Boise State’s Rice joins elite coaching company as huge block beats San Jose State

Boise State men’s basketball head coach Leon Rice became just one of seven active men’s college basketball coaches to win 300 games with a single program on Saturday evening.

The Broncos (10-3, 2-0 Mountain West) came back from an 11-point second-half deficit to earn a 73-71 road win over San Jose State (7-7, 0-2). Senior forward Tyson Degenhart led the charge with 26 points while hitting four of the Broncos’ seven three-pointers on the night.

Degenhart was one of three Broncos in double-digit scoring, alongside sophomore forward Andrew Meadow (14) and junior forward Javan Buchanan (10). Senior guard Alvaro Cardenas, playing against the team he transferred from, also racked up 10 assists, marking the third time he’s hit double-digit assists this season and the second-straight game.

While the win was big for Boise State, which looks to stamp its mark on the Mountain West, it also put Rice among some elite company. Some of the only other active coaches to have won 300 games with a single program include Kansas coach Bill Self, who has 602 wins and counting with the Jayhawks, and Arkansas coach John Calipari, who won 410 games with Kentucky.

Rice became the Boise State head coach in 2010 and has a record of 300-169 with the Broncos. Rice has also won two regular-season Mountain West championships and one conference tournament championship at Boise State.

After the victory, Boise State posted a video on social media, with multiple former Bronco players and rival coaches congratulating Rice. Former Broncos Max Rice and Chandler Hutchinson made a cameo, as did Gonzaga head coach Mark Few. Rice was an assistant under Few at Gonzaga for 11 years.

But that video almost had to wait to be posted. As is becoming a trend this season, the Broncos persisted from beyond the arc but enjoyed little success; they shot 1-for-10 from three in the first half and ended the game 7-for-21.

Boise State entered halftime 35-28 down and didn’t hold a lead of more than one point until redshirt freshman guard Chris Lockett laid the ball in for a three-point lead with 5 minutes left.

The two teams continued to trade the lead in the final minutes, culminating in a 73-70 lead for the Broncos and San Jose State at the free-throw line with 5 seconds left.

Spartans guard Will McClendon hit the first and then purposefully missed the second, letting the ball bounce off the back of the rim and high into the air. San Jose State came down with the ball, but a massive block from Buchanan denied the Spartans a shot at a game-tying basket to end the game.

Boise State won’t get much of a rest. The Broncos must now travel to Laramie to take on the Wyoming Cowboys on New Year’s Eve. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m., one hour after the Broncos’ football team kicks off its College Football Playoff game in the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State.