Boise State Powers Past Simpson 110-53

The emphasis on defense this past off-season is obvious--the message has gotten through to the Boise State players.  Despite the second straight game in which they scored 110 points in a 110-53 win over Simpson last night in Taco Bell Arena, we still don't know how good this team is.

Although I maintain that any team that does to another what Boise State has done the past two weeks is pretty darn good.  We'll begin to know with Seattle, and then progressively Utah and Kentucky after that.

Senior guard Jeff Elorriaga made up for lost time by scoring 26 to lead the Bronco attack.  Elorriaga had sat in the home opener as a precaution after being hit in the head after a fall in practice leading up to the game.  Elorriaga missed his first trey, then connected on his next nine attempts from the field, including seven howitzers.  Last week it was Anthony Drmic and his 34 points; this week it was Jeff, who had 20 points  in the first half alone.

Boise State as a team made 15 three-pointers, one shy of a school record.  Drmic added 16 points of his own and Nick Duncan, who is beginning to emerge as a threat, chipped in 14, including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point land.  

Boise State jumped out to a 19-5 lead early and kept up the defensive pressure, creating steal after steal.  Coach Leon Rice's team opened up a 92-33 lead with 10:48 to play.

The Broncos take on Seattle next Tuesday in Taco Bell Arena.

Emma Bates Wins NCAA West Regional, Jeff Howard Will Join Her at Nationals

They still haven't been able to find someone to beat Boise State's Emma Bates, so now she'll race against the best in the nation, after topping all participants in the NCAA Western Regional Cross Country Championship in Sacramento today.

Bates beat Arizona State's Shelby Houlihan by three seconds and broke her personal best in the 6-kilometer by 58 seconds.  Her time of 19:11 today is 16 seconds than the time won by the national champion in 2012.  Courses and the times run by the athletes vary of course.  Emma is the first Bronco to ever win a Regional, and is the first woman to qualify for the National Championship since Abby Peters did it in 1999.  The Bronco women finished 10th today. 

Jeff Howard was seventh on the men's side and will also advance to Nationals after leading the Bronco men to their best-ever finish at a Regional Championship, fourth place.  Howard maneuvered through the 10-k course in 29:54, while senior Allan Schroeder was 14th (29:59) and junior David Elliott delivered a career-best of 30:08 to get 18th.  

Boise State's Jennifer Forbey Secures Two NSF Grants

With support from two grants from the National Science Foundation, Jennifer Forbey, assistant professor of biological sciences at Boise State University, is working with researchers from universities in Washington, Florida and California along with biologists from state and federal agencies, to determine how the quality of sagebrush as food influences the success of pygmy rabbits and sage grouse.

“Pygmy rabbits and sage grouse are among 1 percent of all plant-eating mammals and birds that rely entirely on a single plant for food,” said Forbey, assistant professor of biological sciences at Boise State. “Both only exist where you find sagebrush. Unfortunately sagebrush habitats are considered one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America.”

A $980,000 NSF grant will be used by Forbey and the other researchers to explore how pygmy rabbits make decisions between eating the highest quality sagebrush and using sagebrush to hide from predators and extreme temperatures.  

Unique chemistry and different nutrient levels can affect whether the rabbits eat or ignore the plants.  

“Past conservation of sagebrush habitat focused on cover characteristics, not food quality. We are trying to change that approach,” Forbey said.

A second grant of $470,000 will allow the researchers to study how availability and selection for tasty sagebrush affects courtship displays of male sage grouse.  If the grouse have to travel farther away from mating sites, called leks, for tasty sagebrush, they may use more energy traveling and be at a greater risk of being attacked by predators.  Males that eat low quality sagebrush near a lek may not have the strength for the intense mating rituals required to attract females.

“We want to identify what makes certain sagebrush tasty and how that diet quality influences their reproductive success,” Forbey said. “We can then map, monitor and restore the distribution of tasty plants to improve the mating success of sage grouse.”

Forbey and her fellow researchers will use cutting-edge technologies for observation and experimentation, including a robot grouse capable of mimicking female grouse behaviors and wireless devices that measure real time movement of grouse.

