Graham Wins 100th As Boise State Tops Tech

The road warrior mentality of Boise State paced the Broncos to a 73-61 win over Louisiana Tech, advancing their road record to 9-2, one win away from the school record.

Senior Reggie Larry scored 25 points and pulled down eight rebounds as Boise State put away pesky Louisiana Tech 73-61 last night in Ruston.  The win gave Greg Graham his 100^th career win as the head man for the Broncos.

Boise State overcame a sluggish first half that saw them turn the ball over repeatedly but shoot 57.7% to turn a 20-12 deficit into a 35-32 halftime lead.  Eventually, the speed and depth of the Broncos wore down Tech.  Boise State was much better at handling the ball in the second half and the nation’s top shooting team continued to blister the nets.  Tyler Tiedeman scored 15 points and hit three three-pointers while Matt  Nelson added 12.  Tiedeman is now just three three-pointers away from 10^th place on the all-time Bronco list for treys in a season with 57. 

The win enabled Boise State to remain percentage points behind Western Athletic Conference front-runner Utah State.  Coach Graham’s Broncos improved to 8-2 in the WAC and 17-5 overall ahead of a crucial WAC showdown with New Mexico State Saturday night.

Larry became just the 12^th Bronco to score 400 points in two seasons.  He now has 421 this season after scoring 437 last year.  He also was a force defensively with three blocked shots, passing Billy Fikes, Richard Morgan and Larry McKinney into 8^th place on the all-time Bronco list for career blocks.

Freshman Orren Tims, who made his debut for the Bulldogs, had 16 points and nine rebounds.  James Loe and Kyle Gibson added 11 each.  Louisiana Tech fell to 3-18 and 0-9 in the WAC.

The Broncos face off against defending WAC champion New Mexico State Saturday.  A Bronco win would just about eliminate the Aggies from the regular-season crown while a loss would enable New Mexico State to tie them for second place.