Despite improvements, Boise State hoops loses in OT again, extends losing streak

LAS VEGAS (Idaho Statesman) — Boise State basketball extended its losing streak 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 Boise State (9-8, 1-5 Mountain West) junior forward Drew Fielder forced the back-and-forth game into overtime, but UNLV (8-8, 3-2) led for almost the entirety of overtime 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. It’s also the second time Boise State has lost in overtime this season, having fallen 110-107 at San Diego State in triple overtime 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 an incredible 18 lead changes and 19 ties throughout the game, 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 following Saturday night’s 93-68 loss to Utah State that it would be “insanity” if his Broncos kept the status quo heading into UNLV and that he planned to mix things up.

And things certainly looked different for Boise State. 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 still just shooting 3-for-14 (21.4%) from beyond the arc, the Broncos ended the night shooting 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 last two games, Meadow had taken just six shots from the field, making five of them. Yet against UNLV, he went 8-for-12 from the field despite not hitting a single 3-pointer.

“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 in a row (40-33), but still managed to outscore the Rebels 48-46 in the paint. Yet despite the Broncos looking to score more inside, it was the Broncos’ only 3-pointer of the second half that sent the game to overtime.

After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Broncos trail 40-39, both teams continued in the same vein throughout 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 the lead at 70-69.

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, 81-76 lead 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 for shouting at the referee, the Broncos couldn’t find their way back in front.