No goggles, no problem: New-look Meadow leads Boise State hoops to 20-point win
Sporting short-cropped hair and a goggle-less face, Andrew Meadow might be mistaken by many Boise State basketball fans as a new player.
The junior forward cut down his long flowing hair last January, and then ditched his iconic goggles last week in an effort to expand his peripheral vision and improve his game.
But it isn’t just the new look that could confuse fans. Meadow’s game also looks vastly improved from last year, and it was on full display on Tuesday night, when Boise State defeated the Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 85-65 at ExtraMile Arena to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Meadow scored a game-high 21 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field to go with five rebounds and three assists. His big night followed an 18-point performance on Saturday against Utah Valley, which was his first game without the goggles.
“I’m getting used to the no goggles, and I think it’s helping him,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said. “He just seems like a more rounded basketball player.”
Meadow was joined in double figures on the scoresheet by senior forward Javan Buchanan (15 points), senior guard Dylan Andrews (12) and freshman forward Spencer Ahrens (11).
The Broncos, who have rebounded after a shocking opening-game loss at home to a Division II team, took a couple of minutes to get rolling on Tuesday night, falling in an early 4-0 hole before Meadow took control. He opened the scoring for Boise State with a corner 3-pointer, then sank a jumper less than a minute later to give the Broncos the 5-4 lead.
UTRGV took the lead just one time after that moment, at 9-6, before the Broncos went on a five-point run that was capped by a big slam dunk from Meadow. He received the ball at the perimeter before breezing past his man and throwing it down.
His two dunks, five rebounds and three trips to the free throw line highlighted Meadow’s physical growth between his sophomore and junior years, with him now looking much more comfortable taking the ball to the basket and bouncing off defenders.
“I haven’t put any weight on,” said Meadow, who weighs in at 218 pounds. “I think I’ve just been working in the weight room with my strength coaches and just getting stronger in ways that I haven’t been in the past.”
Buchanan also continued to grow into his senior year on Tuesday, adding seven rebounds and three assists to his 15 points. Buchanan struggled in the season opener, scoring just six points as the Broncos fell to Hawaii Pacific, but followed that up with 25 combined points across his next two games.
“(Buchanan) is such a high-character, total package guy, and he showed up the right way, responded the right way, led his team the right way, and he just started grinding again,” Rice said.
Buchanan led the team from beyond the arc, shooting 3-for-5 from 3-point range as the Broncos as a team went 10-for-22 from deep.
“We’re just letting the game come to us, not forcing anything,” Meadow said. “I think (me and Buchanan) both did a good job of that, and just as a team, we did a good job of that.”
Boise State entered the halftime break leading 48-36 and didn’t let the lead fall below seven for the rest of the game, in part thanks to the solid 3-point shooting. The Broncos also limited UTRGV to just four offensive rebounds all night and staved off any chance of a late run from the Vaqueros — who just last week went on a 17-1 run against Baylor.
“They have games where they always have big scoring runs, and I think we did a pretty good job of not allowing a bunch of scoring runs for them,” Rice said. “I think we doubled them or had a lot more minutes with the ball. And I think for a team like that, it can be sometimes frustrating.”
This story was originally published November 11, 2025 at 10:35 PM.
