By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
BOISE, Idaho – The Northwestern State men’s basketball team came out firing in its final outing of a seven-game stretch away from home.
However, the Demons were unable to continue their sizzling start from the field and fell to Boise State, 93-54, at ExtraMile Arena on Tuesday night.
“It’s the story of our team – they played hard and executed, especially in the beginning,” first-year head coach Rick Cabrera said. “Their size – once again, everyone we play is humongous – it wears you down. They’re very talented. They have pros on the court, and they have a Hall of Fame coach over there in Leon Rice.”
Cliff Davis continued his torrid finish to the road trip, sinking three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game. The second and third of that early salvo were part of an 8-0 run that erased an early six-point deficit and gave the Demons their lone lead of the game.
While Davis’ hot hand helped the Demons (1-9) stay close early, it was the Broncos (7-3) who maintained their accuracy – inside and out – for the remainder of the game.
Boise State shot 60 percent from the field, knocking down 13 3-pointers at a 41 percent clip. Inside the arc, the Broncos sank 24 of 30 shots, an 83.3 percent success rate.
The Demons rode their overall hot start – connecting on four of their first seven 3-point tries – to that early two-point lead and remained within striking distance until Boise answered a Chris Mubiru 3-pointer with a 12-3 run across the next 5:43 to give the Broncos a double-figure lead they would not relinquish.
Both Davis and the Broncos continued to shoot well in the second half, but Boise State spread out the scoring across the roster.
Tyson Degenhart led Boise with 20 points – 11 of which came after halftime. In the first half, the Broncos used five 3-pointers from Chibuzo Agbo to build their 15-point halftime lead.
Agbo finished with 17 points while Roddie Anderson and Max Rice each had 12. Rice and Agbo combined to knock down nine of Boise’s 13 3-pointers.
Davis, meanwhile, connected on four second-half 3-pointers to give him seven made 3s for a second consecutive game. A junior from Thomasville, Georgia, Davis is 14-for-28 from 3-point range in his past two games and has connected on 21 3-pointers since the Demons returned from the Thanksgiving break.
Davis was NSU’s lone double-figure scorer, finishing with 21 points – his second straight 20-plus-point game and his team-leading fourth 20-point effort of the season. Behind Davis’ dead-eye aim, the Demons made 10 3-pointers, connecting on 40 percent of their long-range attempts.
“We’ve just got to get a couple more guys to help him along with the scoring,” Cabrera said. “Cliff is a phenomenal player. He’s a first-team, all-conference caliber guy. He makes a lot out of the offense. He has the green light on this team, and we’ll continue to allow him to have it.”
The Demons return home for the first time in 33 days Saturday when they face Rice. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. inside Prather Coliseum. Northwestern State has not played at home since hosting Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 13.