Boise State basketball wins ugly in overcoming Fresno State team with ‘nothing to lose’
With five minutes remaining and Boise State basketball trailing 59-56 to Mountain West basement dweller Fresno State, Boise State head coach Leon Rice reminded his team they’d been in this position before.
“Our best quality is we know how to win,” Rice told the team during a huddle. The Broncos entered the game having won seven of their last eight games, three of which were decided by single digits.
Coming out of the timeout, Boise State (21-8, 13-5 Mountain West) forced Fresno State (5-24, 1-16) into an almost five-minute scoring drought. The Broncos outscored the Bulldogs 10-2 in the final five minutes and emerged as 66-61 victors at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.
“It’s tough. (Fresno State) have nothing to lose. So they just came in, played free, played hard. I thought they played good today,” Boise State sophomore forward Andrew Meadow told KBOI after the game. “So I’m just glad we found a way to pull it out in the end.”
A game-high 22 points — one-third of the Broncos’ total points — from Meadow guided Boise State to the victory. Meadow has scored 24, 17 and 22 points in his last three games.
“I’m loving it, but I’ve just got to keep staying in the moment and keep getting better,” Meadow said. “One day at a time.”
Senior forward Tyson Degenhart (14) and senior guard Alvaro Cardenas (10) were the only other Broncos in double-digit scoring.
Meadow scored 12 of the Broncos’ 27 first-half points as the first 20 minutes trudged along to a 27-26 halftime lead for Boise State. The Broncos endured a five-minute scoreless streak that saw them miss multiple bunnies, including a failed dunk off the rim from senior forward O’Mar Stanley and a missed open layup from freshman guard Julian Bowie.
A layup from Meadow broke the scoreless streak and kicked off a 14-2 scoring run for the Broncos to see them into halftime.
Boise State shot just 8 for 28 (28.6%) from the field in the first half and finished the game shooting 21 for 56 (37.5%). Fortunately for the Broncos, the Bulldogs weren’t much better, producing a 22-for-59 (37.3%) clip from the field.
“You’re going to have bad nights,” Rice told KBOI. “You’re going to have nights where the ball rolls around, pops out, rolls around, pops out, and you’ve just got to find a way to find a way to win on those nights. And that’s what we did tonight.”
Boise State’s tough night from the field resulted from Fresno State’s zone defense — a tactic used against the Broncos multiple times this season, forcing them to play around the perimeter and shoot 3-pointers.
On some occasions, such as against Utah State last Wednesday, the Broncos are lights out from beyond the arc and succeed. But that wasn’t the case on Saturday night — Boise State shot just 7 for 29 (24.1%) from 3-point range, including a 2-for-9 showing from Meadow.
“I love (zone defenses),” Meadow said. “My threes, and I think our whole team, we didn’t shoot great tonight. But we’re all good shooters; I’m not worried about it. But I love getting looks like that, and I know they’re gonna fall next game.”
But where the Broncos suffered shooting from distance, a near-perfect night from the free-throw line made up for it. Boise State shot 17 for 20 from the charity stripe, including a game-best 6 for 7 from Meadow.
“We attacked, and in the zone (defense), it’s a little harder to maybe cut guys out of the herd and get fouls on them,” Rice said. “And our guys did a good job of not settling in the second half, but we still wanted to attack.”
Boise State extends its winning streak to four games, but the Broncos likely didn’t do themselves any favors in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Fresno State is ranked 281st in the NET rankings, which the NCAA uses to evaluate a team’s quality of resume — the Broncos entered the game ranked 43rd. Fresno State’s ranking means Boise State’s victory only qualifies as a Quad 4 win — the lowest quadrant available.
While the most important thing for Boise State is the win, how the Broncos did so likely won’t move the needle regarding their status on the NCAA tourney bubble as it won’t be considered a quality win.
On Tuesday night, the Broncos will face a similar challenge: a road game at Air Force (4-25, 1-17), the Mountain West’s last-place team. Following the game, Rice noted that playing at the altitude of Colorado Springs, which is 6,035 feet above sea level, will be difficult. Boise is just 2,703 feet above sea level.
“That’s where we’re going to need our depth,” Rice said. “The freshmen, they’ve played great at home a lot of nights. We need some great nights from them on the road. I always tell these guys, boys can play at home; men play good on the road.”
Top of Mountain West standings
New Mexico: 15-3 (remaining: at Nevada, UNLV)
Colorado State 14-4 (San Jose State, at Boise State)
Utah State: 14-5 (Air Force)
Boise State: 13-5 (at Air Force, Colorado State)
San Diego State: 12-5 (at Wyoming, at UNLV, Nevada)
