Omari Moore (Photo by Max Bechtoldt)
By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – MBB Beat Reporter
The Broncos (18-5, MW 9-1) bucked the Spartans 76-60, making it 10 straight losses to open up Mountain West play for San Jose State (7-15, MW 0-9). A potentially monumental upset in Idaho was brewing with 6:13 left in the first half when the Broncos were leading 23-20. From there, Boise went on a 17-6 run to end the half up 14 and it was perpetually a double-digit game from there.
Boise State is a high roller in the Mountain West, and close to becoming a sho-in for March Madness, so a double-digit win was expected. But, this also gave the Spartans a show and tell on what consistently great basketball looks like.
“Abu Kigab drew 11 fouls tonight and four charges,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles. “When you look at a guy with that intensity, size, athleticism, working hard, I think that’s a great example of where we need to be and that kind of mentality of he’ll do anything to win.”
Kigab led the way in all statistics related to grit while Tyson Degenhart was a walking wildfire scoring a single-game season high 23 points.
Degenhart had 16 in the first half and his services were needed more often in the second half could’ve repeated the success in his first 20 minutes of play.
The Broncos are exactly what they appeared to show during their 14-game winning streak that got snapped earlier in the week, a team that’s destined to cover ground like cheetahs and swoop in the way of bad passes like vultures. Their tenacious defense kept the Spartans from establishing a lead early when the offense wasn’t clicking, so when the offense did click it was wham bam thank you ma’am.
Within the Broncos breezy win was SJSU’s Myron “MJ” Amey Jr. living up to the nickname bestowed upon him.
His 24 points, good for single game season high against Mountain West opponents, was fueled by 21 in the second half. Without this, the game would’ve looked completely different.
In the clip above, Amey Jr. knew he was cooking and decided to leave Hell’s Kitchen with a lunch tray.
“He’s a microwave, when it’s cooking, it’s cooking, you know it’s hot,” said Miles. “He’s done a really good job getting us going when the offense stalls.”
Amey Jr. smelled blood in the water and like any predator in the ocean the only thing on his mind was eat. He ended the second half as the only Spartan with five or more points and was the only one to have a positive +/-.
“You could just tell in their language saying ‘Go MJ’ ‘hey coach let’s get the ball to MJ on this action’,” said Miles.
With Trey Anderson out with a concussion, opportunities are opening up for players like Amey Jr. who’ve come off the bench to catch fire and keep the losing streak from getting to 11 games.