Boise State withstood an 11-point Colorado State run and freshman Derrick Marks' basket with eight/tenths of a second remaining gave the Broncos their second consecutive Mountain West Conference win.
Drew Wiley's three-pointer with 4:43 left seemingly gave Boise State a commanding lead at 64-56. But Wes Eikmier came right back on the next possession to nail a three of his own and, when teammates Jesse Carr and Kaipo Sabas rattled home more treys, CSU had an 11-0 run to take a 67-64 lead. They too seemed to be in good shape with 1:48 left but that's what makes college basketball so exciting.
Anthony Drmic drove the lane and somehow got the ball to a cutting Kenny Buckner for the layup to put Coach Leon Rice's club within one. Eikmier's basket with 58 seconds once again extended the lead to three but 16 seconds later, Buckner scored another layup, this time assisted by Tre Nichols.
Boise State had to play the "D" and they did as CSU failed to get a shot off with 6.5 seconds left. Marks took the in-bounds pass, drove the length of the court, broke free for a shot, and banked it in. To say that this was a special win for this young team is putting it mildly. Fans rushed the court and the team enjoyed some deserved last-second magic.
Buckner had by far his best game of his Bronco career to date with 20 points while freshman Drmic chipped in 10. Boise State hit 19-of-22 free throws (86.4%). Just money from the line.
Eikmier was sensational for CSU with a career-high 30 points, shooting 9-18 from the floor and 11-14 from the free-throw line. Carr came off the bench for 15 points for the Rams.
Boise State hosts TCU Saturday at 2 p.m. in Taco Bell Arena. We owe those guys.
