut Thursday in the overtime victory against New Mexico State, the Aztecs cruised past North Dakota State 63-44 Saturday behind Xavier Thames’ 30 points. SDSU carries the Mountain West flag now, facing formidable Arizona up the road in Anaheim. The Wildcats handed the Aztecs one of their four losses—that was in mid-November, after which San Diego State went on a 20-game winning streak.
Maybe it’s some consolation to New Mexico that Stanford went on to upset Kansas yesterday. But this is the third straight year the Lobos have made an exit in the round of 64. Not as bad as last year, when UNM was a No. 3 seed and lost to Harvard, but the 58-53 loss to the Cardinal Friday still stings. The Lobos got their usual monster game from Cameron Bairstow—24 points and eight rebounds—but Alex Kirk and Kendall Williams managed six points combined. Now, coach Craig Neal will have some rebuilding to do headed into his second season. One other Mountain West team is still playing, as Fresno State hosts Princeton tonight in the quarterfinals of the CBI.
Boise State spring football is on spring break now, but Derrick Thomas left an indelible impression during the first two weeks of drills. And we’re not just talkin’ imprints in the blue turf from the 17 pounds he’s added since the end of last season. Jay Ajayi is clearly Boise State’s No. 1 running back. Nobody’s threatening that job. But the Broncos never had a No. 2 emerge last fall after Aaron Baltazar’s season was ended by a knee injury. And now that Baltazar is gone for good, Boise State is anxious to identify a guy for 2014. It might be Thomas, who was supposed to be in the thick of things when he was brought in as a junior college transfer from Butler Community College in Kansas.
Despite logging just 32 rushing attempts for 95 yards without a touchdown last year (and two catches for all of two yards), Thomas is now running with authority and setting himself apart. “What he’s done in the weight room, in the classroom, everything,” said coach Bryan Harsin in describing Thomas’ progress. “He’s on the right path, doing good things, and he’s excited about it.” Thomas showed flashes only once last season, when he picked up 48 yards on six carries in the win over Nevada. Will his new 225-pound frame help this year? “I don’t think it’s hurt him,” grinned Harsin. “He’s done well in pass protection—the weight helps there.”
A disastrous second period torpedoed the Idaho Steelheads Saturday night in West Valley City, UT. The Utah Grizzlies scored four times in the second frame and rolled to a 4-1 victory over the Steelheads. Coach Brad Ralph pulled goalie Kevin Kapalka after the second period and inserted the newly-returned Josh Robinson, who turned away all six shots he faced. Only David de Kastrozza was able to solve Utah netminder Igor Bobkov, tallying the Steelies’ lone goal in the third period. Idaho, now trailing Colorado by four-tenths of a percentage point for the No. 4 Western Conference seed in the Kelly Cup Playoffs, goes to Stockton this Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
The Idaho Stampede’s CBA reunion with the Sioux Falls Skyforce didn’t go so well over the weekend. The Stampede’s playoff hopes took a hit in back-to-back double-digit losses in South Dakota. The only thing they really lost, though, was time. Reno, the team directly ahead of Idaho for the eighth and final D-League playoff spot, also lost twice. The Stampede are a game and a half behind the Bighorns for the eighth and final D-League playoff spot, but now there are just six games to play. Shooting was a major problem during the Sioux Falls stay, as the Stamps hit a combined 38 percent from the field and went 3-for-19 from three-point range in Saturday night’s 108-96 loss. The Stampede host the Bakersfield Jam Wednesday night.
The Boise State women’s basketball team felt okay going into halftime of its WBI quarterfinal at Stephen F. Austin Saturday night, cradling a 34-31 advantage after leading by as many as 11 points. Then the second half happened. The Lady Jacks outscored the Broncos by a staggering 49-25 count and ran away with an 80-59 victory. On the positive side, junior Deanna Weaver scored 28 points for Boise State—she was the only upperclassman who saw significant playing time this season. Everyone is expected back next season for coach Gordy Presnell, whose Broncos finished 18-14. In the women’s NCAA Tournament, WAC champion Idaho got out to a 6-2 lead over Louisville yesterday in Iowa City, IA. But that was as good as it got for the Vandals, who got worked by the Cardinals, 88-42.
More campus wrap: the Boise State men’s tennis team picked up three more victories at the Appleton Center, 5-2 over Marquette, 6-1 over Montana, and 5-2 over Fresno State. Yesterday’s win over the Bulldogs was the 23rd-ranked Broncos’ second straight in Mountain West play. Boise State is now 16-3 overall. For the Bronco softball team, it was as bizarre a series win as could be. After downing Fresno State 3-2 in 10 innings Friday at Dona Larsen Park, Boise State saw the Bulldogs set a Mountain West single-game scoring record in a 24-4 annihilation. But the Broncos would bounce back yesterday for an 8-1 victory in the rubber match.
Boise State wrestler Jake Swartz finished seventh at 184 pounds Saturday at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors. Swartz, the the three-time defending Pac-12 Champion, concluded his Bronco career with a record of 91-30, including a mark of 17-3 in his final collegiate campaign. The Boise State gymnastics finished second to Denver in the inaugural Mountain Rim Gymnastics Championships Saturday. The Broncos recorded their sixth-best score ever, a 196.90, and fell to the Pioneers by just 35-thousandths of a point.
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March 24, 1974, 40 years ago today: North Carolina State wins the NCAA Tournament, edging Marquette 76-74 in the title game at Greensboro, NC. The Wolfpack was led by David Thompson’s 21 points, but it was the 28 he put up two days earlier that had an even bigger impact. N.C. State’s semifinal win over UCLA was historic. The Bruins had won seven straight national championships and 38 consecutive games in the tournament. But the Wolfpack overcame a double-digit hole in the second half and a seven-point deficit in the second overtime to bring down UCLA, 80-77.
(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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