What Boise State forward Tyson Degenhart said after disappointing San Diego State loss

Tyson Degenhart recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds, but the Boise State men’s basketball team couldn’t handle San Diego State’s defensive pressure in Saturday’s 64-47 Mountain West Conference loss.

“They did a great job tonight,” Degenhart said of the Aztecs (17-6, 10-4), who blocked 10 shots while holding Boise State (17-8, 9-5) to 33.3 percent shooting (18 of 54). The Broncos made just 3 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc (16.7 percent) and turned it over 14 times at Viejas Arena.

Redshirt freshman center Magoon Gwath anchored the San Diego State defense with five blocks and six rebounds. Miles Byrd had three blocks and 10 points. Nick Boyd led the offensive effort with a season-high 24 points.

The 47 points were a season-worst for the Broncos. Boise State’s previous low came in a 63-61 loss to Boston College in the championship game of the Cayman Islands Classic.

The Broncos are 0-5 against teams above them in the MWC standings.

After another dominant defensive performance, the Aztecs moved up to No. 7 nationally in KenPom defensive rating.

Here are the highlights from Degenhart’s postgame radio interview.

On the presence of star shot blocker Magoon Gwath

“It makes you adjust every shot in there. He had five blocks tonight. When you go in there with a guy like that, you’re a little more timid. He’s 7-foot with long arms, he affects a lot of shots. He made a big impact on the defensive end tonight.”

On San Diego State’s defensive pressure

“I think we got some good looks; I don’t think we got a ton of them. Their pressure makes you work really hard. They pressure Al (Cardenas) up the court, we get it across with 22 (seconds on the shot clock). We run our set, the set doesn’t work and now we’re at 10 seconds. That’s not the way you want to be playing against them. You want to get ahead of their defense and make them work.”

On areas to improve against top teams

“We just have to handle pressure. Especially when you talk about San Diego State and New Mexico, they play similarly. They have the athleticism to get up in you and make you work up the court, make Al’s life really tough. We’re just going to have to give him some outlets to ease the pressure off of him. I think we just have to get a little better about setting better screens and relieving some of that pressure.”

MORE BOISE STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS

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