Mountain West Tournament up next for Boise State after loss to Colorado State

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Boise State basketball’s NCAA Tournament hopes took a significant blow on Friday night with an 83-73 loss to Colorado State at ExtraMile Arena on senior night.

The Broncos (22-9, 14-6 Mountain West) entered Friday’s game on the bubble of NCAA tourney inclusion and needed a win over the Rams (22-9, 16-4) to keep their credentials strong. Instead, a second-half surge from Colorado State and a 36-point night from the Rams’ Nique Clifford resigned Boise State to a big defeat.

The result ensured that Boise State will play San Diego State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament next week. The Aztecs closed the season Saturday night with a win over Nevada, so they got the 4 seed and the Broncos are the 5.

SDSU swept Boise State in the regular season. It was also the last regular-season home game for seniors Tyson Degenhart, Alvaro Cardenas and O’Mar Stanley.

Before the game, the trio were honored and presented with framed jerseys bearing their names and numbers during a ceremony.

“No one wants to go out like that. But we can’t mull on it too much,” Cardenas said. “But, we’re not done yet, the whole locker room believes that.”

Cardenas ended with 18 points, trailing only sophomore forward Andrew Meadow’s 22 points in scoring for the Broncos.

Cardenas said earlier this week that he expected Boise State to find the paint much more than in recent games. Colorado State typically plays a man-to-man defense instead of the zone defenses Boise State has played in recent weeks.

That was the case early on as Boise State took a 23-18 lead, with just nine points coming from beyond the arc. Things got a little more difficult for the Broncos once Colorado State switched to a 2-3 zone defense and invited Boise State to shoot more. The Broncos ended the first half shooting 5-for-16 from 3-point distance.

The second half was even uglier, with the Broncos ending the game 7-for-29 from three.

“They did a really good job of switching their defense and going to that two-three zone. It really got us out of rhythm,” said Cardenas, who finished 2-for-9 from 3-point range.

The typically aggressive Degenhart was also heavily targeted by Colorado State. Degenhart still managed 15 points, but he attempted just six shots (4-for-6) and scored six of his points from the free throw line.

“He was good, but they ran two or three guys at him every time he dribbled it and every time he touched it,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said.

Despite Colorado State limiting the Broncos’ scoring chances, the home team held a 60-51 lead with 10 minutes remaining and looked on track to send the soldout crowd home with a win.

Instead, the Rams embarked on a 32-13 run across the final 10 minutes to pull far ahead by the time fans started heading for the exits. Colorado State shot well all night, finishing 27-for-47 (57.4%).

The Rams were 21-for-22 from the free-throw line. Boise State couldn’t keep pace.

“We had a couple that rattled in and out, and we had a couple of crucial turnovers at a crucial time,” Rice said. “The shot selection wasn’t as good.”

But even if the Broncos managed to hang in there, they had zero answer for Clifford, who scored a career-high 36 points. Twenty-three of his points came in the second half as Colorado State ran away with the game.

“Let’s be real, Nique Clifford killed us,” Cardenas said. “Thirty-six points, he made every big shot.” Rice acknowledged after the game it’s probably the best he’s seen an opposing player play in ExtraMile Arena.

If the Broncos want to make the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season, they’d be well-served to win the Mountain West Tournament and earn the automatic bid.

If they can beat San Diego State in the quarterfinals — tipoff is 3:30 p.m. Mountain time Thursday — and then potentially No. 1 seed New Mexico in the semifinals, they can boost their at-large resume, but it might not be enough.

It’s important to remember that last season, most bracketologists had Boise State safely in the field. The bracket came out and the Broncos were in a play-in game, barely making the tourney. Boise State’s NET ranking last season was 26; this year it sits much lower, at 49.

The Broncos are just 11-9 in Quad 1-2-3 games.

“I think the best thing we could do is stay in the moment, not worry about outcomes or anything like that, just try to get better,” Meadow said. “That’s the biggest thing, just trying to get better as a team at this point of the season, I think would be huge for us.”