Boise State forward shows potential with ‘leadership’ and ‘toughness’

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — For 51 minutes on Saturday night, Boise State junior forward Andrew Meadow was locked in. You read that right — 51 minutes, in a college basketball game.

In Boise State’s thrilling triple-overtime loss to to San Diego State last weekend, which saw them overcome a 24-point deficit, Meadow played all but four minutes, and was at the heart of the Broncos’ frantic second-half comeback and overtime heartbreak. After coming out of the game briefly three times in the first half, which ended with Boise State trailing 50-29, Meadow played all 20 minutes of the second half and the entirety of the three five-minute OT periods.

He scored a career-high 25 points in the effort, while also pulling in three rebounds, grabbing three steals and committing zero turnovers.

“I didn’t really realize until after the game,” Meadow said about his minutes played. “That’s a whole NBA game plus overtime. So it was a lot of minutes, but I put myself in the conditioning spot over the offseason to be able to do that.”

Meadow has started all 14 games for the Broncos (9-5, 1-2 Mountain West), averaging 29.8 minutes per game. That’s up only slightly from his average of 29.3 last season, how Meadow looks during his time on the court is the big difference.

At 218 pounds, the 6-foot-7 forward is both stronger and more fluid in the paint, and has shown a new ability to battle through contact and get to the basket.

He earned a pair of and-ones against San Diego State this past weekend, sinking both free throws, part of an efficient 5-for-6 night from the stripe.

“There’s a lot of (areas) he’s heading in the right direction,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said. “Really proud of him and his leadership, his toughness, and that’s what it’s always about.”

Meadow has provided another reason why Boise State can hardly afford to take him out of the lineup: offensive efficiency. Through 14 games, Meadow is the team’s second-leading scorer behind junior Drew Fielder, at 12.7 per game. Meadow is hitting just over half of his shots (60-for-119) from the field and also leads the team in 3-point shooting, going 21-for-52 (40.4%).

All of these shooting stats are accompanied by just 13 turnovers, the lowest total among the starters.

“This is exactly where I envisioned myself. Even in high school, coming here, I dreamed of moments like a big game like that, playing 50 minutes,” Meadow said. “… So I definitely expect myself to be in this position.”

Meadow and the Broncos will try to even their conference record Wednesday night when they host Grand Canyon at ExtraMile Arena. Tipoff is 9 p.m. and the game is on FS1.