Boise State women chase Mountain West history in Vegas; BSU men learn quarterfinal foe
The music playing in the Boise State locker room this week at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas won’t be determined by 13 separate DJs playing for an audience of one.
There will be one speaker for one team with a very specific and unprecedented goal.
The Broncos hope to become the first women’s basketball team in league history to win four straight Mountain West Tournament championships. And they plan to get there by doing everything together.
“I feel like we were just winning our third (championship) yesterday,” Boise State senior guard Riley Lupfer said. “It’s just crazy how fast time flies. You come in here and you never could imagine something like that. To go out with these girls winning four and being undefeated in the tournament? That would just be something I can’t even put into words.”
The second-seeded Broncos (21-9) earned a first-round bye, so they’ll begin tournament play against No. 7 Air Force (10-20) — a 60-48 winner over No. 10 Colorado State in Sunday’s first round. Boise State’s quarterfinal opener tips off at 7 p.m. MT Monday and will be streamed online by the Mountain West Network. The Broncos are 19-1 all-time against the Falcons, including 14 straight wins.
With a 9-0 record at the tournament over the last three seasons, the Broncos have developed a winning routine. It’s become a tradition they look forward to every year.
“We have a few little routines and stuff we do,” Boise State senior guard Braydey Hodgins said. “It’s just types of music we play that we don’t normally listen to and just different vibes that we’re excited for in Vegas. It’s kind of just that team atmosphere that we don’t necessarily get all the times on the road.
“We get to spend three, four, five days on the road with our team. Normally it’s one or two, so it’s just those extra little moments that we look forward to.”
And what exactly will the Broncos be blasting on that speaker in the locker room?
“Sometimes a little Miley Cyrus,” Hodgins said. “It just depends on the day.”
The Broncos won’t simply be in sync lyrically. They enter the tournament on a five-game winning streak playing their best basketball of the season. At least four Broncos have scored in double figures in each of the last five victories, and Boise State won its final three games of the regular season by margins of 18, 19 and 29 points.
“I think the chemistry just kind of finally clicked,” Hodgins said. “It took a little longer than we expected, but just knowing where people are and moving the ball with pace and getting the right people in the right spots at the right time has been really successful for us.”
The impetus behind a fourth straight Mountain West Tournament title is an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Boise State has advanced four times in the last five seasons, but the program is still looking for its first win. The Broncos had the elusive victory in their grasp last March before falling to Oregon State 80-75 in overtime.
There are six seniors on this year’s roster who would like to end their decorated careers with one last piece of history.
“I think the seniors are coming to the close of their career, and they see the end in sight and they want to finish strong,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said. “They know that they have a chance to have a real legacy here if we can do this four straight times. I think that’s a lot on their minds.”
Two Broncos honored by league
Boise State redshirt senior point guard Jayde Christopher and senior guard Riley Lupfer were each named to the All-Mountain West Team, the conference announced Sunday. Christopher also was voted to the five-player Mountain West All-Defensive Team.
The teams are chosen by the conference’s coaches and only take into account performance over the 18-game league schedule.
Lupfer was chosen for the third straight season, becoming only the third player in program history to claim at least three first-team all-conference honors.
Fresno State junior Maddi Utti was selected as the conference’s player of the year.
Men’s basketball: Broncos earn No. 5 seed
Minutes after Boise State’s 76-66 loss at UNLV on Wednesday, Leon Rice predicted the Broncos would draw a rematch with the Rebels in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals.
“It sounds like it’s almost guaranteed. I’d be really surprised if that’s not who we play,” Rice said in a postgame radio interview on 670 AM.
“I think my thing this week is I’m not gonna really even talk about it. We’re gonna prepare for it in the dark and we’re gonna do our thing and come down here and compete.”
Rice’s prediction came to fruition with the conclusion of league play Saturday night. The fifth-seeded Broncos (19-11) will face No. 4 UNLV (17-14) in the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. MT on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The game will be televised by CBS Sports Network.
It will be the third meeting between the two schools this season. Boise State beat UNLV 73-66 on Jan. 8 in Boise.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 10:12 PM.
