Shambric Williams scored 17 of his 27 points in the second half, igniting Boise State to an 85-81 upset of Idaho State as the Broncos claimed their second straight Big Sky Conference tournament title.
Saturday night's victory, fifth-seeded BSU's fourth crown in the tournament's 19-year history, sent the 17-12 Broncos into the NCAA tournament with an automatic bid.Williams and teammate Damon Archibald, who had 21 points, began and ended a 15-5 Boise State run with 3-pointers to begin the second half, giving the Broncos a 49-39 lead with 16:05 left. The margin dwindled to three in the waning moments, but held up at the end when BSU made 8 of 12 foul shots despite making no field goals in the final 3:56.
Williams' performance earned him the tournament's most valuable player award. His two foul shots with 5.5 seconds left put the game out of reach.
ISU's all-conference forward, Jim Potter, scored 29 points and kept the Bengals close. Guards Terance Fleming and Lorenzo Watkins had 18 and 16 points, respectively, for ISU (18-9), the tournament's No.2 seed.
Taking advantage of its home floor, Boise State beat Montana State 75-57 Thursday night and top-seeded Weber State 84-72 on Friday leading up to its fourth conference tournament title. The others came in 1976, 1988 and 1993.
BSU became the third team to score three victories over higher-seeded opponents on the way to a tournament championship.