Sparked by a halftime pep talk by Coach Greg Graham, Boise State rallied from 14 points down to knock off the #3 seed in the Western
Athletic Conference, beating Fresno State 78-73 tonight in Las Cruces to
advance to the Tournament semifinal.
Anthony Thomas hit a big
three-pointer with two minutes left to give the Broncos a lead they would never
lose. The freshman also calmly sank two
free throws after that and then got a steal to take Fresno’s
only chance of victory away in the final seconds. Thomas finished with 15 points on 4 of 6
shooting (3-5 three-pointers), grabbed five rebounds and had three assists and
the steal with no turnovers in 23 minutes of action.
An attacking Boise
State offense constantly put
pressure on the Bulldogs, leading to easy buckets and free-throw
opportunities. The Broncos nailed 19 of
23 free throws in the second half to keep the Bulldogs at bay.
Reggie Larry paced the Broncos with 18 points, going up
against the taller Bulldogs to finish shots and score second-chance
points. Larry hit 4 of 5 free throws and
got 10 rebounds and a steal for the victorious Broncos. Coby Karl emerged in the second half with 11 of his 13 points. Karl also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals. The Broncos also benefited when Fresno State leading scorer Quinton Hosley was ejected with 17:14 left for throwing an elbow that connected with the right side of Karl's head.
Seth Robinson was relentless as well, with 11
points and 10 rebounds while Matt Nelson added eight points and 10 more
rebounds.
Boise State
is now 17-13 this season and will meet the winner of tonight’s game between New
Mexico State and
Louisiana Tech. Fresno State dropped to 22-9 with the loss and will await word on a possible bid to the National Invitation Tournament.