Boise State’s loss in regular-season finale seals Broncos’ fate for Mountain West tourney
Body language told a story just as clearly as the scoreboard Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
After hitting a 3-pointer at the top of the arc midway through the second half, UNLV’s Elijah Mitrou-Long broke out in a shimmy. The Rebels had plenty of reasons to celebrate.
UNLV held the Boise State men’s basketball team to its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season in a 76-66 win in the Broncos’ Mountain West regular-season finale. Boise State went 20-for-64 (31.3 percent) from the field, second only to the 30.9 percent it shot against UC Irvine.
Boise State is now 19-11 overall and 11-7 in league play. The loss locks the Broncos into the No. 4 vs. No. 5 quarterfinal in the Mountain West Tournament, which runs March 4-7 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Whether the Broncos are the 4 or 5 seed depends on the outcome of Saturday’s five remaining league matchups.
The Broncos’ tournament opener will tip off at 3 p.m. MT next Thursday, and their opponent likely could be UNLV.
If that proves true, Boise State will have a week to come up with a defensive strategy to contain guards Amauri Hardy and Bryce Hamilton, who scored 24 and 22 points, respectively, on Wednesday.
“They just went through us like a hot knife through butter,” Boise State coach Leon Rice told Bob Behler in a postgame radio interview on 670 AM. “… We had no rim protection. (RJ Williams) was in foul trouble, and (Robin Jorch) wasn’t playing that good.”
Despite the disappointment of the loss, two Boise State seniors reached career milestones against the Rebels (16-14, 11-6). Justinian Jessup made four 3-pointers — and scored all of his 19 points — in the second half. Jessup has 93 triples this season, breaking the Broncos’ single-season record of 92 set by Abe Jackson during the 2001-02 season. He simultaneously increased his Mountain West and Boise State career 3-point records to 320.
Fellow senior Alex Hobbs was the Broncos’ lone bright spot in a difficult first half. The La Porte, Texas, native started the game 3-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from 3-point range for 10 points. His triple just ahead of the halftime buzzer made him the 30th member of the Broncos’ 1,000-point club.
The Broncos scored just 22 points and shot 25 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. The 22 points matches a season low for the Broncos, who also had 22 points and shot 28 percent in the first half of their loss at Tulsa in December.
UNLV extended its lead to as many as 27 points, 60-33 with 10:53 to play, before the Broncos showed some life. Boise State went on a 27-11 run and cut the deficit to seven points with 31.3 seconds left.
“We have to guard the ball better. We have to help each other better,” Rice said. “If you want to get something done next week, we have to play a lot better defense.”
Williams notched his 10th double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 8:03 remaining. Derrick Alston Jr. added 11 points and eight boards.
UNLV 76, BOISE ST. 66
BOISE ST. (19-11, 11-7 MW)
Kigab 4-11 0-2 9, Alston 3-10 4-4 11, Dennis 1-6 2-2 4, Jessup 5-12 5-5 19, Williams 3-10 4-9 10, Hobbs 3-9 2-3 10, Rice 0-3 0-0 0, Dickinson 1-1 0-0 3, Jorch 0-2 0-0 0, Abercrombie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-64 17-25 66.
UNLV (16-14, 11-6 MW)
Blair 2-3 1-1 5, Shibel 0-2 0-0 0, Hamilton 7-12 6-10 22, Hardy 9-13 3-7 24, Mitrou-Long 7-14 1-2 16, Coleman 2-6 1-2 5, Green 1-1 1-3 3, Mbacke Diong 0-1 1-2 1, Antonio 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 14-27 76.
Halftime—UNLV 34-22. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 9-26 (Jessup 4-9, Hobbs 2-3, Dickinson 1-1, Kigab 1-3, Alston 1-5, Rice 0-1, Dennis 0-4), UNLV 6-24 (Hardy 3-6, Hamilton 2-4, Mitrou-Long 1-6, Shibel 0-2, Antonio 0-3, Coleman 0-3). Fouled Out—Williams. Rebounds—Boise St. 42 (Williams 13), UNLV 41 (Coleman 11). Assists—Boise St. 11 (Jessup 3), UNLV 15 (Hardy 5). Total Fouls—Boise St. 22, UNLV 20. A—9,627 (18,776).
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 11:53 PM.
