Despite improvements, Boise State hoops loses in OT, extending streak
Boise State basketball is still winless in 2026.
The Broncos saw their losing streak extended to four games on Tuesday night thanks to an 89-85 overtime loss to UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
A 3-pointer at the buzzer from junior forward Drew Fielder gave Boise State (9-8, 1-5 Mountain West) a chance to win the game in overtime, but UNLV (8-8, 3-2) led for almost the entirety of the extra period in front of a sparse home crowd.
Boise State has now lost four straight conference games for the first time since 2019. The Broncos finished 7-11 in conference play that season and had a losing record overall. It was the second time Boise State has lost in overtime this season, having fallen 110-107 at San Diego State in triple OT earlier in January.
But where the Broncos looked down and out for good chunks of the previous three losses, that wasn’t the case on Tuesday night. There were 18 lead changes and 19 ties throughout the game with UNLV, with both teams leading for about 17 minutes each.
“I think the past two games we didn’t fight,” junior forward Andrew Meadow, who ended the night with 21 points, told KBOI in his postgame interview. “I think we had a group tonight ... we’ve just got to close games out.”
Boise State head coach Leon Rice said after Saturday night’s 93-68 loss to Utah State at home that it would be “insanity” if his Broncos kept the status quo heading into UNLV.
Things certainly looked different. Three-point shooting has been a sore point for much of the season, including in the current losing streak, but the Broncos looked to attack the rim more on Tuesday night.
Despite shooting just 3-for-14 (21.4%) from beyond the arc, Boise State was a much more efficient 30-for-61 (49.2%) from the field, which is their second-best shooting percentage all year. The top mark, 60.9%, came against a Division II opponent, Chaminade, in the Maui Invitational.
Rice described the offense as “clicking better,” and that could be seen through the performance of Meadow. Across the past two games, the team’s second-leading scorer had taken just six shots from the field, making five of them. Yet against UNLV, he went 8-for-12 from the field.
“We always say we want to like the three, but love the rim,” Meadow said. “So I think we did a good job of loving the rim tonight.”
The Broncos were outrebounded for the third straight game (40-33), but still managed to outscore the Rebels 48-46 in the paint.
Despite the inside power, it was the only 3-pointer of the second half that was needed to send the game to overtime.
After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Broncos trail 40-39, the teams continued trading blows through the back 20 minutes. Neither team led by more than five points for the entire second half, including five minutes down the stretch in which the Broncos led until an open 3-pointer from Rebels guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn gave the home team a 70-69 edge.
A joint effort from Meadow and Fielder, who scored a team-high 23 points, helped the Broncos keep pace with Gibbs-Lawhorn, who scored a game-high 33 points, 21 of which came in the second half. Senior guard Dylan Andrews and sophomore forward Pearson Carmichael also scored 14 points apiece for Boise State.
The Rebels led 76-73 with eight seconds left in the game thanks to a pair of Gibbs-Lawhorn free throws. But a perfectly executed play started by freshman guard Aginaldo Neto driving down the court and sending a bounce pass to freshman forward Spencer Ahrens led to Ahrens kicking the ball out for Fielder, who sank the game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“Our guys did a great job, and Spencer did a great job of finding (Fielder),” Rice told KBOI in his postgame interview. “That’s why we put it in his hands. He can be a good decision maker.”
Yet as quickly as the momentum swung in the Broncos’ direction, the Rebels quickly snatched it back.
UNLV promptly built a five-point lead, 81-76, at the start of overtime, and despite Carmichael sinking four straight free throws after UNLV guard Emmanuel Stephen committed a regular and then a technical foul, the Broncos couldn’t find their way back in front.
This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 12:54 AM.
