New Mexico hammers Boise State: 5 takeaways from Friday’s Mountain West Conference men’s basketball game

The good vibes from Boise State’s 41-point victory over Wyoming quickly abated during a Mountain West Conference men’s basketball game at The Pit. 

New Mexico (15-4, 7-1) opened Friday’s showdown with eight straight points and closed the opening half on a 23-2 run in an 84-65 dismantling of the Broncos (13-6, 5-3). 

Here are five takeaways from Boise State’s second straight MWC road loss. 

Head coach Leon Rice has tinkered with Boise State’s starting lineup throughout the 2024-25 season.  

Rice went with a new fivesome of Alvaro Cardenas, Chris Lockett Jr., Tyson Degenhart, Emmanuel Ugbo and Andrew Meadow Tuesday night against Wyoming, and the group staked the Broncos to an early lead in a runaway 96-55 victory.

The Broncos trotted out the same starting lineup against New Mexico with much different results. 

Coming off a surprising loss to San Jose State, the Lobos jumped out to a 10-2 lead by the first TV timeout while Boise State started 1 of 7 from the floor with two turnovers. The Broncos found a brief rhythm when O’Mar Stanley, Javan Buchanan and Julian Bowie checked in to play with Cardenas and Degenhart, but the poor start was too much for Boise State to overcome in front of a capacity crowd. 

Trailing just 25-19 after a Meadow layup, Boise State appeared to have settled in at The Pit. 

New Mexico proceeded to close the first half on a 23-2 run, capped by a last-second Donovan Dent jumper that put the Lobos up 48-21. 

It was an all-around disaster of a half for the Broncos, who shot 1 of 12 from 3-point range with nine turnovers. New Mexico went 21 of 34 from the field and shredded Boise State’s transition defense for 20 fast-break points. 

Rice did all he could to stop the bleeding by burning three first-half timeouts, but nothing worked. Coming out of a timeout late in the period, Dent intercepted a lazy Cardenas pass and finished a transition and-one for a 44-21 lead. 

It was that kind of night for the Broncos. 

Boise State was the worst 3-point shooting team in the MWC until making a combined 27 of 52 attempts (51.9 percent) over its last two games. 

The Broncos reverted to the mean Friday with a 5 of 24 (20.8 percent) performance from long range. Boise State started 1 of 19 before hitting four late triples.

At 32.1 percent for the season, the Broncos remain an inconsistent-at-best 3-point shooting team. 

The officials whistled just two total fouls in the first 15-plus minutes of action — both on Boise State.

New Mexico was finally called for its first foul with 4:55 remaining in the half. 

Boise State, a strong free throw shooting team at 77.6 percent entering Friday, would’ve preferred a tighter whistle at The Pit. But the officials allowed plenty of contact at both ends of the court, and New Mexico took advantage to seize first place in the MWC standings. 

Boise State began the day on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble at No. 43 in the NCAA Net Rankings.

Friday’s result drops the Broncos to 2-5 overall against Quad 1 and 2 opponents, including losses to the MWC’s top three teams in New Mexico, San Diego State (11-4, 4-2) and No. 22 Utah State (16-2, 6-1). 

Boise State will need some magic down the stretch to qualify for a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament.