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In their two previous meetings on the year the Broncos and Wolf Pack played hard fought, down to the wire games. Their game in the Mountain West Tournament was no different.
After a loss on senior night early last week, the Broncos came out as the more energetic team, and jumped out to a quick lead. At the 12:33 mark of the first half Boise State lead 17-10 behind five three-pointers.
Nevada, the three seed in the tournament, would not go away that easily, especially with a senior leader such as Deonte Burton. A 17-2 run helped the Wolf Pack close down the lead and eventually tie the game up 32-32 to go into half.
The second half was again back and forth, but Boise State got an eight-point lead with 11:54 remaining in the second half and Nevada could never seem to take control or momentum of the game from that point forward. Boise State used clutch free throw shooting from guard Derrick Marks (11-11) and center Ryan Watkins (9-11) as well as timely three point shooting from guard Jeff Elorriaga (3-6) to ensure the Wolf Pack could not take control.
Boise State shot better from the field (40.4%) than Nevada (32.1%), outrebounded Nevada (38 to29), and had more assists (14 compared to 7). On this night, the 6th seed Broncos were simply better than the 3rd seed Wolf Pack.
The Boise State Broncos will now take on the 2nd seeded New Mexico Lobos tomorrow at 8:30 pm PT on CBS Sports Network.