The Boise State men’s basketball team reached the money round of the inaugural College Basketball Crown tournament with a 100-93 quarterfinal victory over Butler on Wednesday.
After winning two games at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the Broncos are guaranteed an NIL payout of at least $50,000.
The champion of the 16-team Crown tournament receives an NIL prize of $300,000 with the runner-up taking home $100,000. The semifinal losers get $50,000 apiece.
Boise State will play in a Crown semifinal at 11:30 a.m. Mountain time Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Javan Buchanan had a monster game off the bench for the Broncos (26-10), torching Butler (15-20) for 27 points. Buchanan, a junior forward, was the Mountain West Conference Sixth Man of the Year.
Buchanan had scored just 10 combined points over his previous four games entering the Crown. After recording 11 points in the tournament opener, Buchanan exploded against the Bulldogs.
“I’ve been struggling the past (few games), just battling through some things, some injuries, some stuff here and there,” Buchanan said after the game. “Just pouring it in to my teammates, and they really just gave me that game.”
The 100 points matched a season-high for Boise State. Back in November, the Broncos defeated Corbin 100-65.
Senior forward Tyson Degenhart added 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Broncos while senior point guard Alvaro Cardenas had 19 points and four assists.
Degenhart, the leading scorer in program history, surpassed the 2,000 career points mark in the victory. Degenhart will enter the Crown semifinals with 2,011 points.
Finley Bizjack led the Bulldogs with a career-high 30 points and seven assists.
Boise State limited Butler senior forward Pierre Brooks II to nine points on 4 of 8 shooting. Brooks II scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Bulldogs’ opening-round victory over Utah.
Here are the highlights from Buchanan’s postgame FOX television interview.
“It’s our culture. That’s what we do every day. Everybody is bought in. It’s a crazy time in college basketball, but everybody on our team is bought in, and that’s what makes us a special group.”
“He’s a great player. We just had to limit him. Great players usually just get their buckets, but we did a good job limiting him tonight. … We just really keyed in and focused on the scouting report.”
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