San Diego State at Boise State men’s basketball: How to watch, prediction and odds
While starting point guard Emmanuel Akot sat out with a knee injury, the Boise State men’s basketball team went 3-1.
The Broncos’ only loss came in overtime to Mountain West preseason favorite Colorado State.
Coach Leon Rice was grateful for Akot’s return Saturday in a win over Utah State, and he says the jury’s still out on whether there was a silver lining to his absence. As third-place San Diego State heads to town Tuesday (7 p.m., CBSSN) and the postseason rapidly approaches, it could be argued that the Broncos were able to strengthen their bench
“There always is a silver lining to every problem that you have, and we’re pretty good at trying to find those,” Rice said. “Hopefully that is the case, and that’s one of those things that you’ll never know until hindsight.
“When we were cooking along winning those 14 games in a row and then (someone) said you’ve gotta go play four without him. Would I want to? Heck no. Are we a better team with him? Yeah, a lot better, because he’s one of the better players in the Mountain West.”
Three players in particular saw considerable growth when Akot was unable to play:
- Redshirt junior guard Max Rice replaced Akot in the starting lineup, and he’s averaged 9.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in that span after starting the season 1-for-24 from 3-point range. “It feels really good, especially getting hot at the right time with March right around the corner,” Max Rice said.
- Sophomore guard Pavle Kuzmanovic missed nearly a month with an ankle injury but has played and scored two points or more in each of the Broncos’ past five games. He’s averaging 3.8 points per game on the season and 4.4 points per game over the past five.
- Senior center Lukas Milner had a breakout game against Air Force in which he went 6-for-6 from the floor for a career-high 13 points. “I kind of knew I could always do something like that,” Milner said. “Confidence-wise, it didn’t change much. I’m just gonna keep preparing as I have this whole year, and when that time does come back up, I’ll be ready for it.”
In his first game back, Akot played 20 minutes off the bench against Utah State, finishing 0-for-1 from the floor and 3-for-5 from the free-throw line. He tallied three points, three turnovers, three fouls, two assists, one block and one steal. Coach Rice said it will take Akot some time to return to form. He is averaging 10.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game this season.
“I thought it was big to get E-man back, even though he’s probably out of shape and his timing’s off,” Leon Rice said. “Nobody comes back from two weeks off and plays their best. It’s really, really hard, because this time of year there’s not many real practice opportunities. We’re not running up and down for two hours.
“To come back and give us a presence that he gives us and that moxie that he gives us is big.”
Including Tuesday’s rematch against San Diego State, the Broncos (21-6, 12-2 MW) have four regular-season games remaining and currently own a half-game lead over Wyoming (22-4, 11-2) in the race for the Mountain West regular-season title. Their remaining schedule consists of games at UNLV (Feb. 26), home against Nevada (March 1) and at Colorado State (March 5).
The Mountain West Tournament runs March 9-12 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Boise State has never won a Mountain West Tournament championship and last made the NCAA Tournament in 2015.
SAN DIEGO STATE AT BOISE STATE
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: ExtraMile Arena (12,380), Boise
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Dan Dickau). That’s DirecTV channel 221, DISH channel 158 and Sparklight channel 139.
Radio: 670 AM (Bob Behler, Abe Jackson)
Records: Boise State 21-6, 12-2 MW; San Diego State 17-6, 9-3 MW
Series: San Diego State 17-8
Last meeting: Boise State defeated San Diego State 42-37 on Jan. 22 in San Diego.
Vegas line: Boise State by 2
KenPom rating: Boise State 26, San Diego State 23
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 59% chance of beating San Diego State. His score prediction is a 59-56 Boise State victory.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index: Boise State has a 57.5% chance of winning with a predicted point differential of 1.8.
This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 4:03 PM.
