Boise State’s Act Stumps Titans

For the second consecutive game, Boise State pulled a big tease on their gullible opponents from Orange County. The Broncos raised Cal State Fullerton’s hopes by falling behind early, just as they did Thursday against UC Irvine. Then they dashed those hopes with a suffocating defense and a barrage of three-pointers.

The margin of victory, 21 points, and flow of the games were nearly identical. Saturday night’s score at Boise State Pavilion, with 7,884 on hand, was 86-65. Thursday night’s final was 67-46.

“I don’t know why we start so slow against these teams,” Boise State Coach Rod Jensen said. “This was a carbon copy of Thursday.”

The Titans (10-8, 3-5) ran off to leads of 11-0 and 25-12 by hitting nearly everything they shot and outhustling a taller Boise State team on the boards. Chris Dade was the hottest Titan as he scored seven of the game’s first 11 points, all on acrobatic shots in the lane.

But Dade was playing with the stomach flu and he was hampered with foul trouble most of the first half. When Dade left with his third foul, Fullerton led, 30-22. By the time he returned, Boise State had the momentum, the crowd and the game in its hands.

The Broncos (10-8, 5-3) went on a 19-0 run late in the first half and took a 39-32 halftime lead.

Dade had been able to beat Boise State’s guards off the dribble to set up shots for himself and his teammates. But Fullerton’s other two starting guards, Chris St. Clair and Ali Nayab, didn’t have the quickness to beat their men. St. Clair had four turnovers in the first half and Nayab had one.

“It was a factor that [Dade] wasn’t in there but we have to have people on the bench step, which they didn’t do tonight,” Fullerton Coach Bob Hawking said.

Reserve freshman guard Dane Plock hit a three-pointer but he also had trouble hanging onto the ball as he had two turnovers. Fullerton, which dropped consecutive games for only the second time this season, shot 13 for 20 in the first half but had 10 turnovers on its way to a season-high 20.

Fullerton center DeVaughn Wright kept the Titans close by scoring the Titans’ first six points of the half on two dunks and a tip in. But Boise State put the game away with a 9-0 run that included three-pointers by Joe Wyatt (21 points, four of 10 three-pointers) and Mike Tolman (22 points, four of seven three-pointers.

Boise State attempted 31 three-pointers and made a season high 12 of them. The Broncos’ point total was also a season’s best.

“We shot as well as we have all year,” Jensen said. “We’ve got some pretty good shooters. We’ve been waiting all year for this.”

Said Hawking: “They live and die by the three. They were fairly effective from there tonight. That coupled with their defensive intensity were the reasons they won.”

Hawking refused to say another reason for the loss was the absence of leading scorer John Williams, who is out with a wrist injury.

“We can’t speculate on what might have happened,” he said. “The bottom line is, we got whupped. This is a 40-minute game and you have to sustain yourself.”

Dade, a 6-3 junior who finished with 16 points on six-of-12 shooting, said a lack of experience hurt his team.

“We have a lot of young guys who aren’t used to playing in front of loud crowds like this,” Dade said. “I think that might have been a factor in some of the turnovers. Boise State has a lot of seniors and juniors and they know what it takes to get the job done.”