BOISE – After playing three of the past four games on the road, including last Friday night’s heartbreaking loss at New Mexico, the Boise State men’s basketball team is eager for some home cooking this week.
The Broncos (15-5, 5-2 MW) are home for the next two games: Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Fresno State and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against Colorado State.
“It’s nice to be at home for a while,” Boise State guard Marcus Shaver Jr. said. “I like playing on the road too, but being at home we have that home court advantage and I know our team loves the crowd here.”
Boise State experienced first hand in Albuquerque how intimidating and impactful a crowd can be. The Lobos packed 14,556 into The Pit and were as loud and as into the game as any road crowd the Broncos have experienced in several years.
“They’d make a play and the place would go crazy,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said.
The Broncos hope for the same advantage down the stretch. The Broncos are averaging 8,643 fans through nine home games, the third-highest total in the Mountain West. But for a huge game against Nevada last week with first place on the line, the Broncos had nearly 3,000 unsold seats and several more were empty.
“We have to get this place rocking,” Rice said Monday. “It makes a difference. It’s huge. ExtraMile Arena helps us. We need it full and we need the fans here. These Mountain West games have been amazing, so hopefully fans come out and we get a sellout or close to it.”
Asked if Friday night at The Pit was an example of the impact the crowd can have on the outcome of a game, Rice said bluntly, “Absolutely.”
Tickets start at $20 and are available at BroncoSports.com.
Boise State remains in a strong spot in the computer rankings, but hasn’t gotten nearly as much traction from human voters and bracketologists. The Broncos entered Monday night’s action ranked No. 21 in the NET, No. 20 at BartTorvik.com and No. 25 at KenPom, but got just two votes in Monday’s AP Poll. Many bracketologists still have the Broncos on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament as well.
The next three games are essentially must-win games for the Broncos. They won’t help them a ton by winning (unless they win big), but losses would be crushing to their NCAA Tournament resume. After home games against Fresno State and Colorado State, the Broncos play at Air Force next Tuesday before a huge game a week from Saturday at San Diego State.
The New Mexico loss didn’t hurt the Broncos much, but would have been a huge win. Now Boise State must turn the page and not let one loss become two with Fresno State coming to town.
“Those heartbreakers are sometimes harder, but we have to,” Rice said. “There’s a lot of great things to take away from it. … We’re good at closing the book and moving on, learning from it and getting better. And that’s what you have to do, and what this league is about.
Fresno State (7-11, 3-4 MW) is coming off an impressive 76-63 home win over UNLV last Saturday. The Bulldogs also hold a 71-67 win over New Mexico.
It’s designated as a Quad 4 game – and one the Broncos have to have.
“We have a Fresno team that looks like they are playing as good as they have all year,” Rice said. “They handled UNLV this weekend and looked terrific.”
One thing that would help the Broncos? A big home crowd.
“No doubt the crowd helps so much,” Shaver Jr. said. “That was probably one of the craziest games I’ve ever played in. My ears were ringing at New Mexico. I truly believe the crowd makes an impact on the game for sure.”
Bronco Nation News will have full coverage Tuesday, starting with the Lithia Ford of Boise Pregame Show at 6 p.m. MT on the BNN YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts.