Boise State has two big goals in crucial stretch of games: More fans, fewer turnovers

Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A sense of urgency” has settled over the Boise State men’s basketball team.

The Broncos lost 64-47 to San Diego State last weekend, falling to 17-8 overall and 9-5 in Mountain West play. With just six games remaining, they are five games behind conference-leading New Mexico and well off the radar when it comes to extending their NCAA Tournament streak to four years.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, for instance, has Boise State as the 11th team out in this year’s NCAA Tournament. To be in the at-large discussion, the Broncos would need to win out and make a good run in the Mountain West Tournament. Winning it would mean the automatic bid, which could be the only path.

“There’s obviously a sense of urgency, but at the same time, you don’t want to do too much and feel like you have too much pressure on yourself,” senior guard Alvaro Cardenas said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve been playing solid. Last game wasn’t our best in terms of our offensive performance. It’s hard to win when you score 47 points, it’s really hard. But overall, I think the team is in a good spot.”

The 47 points scored Saturday were the fewest Boise State scored in a game since a 54-42 loss to Charlotte in November 2022. Before Saturday’s loss, the team had won four straight conference games.

The next challenge for the Broncos is a big one as they try to kick-start a late-season run: a home game Wednesday night against New Mexico.

The Lobos chased Boise State out of the gym 84-65 when the two teams met at The Pit last month.

One thing the Broncos have on their side this time is home-court advantage. And they know they need it. At times, ExtraMile Arena hasn’t been an imposing fortress of noise this season. Numerous home games have suffered from subdued atmospheres, either because of a lackluster student section, a general lack of fans or a game-day atmosphere that required a midseason revamp, including louder music and new hype videos.

After Boise State’s 76-68 home loss to San Diego State in January, Sports Illustrated christened the Broncos’ venue as “ExtraQuiet Arena.”

“We’re desperate for it,” Cardenas said about needing boisterous support for the final three home games, which happen to be the most challenging opponents remaining. After Wednesday night’s game against New Mexico (22-4, 14-1), Boise State will host Utah State (22-3, 12-4) on Feb. 26 and Colorado State (16-9, 10-4) on March 7.

The Broncos lost to all three of those teams on the road and are 0-5 against the four teams above them in the standings.

“We need ExtraMile to be packed,” Cardenas said. “For our fans to come, our students to pack out the student section. It really, really makes a difference.”

Cardenas is in his first year at Boise State, having spent three seasons at San Jose State. He said the atmosphere at ExtraMile Arena he’s experienced this year doesn’t match what he experienced when visiting with the Spartans. Head coach Leon Rice echoed Cardenas’ sentiments about home crowds and also noted the few chances left to watch Boise State’s seniors play.

“Tyson Degenhart, who’s been an icon of this program, these are his last three games. We need to appreciate him,” Rice said. “Al and Omar (Stanley), who have not been here as long, couldn’t be better ambassadors to the program, couldn’t be better teammates, couldn’t be better people. And they’ve done some great things basketball-wise here. So I think it’s a tribute to them to come out.”

Of course, if the Broncos want big attendance and lights-out support, the best way to do that is to win a bunch. And the key to finding big wins could lie in ball security, a term typical to football.

The Broncos rank 8th in the conference in turnover margin (-0.44), even though their 11.4 turnovers per game might not seem to be a huge amount. But it’s telling that they’ve lost the turnover battle in four of their five conference losses. The outlier was a 15-14 advantage in the loss at San Diego State.

“It starts with me because I’m the one handling the ball,” said Cardenas, who had four turnovers and only three assists at San Diego State. “So it’s definitely something on my mind to take care of the ball and make the right plays.”

In its loss at New Mexico, BSU committed 17 turnovers to just 11 for the Lobos, who turned those 17 turnovers into 20 points.

“That’s a good place to start, to try to eliminate some of those (points off turnovers), because your offense can help try to prevent that,” Rice said. “(New Mexico is) good at it, they create those turnovers, and they’re aggressive. They get out to the ball pretty hard.”