A Great Night To Be A Bronco: BSU Rallies Beating Aztecs With Win

It didn't look good for the Boise State Bronco Basketball team during the final few minutes of their game against San Diego State. The team was trailing the eighteenth-ranked San Diego Aztecs at home before a rare sellout crowd at Extra Mile Arena.

Bronco fans could imagine the critics on the radio and Twitter getting ready to rip the team. The team has been the subject of several posts after their disappointing loss to San Jose State last weekend. However, this gritty group has shown that they never give up. The Broncos out rebounded the Aztecs by ten last night.

Rice converted a fast break-layup to cap his run, while good team defense and a pair of free throws from Marcus Shaver, Jr. closed out the home-finale win. Rice scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half to lead the Broncos. Another factor was the team had 17 second chance points.

How big was the win? Let's look at how the Broncos sent their fans home with a big win.

Tuesday's victory over 18th-ranked San Diego State was Boise State's first over a ranked team since Dec. 12, 2015, when the Broncos beat No. 24 Oregon.
The win is the second-highest over a ranked opponent at ExtraMile Arena, and highest since a 69-61 victory over 15th-ranked Washington in 1998.
Seventeen of the 29 meetings against San Diego State have been decided by single digits.
The Broncos have claimed victory in four out of the last five meetings against the Aztecs.
Boise State improved to 6-1 all-time when Rice scores 20+ points.

Here were the leading scorers:

Max Rice: 26 points

Tyson Degenhart 14 points

Marcus Shaver, Jr. 9 points

Naje Smith 10 points

The last time the team beat a ranked opponent was December 12, 2015 over number twenty four Oregon. The Broncos finish their regular season at Utah State. You can read more about the team's win here.

Boise State's Most Underappreciated Star

Boise State seems to mean "football" for most, right? On a national stage, after all, it's the blue turf and the success that the Broncos have had on it that made the university a household name. What happens on the hardwood, however, is far from appreciated at the level that it should be. Leon Rice came to Boise State as a blessing from one of the most powerful basketball programs in the nation: Gonzaga University. Now, the winningest basketball coach in the history of the school seems to take immediate heat if the Broncos aren't in the Final Four. Spoiled by wins on the football field, fans seem to expect the same of the basketball program but when the investment in basketball is so much less than football--can you really have these types of expectations!?

5 Things Boise State Basketball Needs Now

The Boise State men's basketball team under the leadership of Leon Rice has been on fire. You really can't complain about 14 wins in-a-row, even if some of them were a little scrappy. So out of all of the energy and momentum being built behind this basketball team--which one could argue, is greater than anything that the football team earned this year--what can be improved?

The Broncos have the wins...here's what they need at home.