Boise State basketball gets ‘contagious’ to win shootout in last trip to The Pit
Catching the ball and deftly pivoting around his defender, Drew Fielder had earned himself a heat check.
Having already tied his career-high in 3-pointers made, Fielder only had eyes for the basket, even as New Mexico’s Tomislav Buljan slapped through the back of his arm and drew the referee’s whistle.
In no surprise to anyone inside The Pit on Saturday night, Fielder’s shot hit nothing but net, and he was just as accurate on the ensuing free throw to complete the four-point play to give the Broncos a 63-54 lead.
Fielder ended the night with a career-high five 3-pointers and 18 points in one of the Broncos’ best shooting nights all season. Boise State hit a season-best 15 3-pointers (15-for-35), and it was necessary as the Broncos (15-9, 7-6 Mountain West) defeated New Mexico (18-6, 9-4) in a 91-90 shootout.
The Broncos’ 15 3-pointers ties the most 3-point buckets ever scored by an opponent at The Pit.
It wasn’t just from 3-point range that Boise State excelled. The Broncos also finished the night an incredible 26-for-27 from the free-throw line, which made the crucial difference as New Mexico was 15-for-21 in the same stat.
New Mexico also went 11-for-24 from 3-point range, including hitting an uncontested 3-pointer at the buzzer with the Broncos leading by four points before the score.
“When you see everyone’s ball going in, the crowd gets quiet, and everyone’s just making everything, I think it’s so contagious,” sophomore forward Pearson Carmichael told KBOI in his post-game interview.
Carmichael started the game in place of redshirt senior guard RJ Keene, who was listed as out. Not only did Carmichael end with 16 points on 5-for-10 shooting, including three 3-pointers, but he also embodied the spirit of Keene and reeled in a team-high eight rebounds.
The victory completes the regular-season sweep for Boise State over New Mexico, but Saturday night’s game in Albuquerque looked nothing like the reverse fixture in ExtraMile Arena back on Dec. 30.
The Broncos won that game 62-53, but the pair of teams combined for just nine 3-pointers and 40 total made baskets in a game in which Boise State missed its first 11 shots.
Both teams quickly banished any thoughts of a repeat on Saturday. Boise State immediately hit two 3-pointers, while New Mexico responded with three of their own to hold a 13-12 lead after just five minutes.
That New Mexico lead would extend to 19-12 as part of a 9-0 run, during which Boise State endured an isolated four-minute scoring drought. But the Broncos weathered the storm and finally broke through thanks to a 3-pointer from Dylan Andrews.
Andrews shot 5-for-10 from beyond the arc and ended the night with a career-high 33 points. He went 9-for-14 from the field, including a mid-range jumper in the final seconds of the first half to give Boise State a 43-42 lead at halftime.
Saturday night’s 33-point performance from Andrews comes just four days after he dropped 25 points on Nevada in the Broncos’ 91-87 win on Tuesday.
“It’s the practices,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice told KBOI about Andrews’ improvement in recent weeks. “He’s allowed us to really coach him; he’s accepted it.”
Having hit eight 3-pointers in the first half, Boise State showed no sign of slowing down as Fielder sank a deep shot on the Broncos’ first attempt of the second half.
Boise State quickly built out a nine-point lead in just over five minutes, with Fielder’s four-point play giving the visitors their largest lead of the game.
Boise State would hold a multi-possession advantage for most of the rest of the game, even as New Mexico guard Luke Haupt dragged the Lobos along throughout the second half. Haupt scored a team-high 30 points, including 20 of the Lobos’ 48 in the second half.
Boise State’s 3-point shooting finally dried up down the stretch, with the Broncos failing to make a field goal across the final 4 minutes, 50 seconds of the game. Instead, they went near-perfect from the free-throw line, hitting 13 of their 14 attempts from the charity stripe across the final five minutes.
Andrews hit all 10 of his attempts during that stretch, while the only miss came from freshman guard Aginaldo Neto.
“It just becomes a numbers game if you make your free throws. But that’s easier said than done,” Rice said. “And that’s why it’s so nice to have a point guard that can make free throws, and we did a better job of executing our plays to get (Andrews) the ball down the stretch.”
The victory keeps Boise State rooted in sixth place in the Mountain West standings, but just two games behind third-placed New Mexico. The Broncos will now enjoy a bye before welcoming UNLV (11-12, 6-6) to ExtraMile Arena on Friday for an 8 p.m. tipoff.
This story was originally published February 7, 2026 at 11:35 PM.
