Colorado State Rams at Boise State Broncos

O’Mar Stanley powers Boise State over No. 17 Colorado State 65-58

The Broncos (11-4, 2-0 Mountain West Conference), which shot 39% from the field, built a 13-point lead with 5:56 left to play and survived a late rally by Colorado State. Boise State hit 17-of-23 free throws for the game to make up for its shortcomings from the field.

After the final horn, Boise State fans stormed the court to celebrate the win over the highest-ranked opponent the Broncos have beaten at home since upending 15th-ranked Washington on Dec. 4, 1998. Boise State also owns the current longest home winning streak in the country at 22 games.

“I’m really proud of the way our guys battled,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “We played some hard minutes and they made us work. You have to work defensively to stop them, and we did a good job of that tonight. We just kept grinding.”

Isaiah Stevens scored 15 points to lead the Colorado State, while Nique Clifford added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Colorado State (13-3, 1-2) struggled offensively all night, shooting just 47% against a scrappy Broncos defense. Boise State also had 10 steals, its second-highest mark this season.

But it was the Rams’ woes from 3-point range that did them in. Colorado State was 1 of 10 shooting from behind the arc until Clifford made a 3-pointer with 5:49 remaining, and the Rams finished the game 4 of 16 from long distance.

“Some of it was them, some of it was us,” Colorado State coach Niko Ledved said. “We also had a lot of good looks tonight that didn’t go in. But give credit to them. They stepped up and made them and we didn’t.”

Even more frustrating for Ledved was the fact that his team lost despite a stellar defensive performance.

“We definitely played good enough defense here to give ourselves an opportunity to win,” Ledved said. “We’re a really terrific offensive team but for whatever reason, we’ve not been sharp the last couple of games.

BIG PICTURE

Colorado State: The Rams' two-game slide has been marked by poor shooting, hitting 44% and 47% against Utah State and Boise State, respectively.

“We had several really clean looks and sometimes you need one or two of those to go down in crucial moments and you’re right there,” Ledved said. “But we didn’t tonight, so now it’s on to the next one.”

Boise State: The Broncos seem to have shored up some of its losses to graduation last season, finding a gem in St. John's transfer Stanley. Stanley scored 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Broncos’ comeback win over San Jose State last weekend before notching another double-double against the Rams.

“He’s just a joy to coach and hungry to learn, and he’s not done getting better,” Rice said of Stanley after the game. “And there’s a lot of things he’s going to keep getting better at because of his coachability.”

UP NEXT

Colorado State returns home to host Air Force on Tuesday.

Boise State travels to Nevada on Friday night.

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