The Boise State men’s basketball team fell to Northwestern 75-67 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Before entering the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Broncos had gone 0-8 in NCAA tournament play and were looking to break that streak.
Boise State came out of the gate looking extremely sluggish, making unprecedented turnovers, missed shots and moving slowly on the defensive end.
With the Broncos’ lack of production, the Wildcats were able to open the half fairly strong and gain up to a 20-10 lead.
Fifth-year forward Naje Smith’s two incredible poster dunks and a last-second three by senior guard Max Rice didn’t seem enough to change the tide for the Broncos.
Though the Broncos came as close as 32-29, the deficit only kept widening.
Fifth-year guard Marcus Shaver Jr. fell hard leading to an ankle injury where he was helped off the court.
The Wildcat defense was rigorous and held the Broncos to 52% shooting in the half and forced seven turnovers.
The half was determined by free-throws and each team’s ability to get to the free-throw line.
The Wildcats went 6-6 from the line, while the Broncos only made one trip to the line and went 0-1.
The second half opened much more smoothly than the first, opening up play with a three from Max Rice and Shaver’s return to the court.
“You hate to see a senior have to go out that way, but he tried for these guys,” Boise State men’s basketball head coach Leon Rice said. “It was a bit of a miracle to get him back for the second half, to tell you the truth. But he wasn’t going to let that stop him. He was going to try to be out there for these guys.”
Unfortunately, the smooth sailing did not last long.
Nothing seemed to fall the Broncos’ way during the second half. Despite efforts on rebounding, Boise State had a hard time putting anything away.
Northwestern didn’t have an extraordinary night on offense either, going just 47% from the field. However, they were able to respond when they needed to the most.
In the second half alone, the Broncos shot 32% from the field and just 20% from the three-point line.
Although four of the five Bronco starters scored in the double digits, the lack of bench power began to show.
Fifth-year senior center Lukas Milner only scored four points and freshman guard Jace Whiting did not make a score..
Though Max Rice was able to score the team-high 17 points, he came up uncharacteristically short of the expectations fans had for him.
In the end, the Broncos were overpowered by the Wildcats, and there was seemingly no going back.
Smith and sophomore forward Tyson Degenhart had a long and emotional embrace after concluding the loss.
“You just take a step back and take a breath and let it hit you for a second,” Smith said on the loss. “Doesn’t feel real yet … processing all the emotions. Having plays in your head, play back through the whole year. You just have to reflect in a positive way and take what you can from it.”
An emotional end of the season leads many to reflect on the impact of the Broncos who will be leaving the program.
“It’s tough to even talk about,” Max Rice said about his teammates leaving the program. “Naj is like a brother to me. I’m going to miss him probably more than any teammate I’ve ever had … I’m going to miss them … they did a lot for this program. You can see our program going in the right direction, and that’s because of the foundation they laid for us.”
Out of all 32 NCAA tournament first round matchups, the Northwestern and Boise State contest seemed to be one of the closest matchups.
“This is a good team we played,” Leon Rice said. “I can feel that. I saw it on tape … I was really proud of the way our guys battled.”
Both teams seemed to stack up fairly evenly.
The Wildcats entered the tournament with a 21-11 record and took down the No. 1 ranked Purdue earlier in their season yet lost in their first round of the Big Ten tournament to Penn State.
On the other hand, the Broncos entered the tournament with a 24-9 record, finishing second in the Mountain West and reaching the semifinals in the Mountain West tournament.
Both teams come from highly competitive basketball conferences and are considered one of the best in their prospective conferences.
Despite all the odds stacked up against the Broncos this season — losing three starters, Marcus Shaver Jr. suffering multiple injuries and a strong schedule — the Broncos made a push until the end.
“I don’t think anyone expected us to be here,” Max Rice said. “I still think it was an amazing season. Obviously we wanted to get our first win in the tournament … that doesn’t take away from what we’ve done this year, just as a whole what we did … I’m still really proud of my team and everything we’ve done.”
The Broncos wrap up their season with a 24-10 record and will return this fall with hopes of more success.
“Not to move on to next year quite yet, but we got some great guys,” Leon Rice said. “We have a terrific nucleus coming back. Probably three all-league players coming back, some great freshmen players coming in. There will be some more. We’re going to be pretty special. But that’s for tomorrow.”
Marlei Soderquist | The Arbiter
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