PORTLAND, Ore. — A first half to forget, a second half to remember.
At least that’s the way the Boise State men’s basketball team is going to see it.
In their first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years, the eighth-seeded Broncos never recovered from a subpar first half, falling 64-53 to No. 9 Memphis in the first round Thursday at the Moda Center.
Whether it was nerves, Memphis’ defense or a combination of the two, the Broncos fell behind by 19 points at halftime, 38-19, and didn’t have quite enough to recover. Boise State outscored Memphis by eight in the second half, getting as close as five points on two occasions.
But Boise State opened the game just 1-for-8 from the floor, with the Broncos’ only basket in that span coming when Marcus Shaver Jr. drove to the hoop and kicked out to freshman Tyson Degenhart for a 3-pointer.
The Broncos fought back and knotted the game at 12-all after back-to-back 3-pointers from Degenhart and Emmanuel Akot. But Memphis pulled ahead with an 8-0 run in which they forced three Boise State turnovers for a 20-12 lead.
The Tigers closed out the first half on a 16-2 run that included holding the Broncos without a field goal over the final 3:59.
But as has been their habit all season, the Broncos returned from the locker room with a renewed focus. They outscored the Tigers 16-4, trimming Memphis’ advantage to 42-35 with 9:45 on the clock on Abu Kigab’s driving layup.
Kigab scored all of his team-leading 20 points in the second half. Degenhart added eight points, four rebounds and one assist and was one of eight Broncos to score.
The Broncos shot just 31.5% from the floor (17-for-54), their third-lowest shooting percentage of the season.
GAME AT A GLANCE
Final score: No. 9 Memphis 64, No. 8 Boise State 53
Records: Boise State 27-8, Memphis 22-10
Player of the game: Memphis senior DeAndre Williams shot lights out, connecting on 7-of-8 attempts for a team-leading 14 points and five rebounds. Kigab was Boise State’s best, scoring all 20 of his points in the second half.
Stat of the game: Memphis closed out the first half on a 16-2 run, turning a five-point advantage into a 38-19 halftime lead. The Broncos failed to score over the final 3:59 of the first half and committed seven turnovers that led to 15 points for the Tigers. Despite outscoring Memphis by eight in the second half, the Broncos could never dig themselves out of the the hole.
Play of the game: Boise State redshirt junior Max Rice put social media abuzz with 7:02 left in the first half when he grabbed a steal, pulled up and sank a 3-pointer to pull the Broncos within 22-17.
What’s next: Boise State’s historic season comes to an end with Thursday’s loss. The Broncos are now 0-8 in NCAA Tournament games, but they still finish the season with program records for consecutive victories (14), conference wins (15) and wins in a season (27).
