BOISE, Idaho – Santa Clara men's basketball suffered their second-straight road loss of the year, falling 72-60 to Boise State inside ExtraMile Arena in the first meeting between the Broncos since 1989.
Boise State had the upper hand early on as they took a commanding 21-9 lead midway through the first quarter. However, Santa Clara fought back, using a 16-2 run of their own to take the lead back at 27-23 on a Giordan Williams 3-pointer with 2:26 remaining. The Broncos would finish the half on a 21-6 run overall spanning the final 7:41 of the period to take a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
For the second-straight game, Giordan Williams knocked down three first-half 3-pointers to lead Santa Clara with nine points at the break.
In the second half, neither team would budge as the Broncos changed leads 15 times over the first 11 minutes of the period. Josip Vrankic, who finished with 12 points in his return to the court after missing eight games due to illness, gave Santa Clara their final lead of the night on a jumper with 9:05 remaining.
The home Broncos regained the lead on the following possession and never looked back, using a 14-4 run over the final 7:44 to clinch the 12-point win.
Santa Clara dropped to 7-5 with the loss while Boise State improved to 7-4.
Vrankic tied with Jalen Williams for the team-lead of 12 points while Giordan Williams finished with nine and Parker Braun chipped in eight points and a team-best six rebounds. The Broncos shot 44.4 percent from the floor and knocked down 8-of-19 3-pointers in the loss.
Unfortunately for Santa Clara, they were unable to maintain possession well with 19 turnovers in which Boise State turned into 27 points.
Boise State shot 43.3 percent for the game, but was a blistering 58.6 percent from the field in the second half (17-of-29). Four players finished in double figures for the home Broncos with Tyson Degenhart securing a game-high 18 points. Miaden Armus finished with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds.
POSTGAME VIDEO
Coach Sendek recaps tonight's game#StampedeAhead pic.twitter.com/JaA3RWeyO0
— Santa Clara Men's Basketball (@SantaClaraHoops) December 15, 2021
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Santa Clara returns to action with two home games next weekend beginning with Florida A&M on Friday.
