PREVIEW | MBB: *MOUTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT* #2 Boise State (23-8,13-5) vs #7 UNLV (19-12, 7-11)
Boise State University vs University of Nevada- Las Vegas
Date: Thursday March 9, 2023
Time:7:00pm MT
Venue: Thomas & Mack Center(19,522)
TV: CBSSN
Radio: KBOI 670 AM
Commentators: Bob Behler and Abe Jackson
Know Thy Enemy
Mission: Title Defense starts now as Boise State gets set to defend their Mountain West Tournament championship from last season. A tournament title would punch the coveted “automatic qualifier” ticket to the “Big Dance” and end all speculations of if they are “in.” But first the Rebels of UNLV stand in their way.
The Rebels, despite not having their starting point guard Keshon Gilbert, who was serving a one-game suspension for something that happened in the season finale against Nevada, held off an upset minded Air Force team in overtime Wednesday afternoon. The Rebels finally pulled away for the 78-70 win. UNLV was led by their guy EJ Harkless who led all scorers with 35 big ones.
UNLV had a real hot start to the season going 11-1 in non conference play but struggled to get into any sort of rhythm in Mountain West action. The Running Rebels lost six of their first seven conference games before winning four of their next five. They finished the season losing four of their last six, but did manage to beat in-state rival UNR in the season finale to sweep the season series against the Wolfpack.
All season long the Rebels have been led by EJ Harkless who is averaging 20.7 points in Mountain West games. After Harkless they have a trio of guys, Keshon Gilber, Luis Rodriguez, and Justin Webster, how are averaging over 8 points per game. The Rebels will usually rotate 4 off the bench including Luis Rodriguez who was a starter earlier in the year before sustaining an injury that left him out most of the month of February. Since returning from injury Rodriguez is providing a much needed spark off the bench averaging 12 points per game in the last two. Along with Rodriguez, sophomore Jackie Johnson III has really been effective off the bench in March, averaging close to 10 points in 24 minutes in the last three games. Bench play was the difference in the Rebels win over Air Force as they outscored the Falcons 24-7 in bench points.
The Rebels are coached by Kevin Krueger. Krueger is in his second season with UNLV. Some speculated that patience with Krueger was wearing thin coming into this season, but you have to think that a win in the opening round of the Mountain West tournament made some feel better about their head coach. However, in his two season at UNLV Krueger is 17-19 in conference play.
Thursday will mark the 26th time these two programs have played. However it is only the second time these two schools have matched up in the conference tournament. The last time it happened was in the 2019-2020 season and Boise State won that matchup 67-61 to advance to the Semi Finals.
What Happened Last Time
Boise State swept the season series with the Rebels, beating UNLV 84-66 in the first game and then coming out victorious 73-69 in the second.
In the second meeting, Marcus Shaver went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 90 seconds to ice the victory. UNLV led for the Majority of the first half before the Broncos defense came alive, limiting the Rebels to just three field goals and forcing eight turnovers in the final 10 minutes of the period to take a six point lead into the locker room. The Broncos never trailed in the second half, and held the lead for all but 43-seconds in the final half.
Player to Watch
NEVADA-LAS VEGAS
5th YR., EJ HARKLESS, G #55
It’s tournament time and when the lights are bright you hope your stars shine and Harkless is shining bright. Harkless scored a career-high 35 points in 39 minutes, Wednesday in the win over Air Force. Harkless has carried this UNLV squad all year long and is the only player on the team to average double figures in the scoring column in Mountain West play. Harkless was named to the All-Mountain West Second team.
BOISE STATE
SR., MAX RICE, G#12
Max Rice is shooting a blistering 45% from three in conference play this season. In the last four games of the season Rice had two outstanding games and two good games. In the outstanding games He hit five three pointers in each and was over 50% from deep in those games and coincidentally scored 30 and 26 respectively and the Broncos won both. In the other two he only made two-threes and scored 12 and 13 points in two losses for the Broncos. The Second-team All-conference player has to have one of his hot nights from downtown to help the Broncos.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Boise State
Nevada-Las Vegas
Rev's Route To A Broncos Win
No More Harkless
Shutting down Harkless completely is unlikely, but keeping him in check might be the Broncos biggest key to this game. Luckily, Boise State has done that in their two previous meetings, limiting Harkless to two of his lowest scoring outputs in conference play. In the two games against the Broncos Harkless scored just 12 in the first and 14 in the second. Immediately after the last game against Boise State Harkless has been on a tear, scoring at least 20 in each of the last four games.
Create Your Own Energy
Boise State was sinsational at home this season posting an amazing 14-1 record inside ExtraMile. A lot of that success can be attributed to how this team feeds off the energy of the home crowd because on the road the Broncos struggled going under .500, posting a 5-6 record. However, on a neutral floor this year the Broncos were an impressive 4-1. Even though the Thomas and Mack Center is the home venue for the UNLV Rebels, this game is technically a neutral site game. There will be a small(er) contingency of Bronco Nation inside the area on Tuesday night, but the Broncos on the floor and on the bench will have to create their own energy to put them over the top. There are a wide variety of ways to do that, but if the Broncos can get off to a hot start shooting the basketball it will help immensely.
Editor Note:
Survive and Advance, One Game At a Time…
It’s March and you can insert any sort of clique you’d like to about this one. "Survive and advance," "just take it one game at a time," "do whatever it takes to win," blah blah blah. These last two seasons have really started to revive the Basketball program and there is a palpable buzz about Boise State Basketball. However, at times this season this team hasn’t looked as good as last year’s team, but then at others, they have looked better than last year’s squad and look to be a team of destiny, if you will. I don’t think the Broncos need to necessarily win the conference tournament if they want to hear their name called on Sunday for the big dance. In some ways it might be beneficial for their legs if they don’t have to play three games in three days. But then you can’t count out the confidence it would give the boys if they did cut down the next in Las Vegas before dancing.
However you slice it, I think the program is in a good spot. Reaching the tournament two years in a row is a good start to becoming a name in college hoops. Now I want to win the whole thing and then cause some damage in the NCAA tournament. It will take an all hands on deck approach and if Boise State’s role players can play at a high level there’s no telling how far this team can go.
Boise State gets hot from deep early and survives a late run by the Rebels to advance to the semifinals
Broncos 77, Runnin’ Rebels 72
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