It wasn’t the 14-point margin that KenPom projected or the 17-point spread oddsmakers in Las Vegas had Saturday night in Fresno – but the Boise State men’s basketball team did enough to avoid a disastrous loss in a 66-61 win over Fresno State at the SaveMart Center.
The Broncos trailed a good chunk of the game and found themselves down 59-56 with 4:50 to go before ending the game on a 10-2 run to win a fourth straight game and keep hopes alive for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“I thought our energy was good and we made tough, tough plays down the stretch,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said during his postgame radio interview on the Bronco Radio Network. “The biggest thing is you accomplished the mission and got the job done. We knew it wouldn’t be easy. They had a week to prepare.”
Andrew Meadow had 22 points, Tyson Degenhart had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Alvaro Cardenas had 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Broncos, who now head to Air Force for another tricky road game on Tuesday before finishing the regular season at home next Friday night against Colorado State.
Boise State (21-8, 13-5 MW) has won eight of its last nine games since Jan. 22 and was coming off a three-game stretch that included hard-fought, emotional wins over New Mexico and Utah State at home and on the road at Nevada.
A big win would have helped the Broncos improve their metrics and computer numbers for their NCAA Tournament resume. The Broncos remained No. 43 in the NET ranking on Sunday morning but did drop six spots at KenPom to No. 50.
The Broncos were rightfully heavy favorites against a Bulldog team that entered 5-23 overall, 1-16 in Mountain West play and had multiple players suspended due to a gambling investigation. But it was anything but easy for the visitors – who never led by more than three points until the final 90 seconds.
Boise State made just 8 of 28 shots in the first half and shot just 37.5 percent for the game, but many of the missed shots were layups and wide open 3s that just didn’t go in. Boise State, which connected on just 7 of 29 attempts from 3-point range, held Fresno State to 37.3 percent shooting and won the rebounding battle 43-34.
The Broncos trailed by six in the first half and found itself in a back-and-forth game throughout. There were 17 lead changes and 10 ties.
The final lead change came after Boise State trailed 59-56 with 4:50 to go. Layups by Andrew Meadow and Tyson Degenhart put the Broncos in front 60-59, and a pair of Meadow free throws pushed it to 62-59 with 2:08 to go.
Emmanuel Ugbo then blocked a shot on one end and scored with a left-handed hook shot on the other end to give the Broncos their biggest lead at 64-59 with 1:15 to go. After Fresno State cut the deficit to 3, Ugbo added a dunk with 10 seconds left to make it 66-61 and help the Broncos avoid a season-crushing loss.
“That’s what it was really about – this is a team that knows how to win now,” Rice said. “We just hung in there and hung in there. Gosh we missed a lot of shots, especially in the first half. I thought we should have had about a 10-point lead. But all those things are going wrong and you look up and it’s a one-point game or a tie game.
“We just hung in there and weathered the storm and made some big plays down the stretch. … When we play our best, I don’t think people can hang with us. But it’s easier said than done to do it every single night.”
Tip off Tuesday at Clune Arena at The Air Force Academy is set for 7 p.m. on The Mountain West Network. Bronco Nation News will have a live pregame show from Clune Arena starting at 6 p.m.
POSTGAME SHOW
