Depth on Display in Season Opener

BOISE, Idaho – Chibuzo Agbo led all scorers with 19 points and Boise State used its full bench to roll to an 89-55 season-opening victory over Vanguard, Tuesday at ExtraMile Arena. 

Thirteen players saw the floor and Boise State was constantly rotating its lineup. The 3-point shot wasn't falling for the Broncos but 20 offensive rebounds led to 20 second-chance points. 61-percent of Boise State's scoring came from the paint as it utilized the additions of Cam Martin and O'Mar Stanley in the post.

The Broncos (1-0) used a 13-0 run beginning from 13:00 to 10:02 – and held Vanguard to 1-of-9 from the field in that stretch, including five-straight misses – to pull away to an early 28-10 lead over the Lions.

Quotables

• "Our togetherness is what is promising about this team," said senior guard Chibuzo Agbo. "I feel like we've bonded more as friends than teammates, especially early on. I think it's going to help us in the long run with being a true team."
• "We accomplished the mission, which was to go 1-0," said head coach Leon Rice. "Our focus was really on the defensive end, and despite not playing complimentary basketball necessarily, we scored 89 points and were very physical with going after the rebounds. We had some good things and got better this week in practice and have to improve a lot more for our matchup Sunday."

Top Broncos

• Chibuzo Agbo led the offense with 19 points and collected seven rebounds and a steal.
• Cam Martin registered a double-double, with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and dished out four assists.
• O'Mar Stanley added 16 points, seven rebounds and a block.
• RJ Keene II scored 11 points off the bench in his Boise State debut. 

Notables

• The win improved the Broncos to 10-4 in season openers under head coach Leon Rice.
• The Broncos had 60 rebounds which ties a school record for most in a game (Carroll College; Dec. 5, 1970).
• Boise State played 13 players with none playing more than 26 minutes (Chibuzo Agbo) . . . nine played 16+ minutes.
• The Broncos got 50 points out of the six players making their debut in the Blue and Orange.
• Boise State's announced attendance of 9,501 is the second-consecutive year the Broncos have had a crowd of 9,000+ for a home opener. 
• This is the first time Boise State has won despite shooting less than 12% on 3-pointers (11.5% . 3-of-26) since a 53-48 win over UNLV 0.56% (1-of-18) on Feb. 18, 2015. 
• The 20 second chance points matches Boise State's high from last year against Colorado State. 
• Cam Martin's double double is the first by a Bronco since Naje Smith (18p-10r) against Wyoming last season (Feb. 11, 2023).
• Andrew Meadow is the fifth true freshman to start a season opener in the Leon Rice era . . . he joins Justinian Jessup (2016-17), David Wacker (2014-15), and Anthony Drmic and Igor Hadziomerovic (2011-12). 

What's Next

Boise State faces a quick turnaround to host San Francisco on Sunday, Nov. 12. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. against the team picked third in the WCC with the game being televised on KTVB and streamed on the Mountain West Network. 

The Broncos will play five-straight opponents ranked in the top 100 of KenPom.