Mountain West Notebook: Boise State coach hopes for a huge (and cold) reception

Leon Rice likes his basketball team, and he wants the world to know it. More appropriately, maybe, he wants the world to see his Boise State Broncos in action, and he’s willing to do just about anything to make it happen.

Literally.

That helps explain the video below, which hit the Boise State basketball Twitter feed on Wednesday morning. In it, Rice puts out a challenge to the Boise community: If they can sell out one of the Broncos’ upcoming games at Taco Bell Arena, Rice will wade across the Boise River. This despite the fact that temperatures have hovered in the 30s the last few days and that large parts of the river are actually frozen.

The rumors are true, Bronco Nation.

Let's do this thing and get Coach Rice in the Boise River! pic.twitter.com/IapnFse0mO

— Boise State MBB (@BroncoSportsMBB) January 10, 2018

“Me and my big mouth,” says Rice, in his eighth season as Boise State coach, explaining how the video came to be. “I was begging and pleading with fans to come out and see this team, and I said, ‘Shoot, I’ll do whatever it takes. If I need to walk across the Boise River, go swimming in the winter, I’ll do whatever it takes.’ And I went, ‘Uh oh, what did I just say?’ And it just grew some wings, and I just went with it.”

In Rice’s defense, he has a team that might just be worth risking hypothermia for. The Broncos sit at 14-3 and are 4-1 in Mountain West play despite a front-loaded schedule, which included three of the league’s better teams on the road in the first five conference games. Boise has already won at UNLV (13-4), and beat Fresno State (12-6) in Fresno Wednesday. Its only conference loss came at Wyoming, which — more on this later – is one of college basketball’s most surprisingly difficult venues to play in. The Broncos also have a win at Oregon in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

Not surprisingly, Boise State has been led by 6-7 senior guard Chandler Hutchison, who was tabbed as the conference’s preseason Player of the Year back in October. Hutchison was slowed by a concussion early in the season but has exploded in conference play, averaging 24.2 points against Mountain West opponents. Despite Hutchison’s gaudy numbers, it’s the intangible things which have impressed Rice this season.

“Chandler was saying things in the huddle [Wednesday against Fresno State] that I was really proud of,” Rice says. “It was some of the best leadership he’s done since he’s gotten here.”

Whether Hutchison can lead Boise State to its third NCAA Tournament appearance of the Rice era remains to be seen, but there will be plenty of chances to pick up big wins ahead, starting Saturday against San Diego State, which is 3-1 in league play with its only loss – like Boise – coming at Wyoming.

That game will also serve as the fans’ first chance to sell out Taco Bell Arena and get Rice to take the polar plunge into the Boise River.

“You can die if you get swept away in the cold,” he says only half-jokingly. “But that’s the motivation.”

Something in the (thin) air at Wyoming

Boise’s only conference loss came this past Saturday at Wyoming, and based solely on the two teams’ win-loss records, it may appear to be a disappointing effort from the Broncos. It wasn’t.

The game was played at Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium, an unimposing structure from the outside that doubles as possibly the most physically imposing arena in all of college basketball. The “Doom of Dome” sits a staggering 7,220 feet above sea level, the highest elevation of any home court in college basketball.

“Not that [the altitude] guarantees you a win,” Cowboys coach Allen Edwards says. “But for teams that doesn’t consistently play at altitude, yeah, that helps.”

It has certainly helped the Cowboys since Edwards took over as head coach last season, and it’s certainly created more chaos as Edwards has slowly implemented the more frenetic, fast-paced attack he learned as a player under Rick Pitino in the mid-1990s. The Cowboys have won 15 of their last 16 home games, and it has left some opponents – including Coastal Carolina in last year’s CBI Finals – using oxygen tanks on the sidelines.

The conditions appear to be impacting Mountain West opponents as well. The Cowboys have already knocked off a pair of the league’s better teams in Laramie, toppling San Diego State and Boise State, in what are the only conference losses to date for each.

In each game, it appeared altitude played a role late. Wyoming outscored the Aztecs by 16 points in the second half to run away with an 82-69 win on December 27, and two weeks later, outscored Boise State by 17 points after intermission and won in overtime.

(Credit: Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports)

Around the rim

Nevada Wolf Pack (15-3, 4-0): If it has felt like a quiet few weeks for the preseason Mountain West favorites, it has been. The Wolf Pack had a relatively easy win at Air Force over the weekend and won’t play again until they host Utah State on Saturday night.

Still, the Wolf Pack better enjoy the time off while they can, as the schedule picks up exponentially going forward. There is a home date against Boise State a week from Saturday,  followed by a trip to Wyoming. And if that isn’t enough, four of Nevada’s final six games are on the road, including trips to Boise State, UNLV and San Diego State. Talk about a gauntlet. The schedule-makers certainly did the Wolf Pack no favors late in the season.

San Diego State (11-4, 3-1): Seniors Trey Kell, a 6-4 guard, and Malik Pope, a 6-10 forward, are the headliners for Brian Dutcher’s club, but the team’s recent success has come thanks in large part to the improved play of freshman Jalen McDaniels. The rail-thin, 6-10, 195-pound forward, who Dutcher called “the skinniest player in college basketball” after the Aztecs’ win over Gonzaga on December 21, is averaging just eight points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season. But he has come on as of late, averaging 13 points and nine boards in San Diego State’s last five contests. That included a 15-point, 10-rebound performance against the then-No. 11 Zags, San Diego State’s biggest win of the season to date.

