The Boise State men’s basketball team controls its own destiny with four games left in the regular season.
If the Broncos (21-6, 11-3 MW) win all four they’ll be assured no worse than a share of the Mountain West regular season title – and they’d all but officially lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament as well.
But winning the four remaining games is much easier said than done. The Broncos are entering arguably their toughest four-game stretch of the season to close things out, starting Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. against New Mexico (20-7, 7-7 MW).
Boise State then goes to San Jose State on Saturday before hosting first-place San Diego State next Tuesday. The Broncos close out the regular season a week from Saturday on March 4 at Utah State.
“This is what you dream about – being in college and playing in big games down the stretch,” Boise State forward Tyson Degenhart said Tuesday. “It’s hard to sometimes to stay focused on that one game at a time (mentality), but we’re doing our best to stay locked in and get ready for New Mexico.”
The Broncos are looking for revenge on the Lobos after Boise State fell 81-79 in an overtime thriller in which the Broncos tied the game on a 3-pointer from Degenhart in the final seconds of regulation before New Mexico won it with a bucket in the last seconds of overtime.
The 81 points was the most given up by the Broncos this season.
“We lost a heartbreaker down there and were excited for another chance at them,” Degenhart said. “Their record in conference may not show it but they are a really good team, especially with (Jaelen) House coming back. They are a completely different team. He adds such a different dynamic to their team, so we’r exited to play them tomorrow.”
The New Mexico matchup is the first of two ‘Quad 2’ games for the Broncos. Currently Boise State is 1-3 in Quad 1 games, but 8-1 in Quad 2 games. Both the San Diego State and Utah State games next week will qualify as Quad 1.
The better you do in Quad 1 and Quad 2 (the tougher games on your schedule), the better chance you have of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament should you not win your conference tournament.
Currently Boise State is in the field from nearly all bracket projections including ESPN, CBS Sports, FOX Sports and Stadium, but two or more losses in this four-game stretch could have the Broncos sweating come Selection Sunday.
“You love this time,” Boise State forward Naje Smith said. “You love the energy, you love everyone coming around and supporting us. We’re just going to try to do our best to stay locked in and keep playing hard.”
Asked what worked for the Broncos down the stretch last year when they won five of the last six games of the season to win the Mountain West, Smith said, “Being calm and staying composed and definitely the team aspect. Sometimes a lot of guys like to play hero ball, but last year I definitely feel like our defense was our thing and everyone came together as a team, so we’re just trying to keep that going to stay together.”
New Mexico guard Jaelen House missed losses to Air Force and Wyoming but returned for an impressive 96-68 win at San Jose State last Friday.
The Lobos were the last undefeated team at 12-0 and improved to 18-2 following the win against Boise State back on Jan. 20. It’s been a little bit of a struggle since – they are just 2-5 in their past seven games – but have arguably three of the top 10 players in the conference in House, Jamal Mashburn and Morris Udeze and shown they can beat anybody in the league.
New Mexico has road wins at San Diego State and Saint Mary’s in addition to the home win over the Broncos.
“New Mexico is a really good team and they’ve got their mojo back, I know that,” coach Leon Rice said. “They were without House a couple games and that’s like us having to play without Shaver. House is that kind of player for them.
“It sets up for a great college basketball night and we need everybody to come out. I know it’s a little later than we want, but we don’t get a say in that. It’s a television thing, but we need that atmosphere to be rocking.”
There’s plenty on the line Wednesday night at ExtraMile Arena. But the Broncos wouldn’t have it any other way.
