Boise State at Wyoming men’s basketball series: How to watch, prediction and odds
Some opponents have made the mistake of leaving Boise State guard Max Rice wide open this season.
Wyoming men’s basketball coach Jeff Linder knows better.
“It’s amazing how teams don’t guard Max Rice,” Linder said in a Zoom interview Friday. “God bless Max, I mean, it’s amazing the open shots that people allow him to shoot. I’m happy for Max, because I’ve seen him from the time he was about 8 years old, 9 years old, to grow up and turn into the player he has.
“But he’s not gonna have as many open looks as he’s had against other teams against us. I know that for a fact.”
Linder was an assistant coach under Leon Rice at Boise State from 2010 to 2016. Max Rice, one of Leon’s three sons, was in elementary school when Linder joined the Broncos.
Now the first-year Wyoming coach will have to face his mentor and friend in a two-game Mountain West series Monday and Wednesday at Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
“Leon is very comfortable knowing that he doesn’t know everything, and he’s done an unbelievable job of hiring assistant coaches that make up for some of the things he’s not as good at. He has no ego. ... It’s not like when he gives you the offense or defense he’s looking over your shoulder 24/7. He gives it to you, and he lets you do it. ...
“The freedom that he gave me with the offense and what we did with the offense from Day One and how it’s kind of evolved to now, I wouldn’t be necessarily as good of an offensive coach if he hadn’t given me the freedom and the ability to own the offense.”
The Cowboys (7-2, 1-1 MW) and Broncos (10-1, 6-0) enter Monday’s game with the No. 1 and No. 2 scoring offenses, respectively, in the Mountain West. Wyoming is averaging 10 made 3-pointers per game at a clip of 37.97%. The Broncos, meanwhile, own the conference’s top 3-point defense, limiting opponents to an average of 29.2%.
Max Rice, a redshirt sophomore guard, has been a key contributor for the Broncos off the bench. He’s averaging 9.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. The Bishop Kelly High graduate has made 20-of-43 attempts from 3-point range, which is second-most on the team.
“Looking forward to the challenge,” Linder said. “We obviously know from watching and what Leon has built there, this is as talented of a team as he’s had from top to bottom. You look at that roster, the eight to nine guys that they play, there’s not a lot of holes.”
Update: Boise State defeated Wyoming 83-60 in Game 1 on Monday in Laramie.
NOTABLES
▪ Redshirt senior Derrick Alston Jr. has 1,202 career points and ranks No. 14 on Boise State’s all-time scoring list. Alston is on the verge of overtaking Gerry Washington (1,210 points; 1995-99) for the No. 13 spot. Alston climbed from No. 30 to No. 14 on the career list over the first 10 games of the season. He is averaging a team-leading 16.7 points per game.
▪ Boise State set a program record with its victory over Wyoming on Monday. The Broncos have won 11 straight games, passing the previous record of 10 in a row held by the 2015-16 and 1987-88 squads. Boise State also matched the program’s best start to conference play. The 1987-88 team started Big Sky play 7-0.
“Definitely it’s big, you know, I think a big thing for myself was just when I decided to come back was my legacy and how I wanted to leave Boise State, leave our team,” Alston said. “I think our team has really just adopted a no-limits kind of mentality and just trying to be the best team in school history. So, I think definitely to be in the record books with a lot of great Bronco teams that have kind of gotten us to this point, I think it’s definitely just a hat off to them. We’re excited to continue that tradition and keep going forward.”
▪ Boise State’s elite defense and stable of scorers have led to a scoring margin of 19 points per game, which ranks No. 11 nationally and No. 1 in the Mountain West. The Broncos have won their seven conference games by an average of 23.9 points. The Broncos rank among the top 50 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (No. 27), rebound margin (tie No. 29), scoring defense (No. 21) and scoring offense (No. 35).
“There’s a lot of opportunities on this team, and we’ve got a lot of talented guys. Based on the night, it’s going to be matchups,” Boise State senior Abu Kigab said. “A lot of times guys have mismatches, and as a team we love to abuse that. It comes down to really our defense, that’s what we really take pride in and we’re gonna to continue to take pride in and take even more pride in. Because that’s what really wins games: defense and rebounding.”
▪ Wyoming has shown an ability to take care of the basketball this season, averaging 10.3 turnovers per game, which is good enough for the No. 15 mark in the country. The Cowboys have also been dangerous behind the 3-point line, connecting at a rate of 37.97% (No. 39 nationally).
Boise State at Wyoming
When: 7 p.m. MT Wednesday
Where: Arena-Auditorium in Laramie, Wyoming
TV: CBS Sports Network (Carter Blackburn and Avery Johnson)
Radio: KBOI 670 AM (Bob Behler, Abe Jackson)
Records: Boise State 11-1, 7-0 MW; Wyoming 7-3, 1-2 MW
Series: Boise State leads 18-14
Last meeting: Boise State won 83-60 on Monday in Laramie
Vegas line: Boise State by 9.5
KenPom rating: Boise State 62; Wyoming 198
KenPom & ESPN predictions
Ken Pomeroy, who created the popular college basketball statistical website KenPom.com, ranks every Division I team using an adjusted efficiency margin, which Pomeroy defines as the difference between a team’s offensive and defensive efficiency.
According to Pomeroy’s detailed statistical analysis, Boise State has an 80% chance of beating Wyoming. His score prediction is a 79-70 BSU victory.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index: Boise State has a 92.5% chance of winning with a predicted point differential of 16.6.
Note: All stats and rankings are through Sunday’s games.
Women’s basketball: Broncos return home
The Boise State women’s basketball team resumes Mountain West play against Wyoming (4-3, 2-2 MW) on Monday and Wednesday at ExtraMile Arena.
Both games are scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network, which is available at BroncoSports.com/mwn. A radio broadcast is available on 1350 AM.
The Cowgirls are 2-9 all-time on the road against Boise State and trail the overall series 15-12. The Broncos (6-1, 3-1) have eliminated Wyoming from the Mountain West Tournament the past two seasons, winning 79-71 in the semifinals last season and 68-51 in the 2019 championship game.
Update: Boise State beat Wyoming 68-61 in Game 1 on Monday in Boise.
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 2:03 PM.