Pygmy rabbits and sage grouse are both threatened species, Forbey noted. “Everyone wants to prevent the loss of these iconic animals, which also would prevent economic consequences associated with listing them as endangered species,” she said. “Our research could help identify which types of sagebrush help promote the healthiest populations of pygmy rabbits and sage grouse and can help keep these species off the endangered species list.”

Boise State Signs Two High Quality Recruits

Two promising prospects have signed letters of intent to play at Boise State.

Guard Chandler Hutchison (6-6) and forward David Wacker (6-9) have agreed to play for Coach Leon Rice and, truth be told, what high school basketball player in their right mind wouldn't want to?

Hutchison is ranked as the #11 prospect in California after averaging 13.8 points and 4.8 rebounds last year.  Hutchison helped Mission Viejo to a 26-5 record and a beth in the CIF quarterfinals.  

“Chandler is a very skilled, athletic guard who has the chance to be a very special player,” Rice said. “He is going to have a terrific senior year.”

Wacker is ranked as the #21 center in the country and #11 prospect in Texas.  He averaged 14.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots as a junior in leading Converse High School to a 29-8 record and the third round of the Texas Class 5A State Tournament.  He was tabbed 5A All-State.  

“In David Wacker we got a great on- and off-the-court leader who will not only impact our basketball program but will impact the campus and community,” Rice said. “Not to mention he’s a very talented young big man.”

“We are very excited about both of these young men because of their tremendous upside,” said Rice. “The best basketball is definitely still ahead for both Chandler and David. They have a great work ethic to go along with their ability and they’re going to continue to improve here at Boise State. They both come from great families and are really high character young men.”

Boise State #31 in AP Poll

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rankings/ap

Boise State #30 in Coaches Poll

The highest a Boise State basketball team has ever been ranked is #23 back in the magic year of 1987-88.  At that time, the polls consisted of a Top 20, and the Broncos were third-best of Others Receiving Votes.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rankings/coaches

Boise State 14th in Three-Point Shooting

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/3-points

Boise State 11th in the Country in Field Goal Percentage

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/field-goals

Boise State 4th in the Country in Scoring

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/scoring-per-game

Anthony Drmic 3rd in the Nation in Scoring

Hopefully, you were there to witness his great start to this basketball season.  I was!

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/year/2014/seasontype/2/group/50

All-Time Bronco Great Steve Connor Has Passed Away

Sad to read in this morning's paper that Steve Connor has passed away at age 58 in North Carolina.  Connor was the guard for Borah High School on one of the best high school basketball teams the state has ever produced, then as a four-year starter for Boise State and his father, head coach Bus Connor.

Connor finished his career in 1978 as one of the top players in Bronco history.  He continues to hold school records for career scoring average (18.0), career assists (502), career field goals (771) and career field goal attempts (1,718).  Connor is #2 all-time in points at Boise State with 1,927, third in career free throws with 385, third in free-throw attempts with 486, sixth in career free-throw percentage with 79.2% and eighth in single-season scoring with 530 points.

Connor also scored 490 points in the 1975-1976 season, helping Boise State win the Big Sky Conference Tournament and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, and 457 in the 1976-77 season.  He was drafted in the 10th Round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets, and played professionally in Europe and in the CBA.

I went to school with his brother, Ty, and worked with his younger brother Bret.  Condolences to the Connor family during this sad time.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Where Will Boise State Be Ranked Tomorrow?

After an easy win over UT-Arlington, the Bronco basketball team is now 1-0.  The first official college basketball poll will be released tomorrow.  Last week, Boise State was #32.  Will be interesting to see what the pollsters do.

Red-Hot Drmic Keys Resounding Bronco Win

Bottle this one up, especially the first half.

The Boise State basketball team put one of its best shows in years with a 116-87 victory over UT-Arlington tonight in Taco Bell Arena.  Coach Leon Rice's team put up 60 in the first half alone, and were two points shy of a school record for points.

