Boise State hoops suffers one of worst losses in program history to D2 opponent

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Boise State basketball’s game on Monday night was supposed to be your typical season opener: invite a Division II opponent into your home arena, take a handy lead into halftime, and give the backups some minutes in the second half.

The team fulfilling the role of the Division II punching bag on Monday night was the Hawaii Pacific Sharks of the Pacific West Conference. Unfortunately for the Broncos, though, the Sharks didn’t get that memo. Hawaii Pacific set the pace for most of the game, leading for over 27 minutes en route to a shock 79-78 win over Boise State at ExtraMile Arena.

The result is one of the worst losses in Boise State program history, and certainly the worst loss in Leon Rice’s 16-year tenure as head coach.

“We didn’t set the tone,” Rice said after the game. “… we let them get comfortable, we let them make threes and let them do what they wanted to do.”

Hawaii Pacific shot 9-for-26 (34.6%) from three-point range and 30-for-61 (49.2%) from the field, outdoing the Broncos’ efforts of 10-for-33 (30.3%) from beyond the arc and 28-for-67 (41.8%) from the field.

The Sharks opened the scoring within the first minute and held the lead for the opening 12 minutes before Boise State finally took the lead at 25-24. That lead lasted for about 20 seconds before the Sharks regained control, eventually taking a 38-37 lead into halftime.

Things didn’t improve at all for the Broncos in the second half. Junior forward Drew Fielder, a transfer from Georgetown playing in his first game for the Broncos, missed a 3-point attempt 12 seconds into the half. Hawaii Pacific quickly went down the court and scored a layup to keep the momentum in favor of the Sharks out of the break.

Hawaii Pacific held a steady lead for the next 11 minutes before Boise State finally regained the lead thanks to a 3-pointer from freshman forward Spencer Ahrens. However, once again, the Sharks managed to rebuild a 7-point lead with three minutes remaining that ultimately proved too much for the Broncos to overcome.

“We’ve just got to be more hungry. That’s really just it. We’ve just got to want it,” senior guard Dylan Andrews said. “I feel like we just (under)estimated the team, and they wanted it more than us.”

Andrews, who transferred from UCLA in the offseason, had the chance to become an immediate fan favorite when he held possession of the ball with 20 seconds left and the Broncos down by a point. However, rather than attacking the basket, Andrews lingered beyond the three-point line before sending off a shot with less than five seconds left on the clock.

As quickly as the anticipation of a last-second winner mounted, it just as promptly drained away as Andrews’ shot bounced off the rim and away. Ahren’s desperate put-back at the buzzer fell short, and an eerie silence fell over ExtraMile Arena as fans immediately flooded for the exits.

“I feel like we got the shot that we wanted to. It just didn’t fall for us,” Andrews said. “But even then, we shouldn’t have gotten to the point where it’s a one-possession game.”

However, Rice said he didn’t want Andrews to hold onto the ball for so long and that he should have attacked the rim straight away. Despite Ahrens’ late put-back miss, he’s the one Bronco who can hold his head high from Monday.

In his collegiate debut, Ahrens put up 14 points and seven rebounds, including a 4-for-7 night from beyond the arc.

“He’s a really good freshman,” Rice said. “You can’t ask for anything more from him, he did his part.”

However, both Andrews and Fielder will likely want their Bronco debuts back. While Andrews led the team with 15 points and nine assists, he only shot 6-for-14 from the floor and had five turnovers. The Broncos as a team turned the ball over 12 times, 10 of which were steals, leading to an impressive 23 points off turnovers for the Sharks.

Meanwhile, Fielder had 13 points and seven rebounds, but his first field goal of the game didn’t come until a minute into the second half. The only other Bronco to score in double digits was junior forward Andrew Meadow, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

“We’ve just got to play harder and play more connected,” Fielder said. “I think we took this opportunity a little bit for granted this time.”