Utah State (10-8, 3-2): Despite its loss to Colorado State on Wednesday night, Utah State has been one of the pleasant surprises in early league play. Ultimately that success comes for one simple reason: The Aztecs’ best player is finally healthy. After dealing with a nagging ankle injury that cost him four games early in the season, 6-4 sophomore guard Koby McEwen is back to playing like a guy was tabbed as a preseason All-Mountain West first-team pick. In McEwen’s first four league games, he averaged 22 points per game, including 28 in an overtime win over Fresno State last week.

New Mexico (8-10, 3-2): It’s hard to think of many college basketball players who have had a quicker and more shocking emergence than New Mexico Joe Furstinger. After averaging just 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds through the Lobos’ first 11 games, the 6-9 senior forward has turned into an out-of-nowhere double-double machine, averaging 14.4 points and 9.8 rebounds in their last seven contests. That included a 17-point, 10-rebound performance in Wednesday’s win over Wyoming, his fifth double-double over that stretch.

UNLV Rebels (13-4, 2-2): After beating Illinois and Utah in non-conference play, UNLV got major buzz as a club that could earn an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. But conference play has brought the Rebels back to reality. UNLV is just 2-2 with a home loss to Utah State and narrow road wins over the league’s two worst teams (San Jose State and Air Force). We probably should have seen these struggles coming. UNLV has eight regulars in their rotation, but six of them are in their first year playing for the Rebels, meaning that while the talent is up, consistency is still a work in progress. To Marvin Menzies’ credit, he’s taking a gentle approach with this young group, praising them in both victory in defeat. “It is early in the conference journey, so [I’m] still very optimistic,” Menzies said after Saturday’s loss to Utah State. “[The] silver lining is the guys still fought back.”

Fresno State (12-6, 2-3): The Mountain West is a league where the disparity between “haves” and “have nots” is wider than most conferences. Some teams (notably San Diego State, UNLV and New Mexico) simply have bigger budgets, which allow for amenities others simply can’t afford. And there may not have been a better example of how the Mountain West’s rich and poor live than in the lead-up to Tuesday night’s Boise State-Fresno State game.

Each team was coming off a Saturday road game, with Fresno State playing at Colorado State in the afternoon and Boise State tipping off at Wyoming a few hours later. Boise State went straight to Fresno after the game, and because they were flying charter, landed in the early hours Sunday morning. Fresno State was flying commercial (its budget won’t allow it to charter this season), had to wait until Sunday morning to take off and didn’t get home until well into the afternoon. Fresno State lost nearly a full day of prep time, a major disadvantage going into a crucial home game.

Coach Rodney Terry said all the right things prior to tip-off, telling the Fresno Bee, “We don’t ever let it [travel] be an excuse that stops us from being successful.” Still, it couldn’t have helped, as Fresno State fell in the final seconds, 70-64, to Boise State.

Colorado State (9-9, 2-3): It’s hard to imagine many teams have played a tougher schedule than the Rams have. Larry Eustachy’s club has faced eight RPI Top-100 teams (six in non-conference, two in league play), and that doesn’t include Oregon, which looked like a great matchup in the preseason, but the Ducks have fallen to 116th nationally in the latest RPI after a disappointing 11-5 start.

At some point, all those tough games were going to pay dividends, and it appears Wednesday night they finally did. Facing a good Utah State squad on the road, the Rams dominated from start to finish in an 84-75 victory that wasn’t as close as the final score. Utah State had entered the game on a three-game winning streak (including at UNLV).

Air Force (6-10, 0-4): The Falcons have proven to be a tough challenger for the better teams in this league. In a game against first-place Nevada over the weekend, Air Force trailed by just one point at halftime before falling by 11, and lost a close one to UNLV on Wednesday, 81-76. Against the Rebels, the biggest surprise came on the boards, where Air Force – despite not having a single starter taller than 6-7 – outrebounded UNLV 33-29. Keep in mind, the Rebels have two of the nation’s best rebounders in 7-1 freshman center Brandon McCoy, and 6-7 junior forward Shakur Juiston, who are each averaging 9.9 boards per game this season.

San Jose State (3-13, 0-5): After a coaching change in mid-July and star forward Brandon Clarke’s transfer to Gonzaga shortly afterward, folks knew it’d be a tough season at San Jose State. But credit should go to coach Jean Prioleau for getting his troops to play hard. Despite being woefully undermanned, the Spartans took UNLV to overtime before falling 82-76, and their loss this week to San Diego State wasn’t as bad as the 85-49 final score. San Jose State actually trailed just 22-21 with a few minutes left in the first half, before the Aztecs made a 6-0 run and never looked back. San Jose State’s best chance at a win in league play will likely come this weekend against Air Force.

Looking up the court

San Diego State at Boise State, Jan. 13: If Nevada is the favorite going forward in this league (and considering it has the best record and was picked to win the league in the preseason, it should be), this has to be considered a battle of the teams most likely to earn a potential at-large bid. This also could serve as an important place for San Diego State to pick up its first signature road win of the season, after falling at Wyoming to open league play.

Boise State at Nevada, Jan. 20: A week from Saturday, Boise’s front-loaded, road-trip-heavy gauntlet of a schedule continues with a trip to Nevada. The Wolf Pack have been virtually unbeatable at home, winning 26 of its last 27 games at the Lawlor Events Center.

Nevada at Wyoming, Jan. 24: San Diego State couldn’t win at Arena-Auditorium earlier this season. Neither could Boise State over the weekend. Will Nevada have better luck playing at college basketball’s highest altitude? They actually won at Wyoming last season, beating the Cowboys, 89-74.

(Top photo: Boise State head coach Leon Rice; Credit: David J. Becker/Getty Images)