3/12/2022 basketball Edit

Broncos Advance to MW Championship Game

Matt Brumley

broncosports.com

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Boise State never trailed Friday against Wyoming, holding off a late Cowboy comeback to secure a 68-61 win and advance to the 2022 Air Force Reserve MW Men’s Basketball Championship title game for the first time since joining the league.

Abu Kigab scored 22 points, his seventh 20-point game this season and his 23rd game in double figures…Kigab had eclipsed double digits by halftime (15)...he knocked down a career-high-tying four 3-pointers...over the last seven games, Kigab is shooting 54.2 percent from deep (13-for-24). (Boise State Athletics)

The Broncos will play in their first conference tournament championship game since 2011, when Boise State was a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Tonight’s victory is the 26th of the season for Boise State (26-7), setting the program record. The Broncos have won 23 of their last 26 games.

Boise State led by as many as 17 in the second half before Wyoming (25-8) rallied to cut the lead to three with 30 seconds remaining in the game. Boise State earned three defensive stops in the final seconds before Abu Kigab took the ball to the other end for a layup to seal the game, 68-61.

Kigab finished the night with a game-high 22 points, including a career-high-tying four 3-pointers. Kigab, who entered the night shooting 28.4 percent from downtown, has gone 13-for-24 (.542) from deep over his last seven games.

After Wyoming’s Graham Ike made a jumper to cut the Boise State lead 12-8 in the first half, the Broncos held the Cowboys without a field goal for the next five minutes (0-for-7), extending their lead to nine points (18-9). An 8-0 run from Wyoming reduced the deficit 18-17 with just under eight to play in the half. Boise State closed the opening period by outscoring the Cowboys 19-6, including a 7-0 run at the end to enter the break with a 37-23 lead in hand. Armus (12) and Kigab (15) scored the Broncos’ first 15 points and combined to outscore the Cowboys by themselves in the opening half with 27 points.

Mladen Armus recorded his fourth double-double on the season, and his first since scoring 22 points and pulling down 19 rebounds at Utah State, Jan. 20…Armus tallied 16 points against the Cowboys, his first game in double figures since Feb. 16 (at Air Force) and his 10th game in double figures this season…he also pulled down 13 rebounds, his 10th game in double figures this season, and his first since his double-double against the Aggies…rebounding total is the most by a Bronco at the MW Tournament since RJ Williams pulled down a Bronco tournament-record 15 against UNLV, March 5, 2020. (Boise State Athletics)

Armus finished the night with 16 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high four steals. It was the fourth double-double for Armus this season and his first since Jan. 20, against Utah State. His four steals are the most by a Bronco in a MW tournament game.

The Cowboys went on an early 7-0 run in the second half before Boise State used a 12-5 stretch of its own to build its largest lead of the night, 52-35, with 12 minutes to play. Wyoming scored 11 of the game’s next 15 points to cut the lead to 10, then with 1:52 left in the game the Cowboy’s Ike converted an and-1 layup to reduce the lead to single digits for the first time since late in the first half and ultimately setting up the dramatic finish.

Naje Smith scored 10 including two first-half triples. For Smith it is just the second double-figure scoring performance in the last 16 games. Emmanuel Akot was the fourth Bronco in double-figures, scoring 11 to go along with six assists.

Boise State dished out 12 assists on the night, improving to 13-3 when doing so. Akot and Kigab each have 10 assists in this year’s tournament, becoming the first Broncos to tally 10 assists in a single MW tournament.

Only four times in MW history has a team won an outright regular-season conference championship and the MW Tournament - San Diego State (2006), New Mexico (2013), Nevada (2017) and San Diego State (2021). Boise State will attempt to become the fifth tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. PT/4 p.m. MT. The game will be nationally televised on CBS.