Boise State at Nevada men’s basketball: How to watch, prediction and odds
Note: Tipoff was pushed back to 8:45 p.m. MT on FS1 because the St. John’s vs. UConn game was going late.
Lawlor Events Center, home of the Nevada Wolf Pack, hasn’t been an easy place for the Boise State men’s basketball team to play — especially of late.
The Broncos haven’t won in Reno since Jan. 13, 2016, and they’re 11-28 on Nevada’s home court in the history of the matchup. According to KenPom.com, Lawlor Events Center ranks No. 34 among Division I arenas for home-court advantage.
Boise State enters Wednesday’s Mountain West matchup against the Wolf Pack as a slim favorite, riding a seven-game winning streak. But the Broncos haven’t played a game since Dec. 28 after COVID-19 problems within the program forced the entire team to quarantine, resulting in the postponement of three games.
“That’s the big challenge, and talking to a lot of other coaches and watching a lot of other games around the country of teams that are coming off pauses, I’ve seen some big dropoffs with some teams,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said during a Zoom interview Monday. “That’s the thing we’re gonna fight to fix. And we’re gonna fight to understand what we’re up against as far as the challenges you do face when you are paused.”
Nevada is also coming out of a COVID pause that caused the postponement of the Wolf Pack’s scheduled games against Wyoming (Jan. 4) and San Diego State (Jan. 8). Nevada’s last game was a 79-70 home win over New Mexico on Jan. 1.
Tipoff is 8:30 p.m. Mountain time Wednesday for the Boise State-Nevada game.
COVID-19 health and safety protocols have forced the postponement of 24 Mountain West men’s and women’s contests, and 12 of the league’s 22 programs have experienced pauses. The Mountain West announced that six of the postponed games have been rescheduled, including the Broncos’ matchup against Utah State, which was moved to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, in Logan, Utah.
Rice said “quite a large number” of players tested positive before the team’s scheduled game at Wyoming on New Year’s Day — which had to be postponed — and the Broncos had some players who were “really, really sick.”
“As a coach, I’m not qualified to make those (medical) decisions, and you’re put in these positions where you’re kind of forced to and people are looking for you to make the decisions,” Rice said. “ ... And it’s good to have more people involved that can give you some perspective, and I think our administration and our medical people did a great job through this to help us through the whole thing.”
Rice said the Broncos seem to be “real close” to having everyone available for Wednesday’s game at Nevada, but given the circumstances, he said he could not speak in absolutes.
“As of now, it looks like (the game) is good to go,” Rice said. “We’ll do everything we can to make sure we have those answers before we get on a plane, because that’s the absolute worst is when you’re there at the site, you’re ready to go and something like this hits. But you don’t get to control that. It’s beyond our control dealing with COVID and dealing with the issues that come with COVID.”
Because of COVID-19-related concerns within the San Diego State men’s basketball program, the game between the Aztecs and New Mexico, scheduled for Saturday in Albuquerque, has been postponed. San Diego State was hit with a COVID pause on Tuesday.
Boise State originally had a bye this weekend, but now the Broncos will play at New Mexico at 3:30 p.m. MT Saturday (FS1). The Broncos were originally scheduled to visit The Pit on Feb. 8.
BOISE STATE AT NEVADA
When: 8:30 p.m. MT Wednesday
Where: Lawlor Events Center (11,536), Reno, Nevada
TV: Fox Sports 1 (Dan Hellie, Casey Jacobsen). That’s DirecTV channel 219, DISH Network channel 150 and Sparklight channel 146.
Radio: KBOI 670 AM (Bob Behler, Abe Jackson)
Records: Boise State 10-4, 1-0 MW; Nevada 7-5, 1-0 MW
Series: Nevada 51-28
Last meeting: Nevada eliminated Boise State in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals by a score of 89-82 on March 11, 2021, in Las Vegas
Vegas line: Nevada by 2.5
KenPom rating: Boise State 49; Nevada 93
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 a 50% chance of beating Nevada. His score prediction is a 72-71 BSU victory.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index: Boise State has a 56.9% chance of winning with a predicted point differential of 1.9.
Women’s basketball: Broncos travel to UNLV
On the heels of their first Mountain West win of the season Sunday against Utah State, the Broncos (5-9, 1-2 MW) continue league play Thursday against UNLV (11-4, 3-1).
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT at Cox Pavilion, and the game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network, which is available online at broncosports.com/mwn. A live radio broadcast is available on 670 AM.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 3:18 PM.
