The Boise State Broncos (22-10) found that out Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Playing against a New Mexico Lobos (24-9) squad fighting for their postseason lives, the Broncos picked the wrong night to slack on offense. Untimely turnovers, a 29.4 percent effort from the field, and a spirited and physical Lobo attack led to a 76-66 victory by New Mexico.
Boise State was not at their finest but credit to New Mexico. They forced the Broncos away from the interior and Boise State obliged by tossing up 34 three-point field attempts. To believe the world of bracketology, the Lobos needed this win much more than the Broncos did. While a tournament championship for Boise State would have been nice, it looks almost like a done deal the Mountain West will get six teams in the NCAA tournament. (I say "almost" because, well, you never know this time of year.)
Tyson Degenhart led the Broncos with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Degenhart was 7-20 on field goal attempts, including a frigid 2-10 from deep.
Boise State had trouble with New Mexico's backcourt. Donovan Dent again saved a spectacular game for Boise State, scoring 22 points on 8-9 shooting. Dent also had four assists and five steals.
Jaelen House, partially due to a simple volume approach, shook off two previous bad games against the Broncos by scoring 29 points on 21 field goal attempts.
Boise State wasn't exactly bad in this game. They just weren't up to par and let's hope the inside/outside game on offense returns next week for the Big Dance, or it will be another quick exit.
First half woes
Three quick turnovers by Boise State (two by O'Mar Stanley) led to seven New Mexico points, building a 7-2 lead. The Broncos started 0-6 from the field but settled in for a 7-0 run, gaining the lead on a three-pointer by Degenhart.
This was the last time Boise State had the lead for the remainder of the game.
The Lobos rattled off an 8-1 run, slowly building out the lead. While the Broncos were again able to close within two, cold shooting kept them at bay. Nearly 50 percent of their shot attempts were from beyond in the arc in the game's first 13 minutes.
Jemarl Baker Jr. hit his third three-pointer of the first half for New Mexico and a dunk by Dent grew the Lobo lead to nine. Seven turnovers by the Broncos in the first half did not help, with New Mexico converting most of those into easy buckets.
Boise State went into the locker room trailing 35-26. Degenhart and Max Rice had 19 of the Broncos 26 points. While they were 6-15 from the field, the rest of the team was 1-13.
Second half comeback stalls
Jamal Mashburn Jr. put New Mexico up by 11 right off the bat but Boise State finally began to heat up. A stretch where Rice hit two three-pointers and Chibuzo Agbo nailed one saw the Broncos claw to within four points at the 15:30 mark.
Boise State seemed poised to overtake New Mexico but the Lobos found the will to straighten up and extend the lead back to 12 with an 8-0 run. The Broncos seesawed from there, getting the margin down to six, back to ten, and everywhere in-between.
Some missed free throws by New Mexico allowed Boise State to hang around, with a three by Roddie Anderson III closing the gap to four with 54.4 seconds left. But the Lobos mostly hit their free throws to secure the victory.
Rice finished with 13 points and Agbo added 11. Anderson had 10 points with some bright spots but equally was frustrating at times. He had four turnovers and some tough mental lapses but part of that game will change with experience.
Stanley finished with 12 rebounds but had four turnovers and was 1-7 from the field.
The Broncos did a good job of containing Mashburn, who scored only four points in 21 minutes. JT Toppin only scored two points but had 13 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Boise State's bench scored only three points. They contributed in other ways but will definitely need to do more in the NCAA tournament, where the Broncos should land anywhere between a no. 7 and no. 9 seed.
Semifinal action
Boise State was one of three seeds in the top-4 to lose in quarterfinal action. Earlier in the day, no. 4 UNLV fell in overtime to San Diego State, losing by three. And no. 2 Nevada lost to Colorado State, 85-76.
Top seed Utah State needed overtime to knock off Fresno State, 87-75.
Schedule for 3/15 (all times Pacific):
- #1 Utah State vs #5 San Diego State (6:30 p.m.)
- #6 New Mexico vs #7 Colorado State (9 p.m.)
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