Backs against the wall, with their season on the line, the quarterfinal matchup with the San Diego State Aztecs turned into a classic Mountain West affair. Brutal. Hustle from both teams. Big-time shots and hard-nosed defense.
For the first time this season, Boise State defeated San Diego State, winning 62-52 to advance to the semifinals of the Mountain West tournament.
The Broncos (23-9) won despite attempting a program-tying record 40 three-pointers (making 11). Ugly? Yes. But the shots made were timely and it was a hard-nosed effort by contributors across the board that helped propel Boise State to victory.
Holding the Aztecs to no field goals and only five points the final 9:11 sure helped a lot, too.
Four players scored in double figures for the Broncos, led by Alvaro Cardenas. The senior finished with 16 points (four made 3's) and four assists.
Tyson Degenhart (14 points, 7 rebounds), Andrew Meadow (12 points, 7 rebounds), and Pearson Carmichael (10 points, 5 rebounds) also reached double digits in the scoring column.
The intangible efforts of Meadow, Carmichael, and RJ Keene II hustling on the boards played heavy into this victory. Keene was all over the court, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds, and these three players combined for eight of Boise State's 13 offensive rebounds.
Overall, the Broncos were dominant on the boards, collecting 40 to San Diego State's 28. Boise State had eight steals, led by Meadow with three.
All this helped offset a 33.9 percent effort from the field.
San Diego State (21-9) was not a whole lot better at 38.3 percent. The Aztecs shot 5 of 20 in the second half and committed 12 turnovers on the game.
Nick Boyd led the Aztecs with 20 points, who were without Mountain West Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year Magoon Gwath. A knee injury sidelined Gwath, who suited up for the contest but did not play.
Broncos come out firing
Boise State found themselves in a quick 5-0 hole but responded with three-pointers from Meadow, Carmichael, and Cardenas to carry a 9-0 run.
A three from Javan Buchanan gave the Broncos a 12-7 lead. Boise State's first 11 attempts were all from deep, providing an indicator as to how this game would play out.
Still hoisting up three-pointers, the Broncos went cold and San Diego State rattled off an 8-0 run, turning a one-point deficit into a four-point lead.
Cardenas knocked down two free throws to score the game at 19 but the Aztecs again responded with a 9-0 run. This spurt saw needless turnovers by the Broncos and O'Mar Stanley picking up his third foul.
The lead for San Diego State swelled to 11 after a BJ Davis three. Degenhart and Cardenas made threes of their own, sandwiched around a solid defensive set, and Boise State trailed at halftime 33-28.
Cardenas scored eight points in the half, with Degenhart adding seven.
Boise State: Defense on lockdown
The second half did not fail to deliver on entertaining action, with five ties and seven lead changes.
Boise State came out firing, using a wraparound 13-0 run to take a 35-33 with a fast break layup from Emmanuel Ugbo.
Boyd answered with back-to-back threes to give the Aztecs a four-point lead. The Broncos responded with a three from Cardenas and, after a loose ball scramble epitomizing the effort of both teams, a Meadow basket and free throw to retake the lead at 41-39.
Back and forth the teams went. A layup by Boyd gave the Aztecs their last lead, and last field goal, at 47-45 with 9:11 left.
Tied at 49, Degenhart gave Boise State the lead for good with a three-pointer at the 5:36 mark. All San Diego State could muster in those final minutes was three made three throws.
With the victory, Boise State helped strengthen its resume for the NCAA tournament. The Broncos could use one more win to feel safer about postseason possibilities and will get the chance against top seed New Mexico. The Lobos defeated San Jose State 63-52 in the opening game of the quarterfinal round.
Boise State and New Mexico split their two regular season meetings. The Lobos won by 19 at home while Boise State protected their home court with an 86-78 victory. Tip-off for this semifinal matchup is set for Friday (3/14) at 7:30 p.m. (MT).
In the third quarterfinal game of the day, no. 2 seed Colorado State defeated no. 7 seed Nevada, 67-59.
The Rams will play the winner of no. 3 seed Utah State and no. 6 seed UNLV in the second semifinal game on Friday.
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