The Broncos’ regular season is over, and the postseason is about to begin. Boise State won two of the final three games in March to cap the season off at 22-9 (13-5 MWC).
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
March started with a big home game against the University of New Mexico.
“We’re playing (really) good,” head coach Leon Rice said. “When I saw that New Mexico team, I knew they were dialed in. We were going to have to play an A game tonight to beat them…”
And an “A” game they played. While the first half was tight, ending with the Broncos leading 35-33, the Blue and Orange turned on the jets in the second.
Right from the get go, Boise State started building a larger and larger lead that they never lost. After a three pointer from junior forward Tyson Degenhart that put them up by 11, the Broncos never looked back
On the night, Degenhart put up 23 points, with 15 in the second half helping the Broncos hold onto a double digit lead that they maintained for the final six minutes of the match. 89-79 and a Boise State win.
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO
Boise State followed their great home court performance in anticlimactic fashion against Nevada.
In their last match at home, Boise State struggled against the Wolf Pack.
Senior guard Hunter McIntosh nailed 6-6 three pointers off the bench, to make up half of the 12 threes Nevada had as they tied their season high from beyond the arch.
“Steve (Alford) has them playing great, McIntosh had the chance to start a few games and now is coming off the bench with a rhythm,” Leon Rice said. “They’re an interesting story because they came into the league as one of the worst three-point shooting teams to now arguably the best in the league. They played a great game today and that’s what’s needed to win in this conference.”
And good from three they are, as this night was the only time all season the Broncos allowed more than eight of them in the first half and was the second time they allowed an opponent to shoot 50% from distance.
The end of the match wasn’t too inspiring for the Broncos. They never came within eight points as the Wolf Pack stamped a 76-66 win once the clock hit zero.
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Boise State wrapped up the regular season in spectacular fashion against No. 21 SDSU, who despite having an up and down back half of their season, still came into the match ranked 21st in the nation.
If the final score doesn’t say enough, then perhaps the final minutes of the game will.
After Roddie Anderson III hit a jumper with seven seconds in regulation to tie the game at 72, the match headed into overtime.
“You dream about these moments as a kid,” Roddie Anderson III said. “We had a little play called up and I went down the middle and felt I was able to make the floater and by the grace of God it went in.”
Boise State was the first to strike. At the three minute mark, Cam Martin put up a layup to make the score 74-72 Boise State. After a minute and a half of no scoring, a feisty Bronco possession looked to end in a shot clock violation, until Max Rice uncorked a near 40-foot bomb from the logo to put Boise State up by five.
The Aztecs rallied back though. Micah Parrish hit a layup with a minute and a half left, and with just 19 seconds in overtime, SDSU’s Darrion Trammell drained a three to tie things up at 77.
The Broncos rushed back down the floor and after a missed layup from Anderson III, Martin grabbed an offensive rebound, drew a foul and sank both free throws with 1.7 remaining.
Still a chance left, SDSU passed the ball down past half court and none other than Cam Martin got an arm up to swat away any chance of a happy ending for the Aztecs on their senior night.
“We’ve got such tough guys, we have seven road wins in the league,” Leon Rice said. “This is one of the hardest places in the country to win and you can’t do that without grit. We kept fighting, made timely threes and changed up our defense to get the win.”
Not only do they have seven road wins, but Boise State has won six of their last seven games this season.
The Broncos’ regular season is all said and done. They’re currently ranked 2nd in the MWC, but will have to wait until March 17, 2024 to find out their seeding for the Mountain West Tournament that tips off in Las Vegas on March 13.