Boise State has a guard problem

Through 16 games, the Boise State Broncos have maintained their status quo on the defensive end of the floor. They have the No. 26-ranked defensive effciency with the nation’s second-highest defensive rebound rate (77.1).

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While they don’t typically force a ton of turnovers, Leon Rice’s squads have typically been among the sound units defensively in the Mountain West. They have been top-30 defense in three of the last four seasons entering 2025-26, while owning a top-25 defensive rebound rate in each of their previous eight seasons.

However, the 9-7 Broncos are producing one of the worst seasons offensively since 2010-11, Rice’s first season. The reason? Their putrid guard play. And that hit a climax Wednesday in Boise’s 17-point loss at home to Grand Canyon.

Dylan Andrews and Aginaldo Neto, the Broncos’ only two rotation guards, went a combined 2-of-10 with just two assists and five turnovers. Rice didn’t mince words with how they played after the game.

“When your starting point guard has a -30 plus-minus, and when you have two point guards out there and you have two assists in the first half? Wow,” Rice said, according to Bronco Nation News’ B.J. Rains. “Our guards have to get smarter and savvier. We can’t just have no idea what’s going on in the game.”

Boise State has a guard problem:

There was always going to be an adjustment period without three-time All-Mountain West forward Tyson Degenhart, the Broncos’ all-time leading scorer.

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Part of supplementing his loss was bringing in Andrews, as well as former Georgetown center Drew Fielder with leaps from Andrew Meadow, Javan Buchanan and Pearson Carmichael, along others.

So far, Andrews has not quite lived up to the bill. The UCLA transfer has nearly as many turnovers (7) as assists (9) in four conference games, shooting just 5-of-34 (14.7 percent!) from the floor and 2-of-14 (14.3 percent!) from 3-point range.

“Not to beat a dead horse, but we could shoot half-courters and…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/boise-state-guard-problem-190000914.html

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Publish date : 2026-01-08 19:00:00

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