The Boise State men’s basketball team did not enjoy its mid-January trip to Albuquerque.
Coming off a surprising loss to San Jose State, New Mexico ambushed the Broncos at The Pit and raced out to a 48-21 halftime lead. The Lobos led by as many as 29 points in a runaway 84-65 Mountain West Conference victory.
“That was a blitzkrieg,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said Tuesday. “That happens to teams down there, it just hasn’t happened to us. We were on the unfortunate receiving end of it this time.
“But they’re playing great. They’ve been consistent throughout the year. They’re one of the most physical teams in the league and one of the best defensive teams in the league, and that’s creating all this offense for them.”
The Broncos (17-8, 9-5) will get another crack at MWC-leading New Mexico (22-4, 14-1) Wednesday night in Boise. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. Mountain time at ExtraMile Arena.
The Lobos are riding an eight-game winning streak while Boise State has fallen off the NCAA Tournament bubble following last weekend’s loss to San Diego State.
Here are the highlights of Rice’s media available ahead of the New Mexico game:
“Sometimes it’s (a mindset), but sometimes … they take some swings at the ball and you’re like ‘I don’t know if a mindset is going to help with that’ when they’re allowed to take a wild swing at it and get a piece of the ball maybe, but there’s a lot of other things they get, too. But yeah, it takes maybe the right mindset of when you’ve got to attack and when you’ve got to move the ball. But if you’re trying to attack the whole group, they’re going to get after that ball.”
“They haven’t changed that much, really. (Third-leading scorer Mustapha) Amzil is out, but other guys have stepped up. They’ve been playing great. Their defense has been terrific, Tru Washington has been terrific. Their guys have developed more.”
“Sometimes you do have those (offensive) off nights, and that’s why it’s so important to be a consistent rebounding team and a consistent defensive team. Because that is effort and toughness and all that stuff; you can count on that. There’s some nights — we’ve all seen them — where the ball just doesn’t go in, doesn’t bounce your way. Well, you can … put yourself in position to win on those nights. Let the offense come around, make a couple timely ones and you’re good. That’s where you absolutely have to have that consistency.”
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