Boise State dominates New Mexico on the glass on way to ninth consecutive victory

Two of Boise State’s top three scorers didn’t have any points at halftime.

That might have been cause for concern if the Broncos weren’t going gangbusters on the boards.

Boise State finished with a plus-24 advantage on the glass to make up for an off shooting night in a 71-63 victory over New Mexico in a Mountain West men’s basketball game Saturday at The Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

It was just the Broncos’ third win in program history on the Lobos’ home court and extends their current winning streak to nine, tied for the third-longest streak in the nation.

“This is historically one of the toughest places to play in the country,” Boise State coach Leon Rice said in a post-game Zoom interview. “We were fighting a lot of different things, and our guys did a great job.”

Boise State outrebounded New Mexico 52-28, including 25 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points. The 25 offensive boards are the Broncos’ most in 12 years.

“What a great, great effort by our guys,” Rice said. “They’ve got those three qualities that travel — we defend, we rebound and we play hard. And we’ve got some toughness to us.”

The Broncos (12-4, 3-0 MW) owned a 26-9 edge on the boards in the first half and held the Lobos (7-10, 0-4) scoreless for a stretch of 5 minutes, 25 seconds to build a 32-22 halftime lead. Boise State’s defensive dominance helped counter an opening 20 minutes in which seniors Emmanuel Akot and Abu Kigab both failed to score any points.

Boise State opened the second half with second-chance buckets on five of their first seven field goals, highlighted by a 3-pointer from senior forward Naje Smith after New Mexico had trimmed the Broncos’ lead to eight. Seconds later, Akot turned a loose ball into a breakaway dunk to extend Boise State’s lead to 13, 42-29, with 13:15 left.

“I just love helping my team win,” Smith said. “I love doing whatever I can, whether it’s scoring, rebounding, playing defense, I just want to win with my team.”

Redshirt senior Marcus Shaver Jr. scored in double figures for the 14th time in 15 games this season, netting a team-leading 18 points to go with six rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Smith logged a career-high 26 minutes off the bench and chipped in 14 points and five rebounds. Kigab (11 points, 9 rebounds) and Akot (10 points, 5 rebounds) rounded out four Broncos in double digits, and Mladen Armus pulled down a game-best 13 rebounds, 10 of which came on the offensive glass. It is the most offensive rebounds by a Bronco since Ryan Watkins grabbed 11 at New Mexico on Jan. 21, 2014.

“It’s great to have the guys that we have, because they all bring something to the table,” Rice said. “This game dictated our lineup a little bit No. 1 because of foul trouble and No. 2 because of how many guards (New Mexico) put out there. The versatility and the beauty of Naje is he can play like a big and he can play like a guard.”

Boise State won despite shooting just 35.5% from the floor — its worst outing during the current nine-game winning streak — and going 21-for-38 from the free-throw line. New Mexico shot 49% from the field, which is the besting shooting performance of any Boise State opponent this season, including a 10-for-19 mark from 3-point range.

“That’s why this team’s good. We’ve got a bunch of guys that just care about one thing and that’s accomplishing the mission,” Rice said. “They’re not worried about their stats or this and that. They’re just like: ‘Hey, let’s go accomplish the mission.’”

The Broncos return home to host Air Force at 7 p.m. Tuesday at ExtraMile Arena. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network, or listen on the radio on 670 AM. It is Boise State’s first home game since opening Mountain West play with a 65-55 victory over Fresno State on Dec. 28.

Women’s basketball: Broncos come up short at San Diego State

San Diego State sank eight of its first nine shots as the Aztecs handed Boise State an 80-63 defeat Saturday at Viejas Arena in San Diego.

Asia Avinger and Mallory Adams combined for 55 points for the Aztecs (9-8, 3-3 MW), who shot 51.7% from the floor in the first half and finished with nine 3-pointers.

Fifth-year senior Dominique Leonidas led Boise State (5-11, 1-4 MW) in scoring for the fourth straight game with 11 points, Trista Hull added 10 points and sophomores Abby Muse and Anna Ostlie had nine points apiece.

The Broncos return home to host Wyoming at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday inside ExtraMile Arena. The game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network, which is available online at broncosports.com/mwn, or listen on the radio on 670 AM.

MEN: BOISE ST. 71, NEW MEXICO 63

BOISE ST. (12-4, 3-0 MW): Armus 2-10 0-3 4, Degenhart 3-6 1-2 8, Kigab 2-6 7-10 11, Akot 2-9 6-10 10, Shaver 5-11 5-10 18, N.Smith 6-13 0-1 14, Rice 1-4 2-2 4, Milner 1-2 0-0 2, Pryor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 21-38 71.

NEW MEXICO (7-10, 0-4 MW): Forsling 2-3 0-0 4, House 8-13 4-7 21, Johnson 0-0 0-1 0, Mashburn 4-12 0-0 10, Singleton 0-3 0-4 0, Allen-Tovar 4-6 0-0 11, Jenkins 5-11 1-2 15, Seck 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-49 5-14 63.

Halftime—Boise St. 32-22. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 6-20 (Shaver 3-7, N.Smith 2-4, Degenhart 1-1, Kigab 0-1, Pryor 0-1, Rice 0-2, Akot 0-4), New Mexico 10-19 (Jenkins 4-7, Allen-Tovar 3-4, Mashburn 2-3, House 1-3, Forsling 0-1, Singleton 0-1). Fouled Out—Mashburn. Rebounds—Boise St. 44 (Armus 13), New Mexico 24 (Forsling 8). Assists—Boise St. 12 (Akot 3), New Mexico 10 (House 7). Total Fouls—Boise St. 13, New Mexico 28. A—8,279 (15,411).

WOMEN: SAN DIEGO ST. 80, BOISE ST. 63

BOISE ST. (5-11, 1-4 MW): Dominique Leonidas 3-6 5-8 11; Trista Hull 3-6 4-7 10; Anna Ostlie 4-9 0-0 9; Abby Muse 3-8 3-4 9; Elodie Lalotte 3-10 1-2 7; Linsey Lovrovich 3-6 0-0 6; Mary Kay Naro 2-8 2-2 6; Rachel Bowers 2-5 0-0 5; Mackenzie Naro 0-0 0-0 0; Jayda Clark 0-1 0-0 0; Sydney McQuietor 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 15-23 63.

SAN DIEGO ST. (9-8, 3-3 MW): Asia Avinger 10-12 9-10 30; Mallory Adams 8-13 2-2 25; Sophia Ramos 4-18 4-4 13; Kim Villalobos 3-4 2-2 8; Khylee-Jade Pepe 0-2 2-2 2; Kamaria Gipson 1-3 0-0 2; Isabela Hernandez 0-3 0-0 0; Bailee Chynoweth 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 19-20 80.

Boise St...................... 17 15 14 17 — 63

San Diego St.................. 25 15 24 16 — 80

3-point goals — Boise St. 2-14 (Bowers 1-1; Ostlie 1-4; Lovrovich 0-3; Naro 0-3; Hull 0-1; Leonidas 0-2), San Diego St. 9-25 (Adams 7-11; Ramos 1-7; Avinger 1-1; Hernandez 0-2; Chynoweth 0-4). Fouled out — Boise St.-None, San Diego St.-Villalobos. Rebounds — Boise St. 29 (Lalotte 6), San Diego St. 44 ( Villalobos 10). Assists — Boise St. 15 (Leonidas 5), San Diego St. 12 (Avinger 5). Total fouls — Boise St. 14, San Diego St. 18. Technical fouls — San Diego St., Avinger. A — 410.