Guards pace Broncos in third straight 100-point performance

BOISE — Damari Wheeler-Thomas saw just how lethal he and Aginaldo Neto could be together in the backcourt when he joined the Boise State men’s basketball team this summer.

When the duo was on the court together, Wheeler-Thomas saw just how much of a force they could be, and it made him excited.

“I was talking about it over the summer, when we’d be on the same team in 5-on-5, it would be like, ‘Bro, there’s nothing much the other team can do,’” said Wheeler-Thomas. “We both can create for one another, we both can create for the team and we can both make shots. So, it’s big for us offensively and defensively.”

Neto and Wheeler-Thomas showed that chemistry Wednesday in a 111-79 win against Oakland at ExtraMile Arena. The Broncos’ two starting guards combined for 48 points and 11 assists.

“It’s just great,” Neto said about playing with Wheeler-Thomas. “Playing with a guy that can create for me and other guys is much easier when he’s on the court with me.”

Neto led the Broncos with 25 points and five assists, while Wheeler-Thomas had 23 points and six assists. They helped Boise State (3-0) keep its early-season offensive streak going with the Broncos scoring 100 points or more for the third straight game, the first time in program history Boise State has reached the century mark in back-to-back-to-back games.

Boise State is the only team in the country that has scored three figures in every one of its games this season. If you include the exhibition season, the streak reaches five games.

Through three games, Neto is averaging 20 points and six assists per game, while Wheeler-Thomas is averaging 17.3 points and 4.7 assists.

As a team, Boise State has assisted on 72 of its 125 made field goals this season.

“We’re delivering the ball, we’re snapping it, we’re moving, we’re making the unselfish extra (pass),” Boise State coach Leon Rice said. “The amount of selfish plays I’ve seen from this team so far this year, you can count them on one hand. It’s been not very many possessions, and that’s a credit to these guys and the character that we recruited.”

The Bronco backcourt even got some praise from opposing coach Greg Kampe. After the game, Kampe — who is friends with Rice, with both being involved with the Team USA basketball program — came into the postgame press conference room to watch his interview. Kampe, whose Oakland (0-5) squad has faced a gauntlet non-conference slate that has included road games against Michigan, Stanford and Alabama, added his own thoughts, comparing Wheeler-Thomas and Neto to a pair of defending national champions.

“I will tell you this: Those guards, we played Michigan, and they’ve supposedly got the best backcourt in the country in (Trey) McKenney and (Elliot) Cadeau,” said Kampe. “They played way better than McKenney and Cadeau did against our zone. And I’m not saying that to disparage those two players.”

Boise State also had three other players score in double figures, the third straight game the Broncos have had at least five guys scoring 10 or more points. Dovydas Butka finished with 16 points to go with a team-high seven rebounds, while Pearson Carmichael, making his first start of the season, and Spencer Ahrens both scored 11. Julian Bowie just missed becoming the sixth Bronco in double figures, finishing with nine points.

“If you keep doing the right thing, you get more freedom — that’s how it is,” said Neto. “We’re just having the guards drive, the wing space the floor and we get open shots.”