Anthony Drmic was on fire early and often, displaying a devastating mixture of draining threes and lightning quick drives to the hoop to pace the team with 34 points to go along with six rebounds and two assists.  What made Drmic so special tonight was his tenacity on defense, hustling hard to save loose balls, and his amazing passing to wide open teammates under the basket.

Drmic hit 5-11 from downtown tonight and passed Anthony Thomas (2006-2010) for 10th place all-time with 142 career three-pointers.  The sharpshooter from Down Under is zeroing in on becoming the 23rd player in Bronco history to score 1,000 career points--he now has 947.

If you haven't seen this team play yet, you're going to notice two things.  First, the defensive pressure is much improved from last year.  Still nothing like the Bobby Dye days at Boise State, but getting better.  I've said often that if this team played defense, they'd be a Top 10 team and I still believe that.  The second eye-popping thing is the depth.  They now have the depth that the football team has had for years, with solid contributions nine and ten deep in the lineup tonight, and that was without star senior guard Jeff Elorriaga, who sat out for precautionary reasons because of an injury to his head last week.

The Broncos are back and looked better tonight than they've looked, well, since the Bobby Dye days.  Offensively, of course, there's no comparison--this is the best offensive team by far the school has ever fielded.  The entire team was lights out shooting the ball--their 13 three-pointers were just three off another school mark.  If they can keep improving defensively, there's almost no one that can beat them.

Derrick Marks poured in 17 points and included a couple of highlight reel dunks, while Ryan Watkins played another superb game inside for the Broncs with 14 points and 10 boards, true freshman Dezmyn Trent had 13 points and reserve guard Mikey Thompson scored 10 points and had six assists.  Add in Igor Hadziomerivic and Thomas Bropleh with nine points each and you have a deep team. 

Boise State hosts Simpson next Friday in game number two for this special team.

Boise State Soccer Team Headed to MWC Championship!

In only their fourth year of play in the Mountain West Conference, the Boise State soccer team has reached the championship game.  They did it with a 2-1 victory over #2 seed Fresno State in double overtime.

Boise State Shuts Out Wyoming in Mountain West Quarterfinals

The third-seeded Lady Broncos blanked Wyoming today 3-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Mountain West Soccer Tournament.

Katy Oehring scored in the opening minutes when she headed a Mikhalia Bowden corner kick into the net.  Sophomore Brooke Heidemann got in on the scoring in the 43rd minute when she took a pass from junior Shannon Schueren and booted it home.  Ohering headed in another Bowden corner kick for the final margin.

Junior Maddy McDevitt posted her eighth shutout of the season in helping the Broncos advance.  Boise State will meet second-seed Fresno State Thursday afternoon.

Boise State Holds Off Colorado State 42-30

It turned out much closer than it should have been, but Boise State survived with a 42-30 win over Colorado State tonight in Fort Collins.  The Broncos have a much-needed bye this week to try to heal some wounds.  Boise State has 21 players out, 12 from loss of scholarship from their players paying for other players to eat tacos at Taco Bell, and another 9 from injury.

The good news is that Boise State is still in control of its own destiny, and it got that bowl-eligible sixth win tonight.

Kentucky #1 in Men's Basketball

Will be a great opportunity for these Broncos later in the year.  Boise State is #35:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24166158/ap-preseason-poll-released-uk-at-top-msu-ville-duke-ku-follow

Boise State and Utah State Finish Where They Began

A tie game.  No one could break the 1-1 deadlock at the half.

Broncos Storm Past Lewis-Clark State 80-52

Boise State's basketball team opened the season with an 80-52 exhibition win over Lewis-Clark State tonight in Taco Bell Arena.  Ryan Watkins led the way with 15 points and seven boards, but it was the reserves who clamped on the defense to stymie a Warrior team that came into the game averaging 100 points a game.

Coach Leon Rice's team hosts UT-Arlington next Friday to open the regular season.

Boise State Soccer Tied with Utah State 1-1

Halftime score.  Kayla Tucker scored at the 20:21 mark to put Boise State up, but USU has tied it.