Boise State cruises by EWU, 83-54
Rice’s Broncos off to their best start since 1998-99
BOISE – Robert Arnold scored 26 points and Zack Moritz came off the bench to score 18 as Boise State eased past Eastern Washington 83-54 on Wednesday night.
Boise State (4-0), coached this season by former Gonzaga University assistant Leon Rice, is off to its best start since the 1998-99 season.
Laron Griffin led Eastern Washington (1-3) with 13 points, and Cliff Ederaine added 11.
With last season’s Big Sky freshman of the year, point guard Glen Dean, sitting out with a hand injury, the Eagles struggled to slow Boise State’s fast-paced offensive attack.
The Eagles stayed close early before Westly Perryman and Arnold sparked a 12-5 run late in the first half to give the Broncos a 43-27 halftime lead.
“We turned it over four times in the last 3:50 of the first half, and some of those were turnovers that are uncharacteristic of our guys – it doesn’t happen in practice,” said EWU coach Kirk Earlywine.
“The two underlying themes for us for a few games have been bad fouls and turnovers. I think we’re averaging 20 turnovers right now, and part of that can be attributed to point guard play. We played 21 minutes tonight without a point guard. Regardless, we have to start taking pride in taking care of the ball.”
Moritz and Perryman led another 12-5 run to help the Broncos build a 55-33 lead midway through the second half.
Perryman also had four steals and three assists.
“I want to see enthusiasm and energy,” said Earlywine. “We played tonight like a baseball team 20 games out of the pennant race in September. We played completely unlike we did in Seattle last week. Even when that game … got away from us in the second half, we still had energy and enthusiasm and were still playing hard.
“For some reason tonight it wasn’t there. We can’t let one lackluster performance lead to a second or third. Good teams catch themselves after they shoot up an air ball like we did tonight.”
Boise State 83, EWU 54
Eastern Washington (0-3) – Griffin 6-10 1-1 13, Johnson 2-3 0-0 4, Ederaine 4-7 3-3 11, Colimon 3-10 2-2 8, Forbes 2-7 0-0 5, Brown 0-1 0-0 0, McRae 1-1 1-2 3, Allen 1-2 0-0 2, Winford 3-6 0-0 7, Henry 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-47 8-10 54.
Boise State (4-0) – Arnold 8-9 6-8 26, Montreal 1-6 1-3 3, Imadiyi 2-3 1-1 5, Anderson 0-5 2-2 2, Perryman 3-6 2-2 8, Hill 0-0 0-0 0, Salzwedel 0-1 0-0 0, Nichols 0-0 0-0 0, Elorriaga 0-0 0-0 0, Bropleh 0-2 0-2 0, Watkins 2-5 4-4 8, Noonan 4-7 1-1 11, Moritz 8-10 2-3 18, Hicks 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-55 19-26 83.
Halftime – Boise St. 43-27. 3-Point Goals – E. Washington 2-9 (Winford 1-2, Forbes 1-2, Colimon 0-5), Boise St. 6-16 (Arnold 4-4, Noonan 2-5, Bropleh 0-2, Anderson 0-2, Perryman 0-3). Fouled Out – None. Rebounds – E. Washington 19 (McRae 5), Boise St. 34 (Arnold, Moritz 7). Assists – E. Washington 10 (McRae 4), Boise St. 15 (Anderson 4). Total Fouls – E. Washington 16, Boise St. 10. A – 2,959.