Injuries Put Woods Back In Game

With his roster shrinking, not to mention an offense stuck in park, Boise State coach Rod Jensen had no alternative.

Jensen reinstated talented forward Kejuan Woods after a monthlong suspension. Woods scored 11 points in 20 minutes in BSU’s 69-57 loss to Nevada last Saturday.

Woods was suspended for undisclosed reasons. Jensen lifted the suspension Saturday afternoon. Woods will remain with the team the rest of the year.

BSU (7-10 overall, 1-5 Big West) was without a trio of injured players - C.J. Williams, Richard Morgan and Scott Fraser-Dauphinee. Williams could play Thursday against Idaho in the Kibbie Dome. Morgan is questionable, and Fraser-Dauphinee isn’t expected to play.

“With the addition of No. 13 (Woods), all of a sudden they have a little bit more firepower,” Idaho coach Dave Farrar said. “I expect it to be a defensive struggle and a very close game.”

Defense is BSU’s specialty. Offense isn’t. The Broncos’ point production the last seven games: 57, 68, 53, 52, 56, 52 and 54. They average just 59.9 points per game.

Woods averaged 9.3 points per game last year and was expected to hike his production this season.

“I was real tentative early because I had been out so long,” Woods told the Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise. “A little bit of the competitiveness in me came out.”

Easy does it

Idaho’s troubles at point guard have been evident at various times this season. So, with the season roughly two-thirds complete, UI coach Dave Farrar intends to simplify the duties for Adam Miller, Lance Buoncristiani and Justin Logan.

“I’m lessening the mental task for them,” Farrar said.

Idaho ran one play against Utah State eight times and it suffered the same result eight times. “Eight times we were open and we never got them the ball one time,” he said. “Then as the coach, I need to quit putting those guys in that situation, if we can’t get it done.”

Rotten roundballs

Utah State missed a ton of shots from close range against Idaho. According to the school’s shot chart, the Aggies missed 13 of 22 layups.

And now the reason can be told.

“Those balls were like rocks,” forward Shawn Daniels, who had a team-high 16 points, told a Logan newspaper. “We were throwing them at the rim, and they were hitting off like you were throwing them at the wall or something. Those balls were terrible.”

Daniels complained that Idaho uses older, slick basketballs.

Notes

Cal Poly has been outrebounded in 10 straight games, which helps explain why the Mustangs are 1-5 in conference, 6-12 overall… . New Mexico State coach Lou Henson is three victories from passing Don Haskins for No. 12 on the NCAA all-time wins list. Henson has 717 wins, Haskins 719… . Surprising North Texas has won its last three home conference games after trailing by double-digits at halftime. Cal State Fullerton led by 17 at one point before losing to the Mean Green, who missed six straight foul shots before a game-winning last-second 3-pointer… . The Mean Green had lost 10 straight games to NMSU, spanning 37 years, before a 75-73 win last week.