Boise State looks to extend streak vs San Jose St.

Published Jan. 1, 2021 6:30 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Boise State (7-1, 3-0) vs. San Jose State (1-5, 0-3)

Grand Canyon University Arena, Phoenix; Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Boise State looks for its ninth straight win in the head-to-head series over San Jose State. Boise State has won by an average of 26 points in its last eight wins over the Spartans. San Jose State's last win in the series came on March 5, 2016, a 68-63 win.

SQUAD LEADERSHIP: This will be a homecoming game for Broncos senior Marcus Shaver Jr., who has averaged 13.6 points and 5.4 rebounds on the season. Derrick Alston Jr., who's recorded 17.6 points per game, and RayJ Dennis, who's averaged 13 points, 4.4 assists and two steals, have helped Shaver with leadership duties this year. On the other bench, Richard Washington has averaged 19.8 points and 4.8 rebounds while Omari Moore has put up 8.2 points and six rebounds.

MWC IMPROVEMENT: The Broncos have scored 90.7 points per game and allowed 53 points per game across three conference games. Those are both substantial improvements over the 72 points scored and 63 points allowed per game to non-conference opponents.ACCURATE ALSTON JR.: Alston has connected on 44.7 percent of the 47 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 9 of 17 over his last three games. He's also converted 85.7 percent of his foul shots this season.

PASSING FOR POINTS: The Broncos have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Spartans. San Jose State has 25 assists on 53 field goals (47.2 percent) across its past three outings while Boise State has assists on 59 of 101 field goals (58.4 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Boise State defense has allowed only 57.5 points per game to opponents, which is the 10th-best mark in the country. The San Jose State offense has put up just 64.5 points through six games (ranked 224th among Division I teams).

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