With a 26-11 overall record, Boise State wraps the year with the second-most wins in a single season in program history. Only the 2021-22 Broncos (27-8) recorded more victories.
Tyson Degenhart led the Broncos with a game-high 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Averaging 22.0 points in three games, Degenhart scored 20 or more in two of them.
Andrew Meadow totaled 14 points on five field goals in the game. Pearson Carmichael added 13 points, while Alvaro Cardenas notched nine assists.
Nebraska (20-14) was led by Juwan Gary, who registered 21 points and had nine rebounds and three blocks. Brice Williams recorded 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.
To start Saturday’s game, Boise State made five of its first eight shots from the field. Three different players cracked the scoring column, resulting in a 13-8 Broncos lead upon reaching the first media timeout.
Through the opening nine minutes, Boise State shot exactly 50 percent and led by as many as five. Conversely, the Broncos held Nebraska to 5-of-14 shooting in that span.
With 7:57 left to play in the half, Boise State grabbed its largest lead of the opening 20 minutes. Carmichael poured in his third three of the frame, giving his team a seven-point advantage.
The Cornhuskers, however, responded by scoring 14 of the next 17 points. Nebraska turned a 24-17 game into a four-point deficit for the Broncos.
Boise State wound up trailing by eight on a couple occasions, stemming from a three-minute scoreless stretch. Across the final seven minutes of the period, the Broncos managed just seven points on three field goals.
For the half, Boise State had a better shooting percentage than the Cornhuskers but turned the ball over eight times. Degenhart nailed a jumper with 33 ticks on the clock, making it a six-point game at the intermission.
The second half began with Nebraska scoring seven of nine points. A three-pointer by Sam Hoiberg increased the Cornhuskers’ lead to 11 and forced a prompt Broncos timeout.
Down 14, with 9:11 in the game, Boise State battled back. The team sliced six points of the Nebraska lead in the span of 80 seconds.
The Cornhuskers answered back and pushed their lead to 15, the largest of the game. Boise State pulled to within seven on a couple occasions, but unfortunately, that’s as close as the Broncos would get.
Nebraska collected a 10-point win and gave Boise State its sixth double-digit defeat of the year. Despite leading early and being in front for the opening 11 minutes of the game, the Broncos shot just 39.7 percent on Saturday.
The Cornhuskers advance to the finals of the College Basketball Crown and will take on the winner of UCF and Villanova.
Notables:
Boise State concludes the season with a 26-11 record. The team falls one win shy of the single-season program record set by the 2021-22 Broncos (27).
Tyson Degenhart scored 26 points, concluding his collegiate career with 2,037. It’s the eighth-most points by a Mountain West player in conference history.
Degenhart’s 676 points this season are the most by a Bronco in a single campaign.
Degenhart notched his 15th 20-point game of the season. He finishes his career with 32 such games, the third most in program history.
Alvaro Cardenas registered nine assists, giving him 256 on the year. That number ranks fifth in the NCAA this year and is the second most for a Mountain West player in a single season.
Cardenas finishes his collegiate career with 628 dimes, third most in Mountain West history.
