On paper there appears to be very little chance the Boise State men’s basketball team can go down to Albuquerque and hang with the New Mexico Lobos on Wednesday at The Pit.
But that’s why they play the games, right?
No. 19 New Mexico (18-3, 6-2 MW) has won five straight games by double digits, has maybe the best trio of guards in the league and has one of the best homecourt advantages in all of college basketball.
“They are clicking as good as anybody in the country right now,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said.
The Broncos (14-6, 5-2), meanwhile, are coming off a deflating overtime home loss to Utah State and now must face their toughest stretch of the season – road games at New Mexico, Colorado State and Utah State in a span of 10 days.
The scenario doesn’t seem ripe for a Boise State win – but then again, college basketball can be a weird game sometimes.
“They were hurting,” Rice said. “It got snatched from you. Those are hard, really hard, especially when it’s two really good teams playing for first place, at home. These guys take it hard, but when you talk about toughness and the ability to respond, the toughness, that’s where this comes in. It takes a lot of the right mentality to be able to do that.”
The Lobos are ranked in the top 25 of all major metrics and human polls, including No. 15 in the NET rankings. KenPom projects the Lobos to win 79-70 – the largest point spread heading into a Boise State game so far this season.
Part of that is how good the Lobos are. Part of that is how tough The Pit is to play in. New Mexico leads the Mountain West in average home attendance at 12,475 and the Lobos are a perfect 11-0 at home this season.
“It’s got to be one of the top five venues in the country,” Rice said.
Last year the Broncos faced an electric atmosphere at New Mexico and nearly pulled off an improbable comeback. Tyson Degenhart tied the game on a 3-pointer with barely a second left in regulation and the Broncos nearly forced a second overtime before New Mexico scored with two seconds left to win.
There also was an issue at halftime with the Broncos and the New Mexico baseball team, which was stationed outside the Boise State locker room and talking trash to the Broncos as they tried to get down to court. Rice said it got ‘physical’ but both sides have contradicting stories as to what actually happened.
Boise State is 3-0 on the road in Mountain West play this season – but none of the road atmospheres to this point were close to what the Broncos will experience on Wednesday night.
“I remember one year they stole it from us and went down and dunked the ball and the roof caved in and I looked up and was like ‘we’re still up eight, it feels like we’re down 20’,” Rice said. “It can rain down on you. It’s so loud in there. And there’s that. But then now they have a team that’s playing the way they are and it all adds up.”
The Lobos are the highest-ranked Mountain West team in the computer metrics and haven’t lost in three plus weeks. On its five game winning streak New Mexico has beaten San Diego State by 18, Utah State by 13, Air Force by 19, San Jose State by 20 and Nevada by 34.
“You see the numbers of what they’ve been doing to teams down there – and good teams,” Rice said. “Nobody can argue that San Diego State, Utah State and Nevada aren’t really good teams, and they just got blitzkrieged down there.”
New Mexico has four players averaging at least 13.0 points per game including a trio of guards in Jamal Mashburn Jr. (15.6 ppg), Jaelen House (15.6 ppg) and Donovan Dent (14.8 ppg). First year forwards JT Toppin (13.0 ppg) and Nelly Junior Joseph (9.3 ppg) have made immediate impacts as well.
“They are really clocking and they are playing with such supreme confidence,” Rice said. “They’ve got veteran guys who are really playing with confidence and freedom. They’ve all settled into the system that fits them and its working for them. And they are so aggressive – they take on a whole new aggressiveness at home, no doubt.
“They’ve got great chemistry, too. Just watching them play, they have great confidence, and when you are winning like that and it’s all going right for you, that really helps with your confidence. That’s what jumps off the page to me. Some of these shots they make are like ‘wow’. It takes a lot to shoot those and then even more to make them.”
While Mashburn and House get most of the headlines, Dent has made significant improvements as a sophomore. He’s averaging more than six assists per game and shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
“He’s one of the best point guards in the league, no doubt,” Rice said. “I think people were anxious to see how those three would fit together and it looks like they are fitting like a glove.”
Tip off is set for 8:30 p.m. on FOX Sports 1. Bronco Nation News will be live from The Pit with the Lithia Ford of Boise Pregame Show at 7:30 p.m. on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
