Men’s basketball seniors end season with multiple Mountain West Awards
By Nate Lunak
Redshirt senior guard Marcus Shaver Jr. and fifth-year forward Abu Kigab from the men’s basketball team were named to the Mountain West (MW) Second Team.
Photo by Claire Keener | The Arbiter
Kigab, who also received MW Player of the Year, started all of the Broncos’ 31 games, averaging a team-high 14.7 points per game and shooting at 50.8 percent. He ranked second in rebounds (5.8), second on the team in assists (2.4) and led the Broncos in steals (1.3).
He led Boise in scoring 10 times, and had a team-best of six 20-point games this season. Kigab received second-team all-conference honors in 2020-21 from the coaches, and was named third-team All-MW by the media.
Kigab was also named MW Defensive Team. This comes to no surprise considering he ranked seventh in the conference for defensive rebounds (166), fifth in steals (43), fourth in defensive box plus/minus (3.8) and sixth in defensive rating (91.3). He may not be first in any major category, but his consistency on all defensive stats won him the honor.
Shaver Jr. started each of his 30 games played, scoring in double figures 25 times and averaging 13.9 points per game. He had five 20-point games, also knocking down 3-pointers in five games that either secured the win or forced overtime. He ranked third on the team in assists (2.2), second in steals (1.1) and first in minutes per game (33.2).
Tyson Degenhart comes away with Mountain West Freshman of the Year
By Ryan Marshall
Freshman forward Tyson Degenhart was named Mountain West (MW) Freshman of the Year for the 2021-22 season. He achieved nine MW Freshman Player of the Week.
Degenhart helped lead the Broncos to an MW Conference victory by averaging 10.2 points, 3.9 rebounds per game and shooting 41.7% from behind the arc and 50% from the floor.
The Broncos’ shooting percentage as a team increased once Degenhart became a part of the starting five. With him, the team scored an average of 71 points per game instead of 63.
As a team they began the season shooting 39.4% on field goals, but with Degenhart, they averaged 46.2%. Behind the arc, shooting percent was up to 36.8% with Degenhart.
The men’s basketball season has officially come to an end with a loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament against the University of Memphis.
