He didn’t attempt a shot. But Boise State wouldn’t have won without this redshirt junior
Redshirt junior guard RJ Keene II didn’t attempt a single shot in nearly 30 minutes on the floor.
But the Boise State men’s basketball team wouldn’t have won without him Wednesday night.
Keene matched career highs with 10 rebounds and three steals, making the behind-the-scenes hustle plays the Broncos needed to get back in the win column with a 66-56 victory over Nevada in Mountain West action at ExtraMile Arena.
“He does RJ things every time. I mean, he’s just a junkyard dog,” Boise State junior forward Javan Buchanan said. “Whatever you want him to do, he’s going to do. Whether it’s getting offensive rebounds, getting on the floor. He’s just the glue guy for this team.”
From forcing a jump ball to tip-outs on the offensive boards to deflections on defense, Keene made his presence known against the Wolf Pack, even if it didn’t show up on the entire stat sheet.
He earned a plus-8 rating — third best among Broncos who saw action against Nevada — but will still no doubt hear an earful from head coach Leon Rice.
“To have those glue guys that make all the intangible plays, they just have such value,” Rice said. “The thing that I want him to understand, I mean, this kid was recruited as a shooter. And he can shoot the ball. Yeah there’s value to the ball movement that we get and he’s passing up the good shot for the great shot.
“But there’s gonna come a time when people don’t guard him — because he hasn’t shot. But the kid can shoot, so I want him snapping them off with confidence.”
Keene scored more than 2,000 points during his high school career at Concordia Lutheran in The Woodlands, Texas. He averaged 19 points, 9.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game as a senior. His career high with the Broncos was 11 points against Vanguard on Nov. 7, 2023.
“You look at a guy that gets zero points, and in a game like this, you wouldn’t know the story behind the story,” Rice said. “He was a crucial factor in us winning that game.”
Boise State (14-7, 6-4 MW) used an early 8-0 run and held the Wolf Pack without a field goal until the 12:59 mark of the first half to take control of the game. Nevada (11-10, 3-7), which has experienced unusual struggles this season under coach Steve Alford, made just five shots in the first half and shot 25 percent from the field.
The Pack are on a three-game losing streak, after a four-game losing streak to start conference play.
“I felt like that was one of our best defensive performances of the year,” Buchanan said. “That was just our whole focus. These four practices that we had (leading up to the game) we really competed against each other, and we got better.”
Buchanan, senior guard Alvaro Cardenas and sophomore forward Andrew Meadow each knocked down a 3-pointer early in the second half, and Boise State built its largest lead with 6:08 to play, at 55-39.
Notching his 13th double-digit scoring effort of the season, Buchanan led all all scorers with 19 points to go with five rebounds and one steal. Cardenas contributed 18 points and five assists, moving into a tie for seventh all-time in Mountain West history with 514 career assists. Senior forward Tyson Degenhart added 17 points, three rebounds and one assist.
Boise State resumes conference play Saturday against one of the league’s worst teams, Fresno State (5-16, 1-9). Tipoff is 2 p.m. Saturday at ExtraMile Arena, and the game will be televised on the Mountain West Network.
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 12:32 AM.
