And even the possibility to rise to first place in the process.
Entering the week, Boise State (17-8, 8-4) sits in third place in the Mountain West Conference, 0.5 games behind the 9-4 Utah State Aggies and the 19th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs. Only 2.5 games separate the 1st and 8th place teams, with three weeks left to hope for separation.
Of course, it's the gauntlet of the Mountain West, and there's a good chance standings will be muddled even more before the regular season ends.
Big games for the top teams are on the lighter side of the schedule this week. Though, with the Mountain West, each game constitutes huge opportunities, no matter the matchup. On Tuesday (2/20), the Aggies and Aztecs square off, meaning with a Boise State victory, the Broncos will move into second place.
The Aggies face a weekend bye after, with San Diego State traveling to play Fresno State on Saturday (2/24).
The 22nd-ranked Colorado State Rams have two important road games at New Mexico and UNLV. All three teams currently have five losses. This means prime action in which the Broncos, if they take care of business, could find a sliver of separation.
Boise State vs San Jose State
Tuesday night (2/20, 8:30 p.m. MT on FS1), the Broncos welcome the Spartans. Boise State narrowly escaped San Jose with a win to start conference play, winning 78-69. The Spartans led by seven in that game but Boise State used an explosive second half to pick up the victory.
In that game, the Broncos had 0 bench points (an issue that has improved in recent games) and committed 15 turnovers. A saving grace was the plus 20 advantage Boise State had on the boards.
O'Mar Stanley delivered a fantastic double-double in that meeting, finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Tyson Degenhart had 21 points and six rebounds. This was one of seven conference games Degenhart has scored 20+ points.
Chibuzo Agbo had 15 points in that game. Despite recent struggles, Agbo is still second on the team in scoring at 14 ppg. He had a rough two-game stretch in two road losses, shooting 5-19 and only scoring 12 points. But Agbo had a better effort against Fresno State, scoring 14, and he has only five turnovers in his last seven games.
One key reason San Jose State (9-17, 2-11) held a halftime lead was the play of Myron Amey Jr. He scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half. For the season, Amey is averaging 15.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and three assists per game. The guard has scored in double figures in all but one conference game and has crossed the 20-point threshold four times.
Trey Anderson had 13 points in the first meeting, where the Spartans had only seven turnovers but were 7-27 from three-point range. Anderson averages 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Alvaro Cardenas averages 13.4 points and 5.6 assists. He had nine and seven, respectively, the first time the teams met but was only 3-10 from the field.
The Broncos will also need to key in on Tibet Gorener. Gorener averages 12.3 points and 4.2 rebounds but only had three of each in the earlier matchup.
San Jose State's two conference wins came against Air Force. The Spartans lost two games to the Wyoming Cowboys, Boise State's other opponent this week, by a combined seven points.
Cowboys host Broncos
The Wyoming Cowboys (13-12, 6-6) are doing enough to hang around the Mountain West race, thanks in large part to big home victories. It's usually a tough go of things when teams visit Laramie. This season has been no different, with the Cowboys already picking up wins over Colorado State and Nevada at home.
This is the first and only regular season meeting between Boise State and Wyoming in 2023-24. The Cowboys have lost three of their last four games and will face Nevada on Tuesday before Saturday's game (2/24 at 5:30 p.m. MT).
Wyoming averages 73.5 points and gives up 75.3. The Cowboys turn the ball over 13.6 times and are shooting 45.2 percent from the field (37.7 on threes) this season.
Four players drop more than ten points per game for Wyoming, led by Sam Griffin. Griffin scores 17.9 per contest (19.3 in his last three games) and has 61 three-pointers, shooting 39.6 percent.
Akuel Kot and Brendan Wenzel have combined to make 95 three-pointers this season. Kot averages 14.7 points per game, shooting 40.2 percent from deep, while Wenzel scores 10.8.
Mason Walters averages 12.9 points and 5.5 rebounds. In his last two games, Walters has scored 34 points and collected 15 rebounds.
Bench play will be the x-factor for the Broncos in Wyoming. And hopefully the flow of the game will dictate head coach Leon Rice able to use up to five players off the bench. Though the minutes weren't huge, that's how many saw action against Fresno State. In the high altitude of Laramie, this will be even more useful.
Two wins and keeping minutes for the starters below average are two "musts" this week. Because after, the margin for error grows even slimmer, especially for a Boise State team possibly fighting for the NCAA tournament life.
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