PREVIEW | MBB: Boise State (20-6, 10-3) VS UNLV (16-10, 5-9)
Boise State University vs University of Nevada- Las Vegas
Date: Sunday February 19, 2023
Time:7:00pm MT
Venue: ExtraMile Arena (12,644)
TV: FS1
Radio: KBOI 670 AM
Commentators: Bob Behler and Abe Jackson
Know Thy Enemy
Rebels are Red, Broncos are Blue, things are not going well for Harlkess and crew. The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels are fading down the stretch and find themselves staring down the barrel of potentially having to play four games in four days at the Mountain West Tournament in a couple of weeks. UNLV was once a feared opponent, starting the season 10-0 and looking to cause some damage in conference play. Fast forward eight weeks and they find themselves sitting 8th in the conference after suffering another loss on Tuesday night, this time to San Jose State. The Rebels have lost three of their last four and things don’t get any easier to finish the season. After their date with Boise State on Sunday, they have to play a pesky Air Force team,a home game against Utah State then on the road at rival Nevada to finish the regular season. If they don’t figure something out quickly, they could easily lose three of their next four.
All season long the Rebels have wanted to play uptempo on both ends of the floor. They rely on pressuring the ball handler in hopes of causing turnovers that lead to easy transition scoring opportunities. However, when the defensive pressure isn’t there or isn’t working, the defense can look non-existent like it did last Tuesday. At certain points in the game against SJSU it looked like the Spartans were playing against air. San Jose State finished the game with 30 points in the paint which coach Keven Krueger said was, “too many.” It’s been a frustrating season for UNLV to say the least and now they will have to claw their way from the bottom of the standings and they will more than likely have to win the Mountain West tournament if they want any shot at making the NCAA tournament.
Turning our attention to some of the numbers for Sunday's matchup, the Rebels have been a team that can score the basketball. They have three guys in Keshon Gilbert, Luis Rodriguez and EJ Harkless that all score in double figures. The best of the group is EJ Harkless who averages over 18 points per game and could arguably be in the conversation for Player of the Year in the Mountain West. In conference play they are averaging a fifth-best 73 points per game. However, as mentioned before, their problem seems to come on the defensive end of the floor because they are giving up close to 75 points per game. Mountain West opponents this year have scored 75 or more against UNLV 10 out of 14 times this season.
The Rebels are coached by Kevin Krueger. Krueger is in his second season with UNLV but patience for the coach might be wearing thin if he can’t turn things around. Last year Krueger brought in 10 new players to the team, this year he brought in 8. In the past two seasons, the Rebels have finished in the middle of the pack which isn’t good for a school with NCAA tournament pedigree and aspirations.
Sunday will mark the 25 times these two programs have played each other. Boise State leads the series 15-9 all-time. Boise State is currently on a six-game win streak against the Rebels and hasn’t lost at home to UNLV since the 2018-2019 season.
What Happened Last Time
Boise State men's basketball shot a scorching 71.8% from the field - including 61.5% from three-point range - in the second half to power a comeback victory, 84-66, over UNLV.
Tyson Degenhart and Max Rice combined for 12 of the Broncos' first 14 points to help build a seven-point advantage at the first media timeout. The Runnin' Rebels used an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the night with 6:31 remaining in the half, and entered the break with a two-point advantage, 33-31.
The Broncos came out of the locker room hot, using a 14-5 scoring run including three triples from Chibuzo Agbo to help reclaim the lead 45-36, forcing a UNLV timeout. Boise State opened the half shooting 13-15 from the field, including nine-straight field goals over a four-minute stretch to blow the game open, 64-48 with 11 minutes to play. The Runnin' Rebels scored 12 of the game's next 14 points to draw within six at the under-eight timeout, but the Broncos allowed just six points the remainder of the way to close out the victory.
Agbo and Rice finished the game a combined 8-of-12 from behind the three-point line, while five Broncos reached double-figures for the second-straight game.
Player to Watch
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
SO., KESHON GILBERT, G#10
A name to watch out for in this one is Keshon Gilbert. Gilbert has quietly had a really solid season playing as the “Robin” to Harkless’ “Batman”. Gilbert has scored in double figures in 8-of-9 including two 19-point efforts this month. Surprisingly, Gilbert does most of his damage inside the three point line. He loves to drive to the hoop and shoot the mid-range jumper. With Boise State doing their best to shut down Harkless, the Rebels might rely on their sophomore guard to keep them in contention.
BOISE STATE
SO., TYSON DEGENHART., F #2
This team will go as far as TD2 will take them. Degenhart has really blossomed into a star and someone opposing coaches have to gameplan around. In the last two games the sophomore Forward has scored 20 and 19 points respectively. He also shoots at an extremely efficient pace. In the last five games he’s had shooting nights of 90%, 80%, 82%, and 70%. If he keeps this up in the remaining six games he should get some recognition for POTY.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Boise State
Nevada-Las Vegas
Rev's Route to a Bronco Win
Stay on the Floor
In the games the Broncos have lost or “almost” lost, Tyson Degehnart has been in early foul trouble causing him to have to sit for extended periods of time. Last time out Degenhart exited the game with 9:43 left in the first half and didn’t check back into the game until there was less than 30 seconds left in the half because of foul trouble. UNLV is another team that is fighting for their postseason future right now and Boise State needs their leader on the floor for as many minutes as possible.
Don’t Compound Mistakes
When you look at the box score of the Broncos last game against you’ll only notice the number “8” in the turnover column. That in itself is great. Anytime that number is under 10 it’s been a good game. However, these turnovers came in bunches on Wednesday. When turnovers happen multiple times in a row it allows the other team to gain confidence that could spark an unwanted run. Turnovers and mistakes will happen, it’s part of the game, but Boise State needs to avoid compounding mistakes if they want to beat an upset minded UNLV team on Sunday.
Editor Note:
Home Cookin’
Boise State has won 11 straight home games and is 11-1 inside ExtraMile this year. Their lone home loss came in the season opener to a South Dakota team that the Broncos would probably beat by double digits if they were to play today. All season long Boise State has drawn some pretty good crowds and you can tell that this team feeds off of the energy from the Bronco supporters. After their gusty win this week at CSU, Coach Rice urged Bronco Nation to sell out ExtraMile saying,
“We’ve got great games coming up at home starting Sunday. Let’s have it packed. We’ve got limited chances to see [this team].All these games are so competitive and so tough that if we don’t have our crowd there lifting these guys up… our crowd has been so great this year. We need a big one Sunday. We need a sellout. LIke I said we have 120 minutes left in ExtraMile. It means so much to these guys to have a huge following… Let's sell out these last three games. This is a special group they’re giving everything they have and we need the help of the fans to get us through these.
The Broncos have something special happening at home this year and I think their win-streak continues.
Boise State 78, UNLV 69
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