In spite of the electric energy from Bronco Nation at Senior Night on March 7, 2025, the Boise State Men’s Basketball team couldn’t get it done against the Colorado State Rams, losing 83-73 and snapping a five-game win streak.
It also marked the final home game for seniors’ Tyson Degenhart, Alvaro Cardenas and O’Mar Stanley, who all started the game. The Broncos finished the regular season with a 14-2 home record, their best since the 2022-2023 season.
The first half was a game of runs as the Broncos fell behind 17-11 but then erupted with a 12-0 run. The Broncos and Rams tied at the half 34-34.
The Rams came out of the second half strong, led by senior guard Nique Clifford, capping off the night with 36 points, shooting 13-18 (72.2%) from the field.
“He [Clifford] was special,” Head Coach Leon Rice said in a postgame press conference. “We guarded him pretty good a lot of times, but he just wouldn’t miss and he was cooking and he looked like a lottery pick tonight.”
For the Broncos, senior guard Cardenas finished the game with 18 points, eight assists and six rebounds in 38 minutes of play.
Sophomore forward Andrew Meadow also had a strong performance, finishing with 22 points and six rebounds.
“I think [my game’s] came a long way, but I’m confident in myself — I know what I can do on the floor, I don’t think it’s anything extraordinary,” Meadow said in a postgame press conference. “I think I just caught a stride and my teammates are finding me and I’m hitting shots.”
The Broncos held a nine point lead twice in the second half, with Colorado State coming back both times. In the final 10 minutes of the game, the Rams ended on a 32-13 run, solidifying their win in front of a sold-out crowd.
“Nobody wants to go out like that, but we can’t dwell on it too much,” Cardenas said in a postgame press conference. “We really appreciate the people in Boise, they really showed out today, the environment was great and [we’re] sad that we couldn’t get a win in our last game, but we’re not done yet.”
This was another game where the Broncos struggled to shoot from behind the arc, going 7-29 (24.1%), their third consecutive game with a three-point percentage of around 24%.
“Credit to them, they did a really good job of switching their defense and going to that two-three zone,” Cardenas said. “It really got us out of rhythm and it’s good to know, we’ll prepare for it and we got to be better.”
The Rams defense also contained senior forward Degenhart to only six shots, ending the game with 15 points and nine rebounds.
The loss hurts Boise State’s chances to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and they will most likely have to punch their ticket by winning the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
“Just taking it one day at a time,” Meadow said of the team’s game plan going forward. “We can’t look ahead to next Saturday — we got to look ahead to Monday and have a great practice on Monday and just take it from there.”
The Broncos now drop to the fifth seed but still secure a first-round tournament bye. They’ll face San Diego State, a team they haven’t defeated this season, in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 13.
