BOISE, Idaho - Boise State men’s basketball reached the peak of the Mountain West Conference, clinching its first outright regular-season conference championship since the 1987-88 season with a 73-67 win over Nevada, Tuesday night at ExtraMile Arena.
Nevada (12-16, 6-11 MW) made two free throws to cut the Bronco lead to 71-67 with a minute-and-a-half remaining on the clock. On the offensive end, Boise State (23-6, 14-2 MW) got a huge offensive rebound from Tyson Degenhart. On the ensuing shot attempt, the Broncos corralled another offensive rebound, courtesy of Mladen Armus, to set up two free throws to ice the game with 26.9 remaining.
Marcus Shaver, Jr. knocked down both attempts, and after a stop on the other end the ball found its way into the hands of senior Abu Kigab who dribbled out the clock to bring Bronco Nation to its feet and secure Boise State its position alone at the top of the conference for the first time in over three decades.
Kigab finished his Senior-Night performance with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with three assists and three rebounds. Shaver poured in 16 points - his eighth-straight game scoring in double figures - and a career-high-tying four steals.
Boise State was locked in defensively to open the game, forcing the Wolf Pack to 1-for-5 shooting and six turnovers across the first five minutes of the game to build a 10-2 lead. The Broncos worked the lead to as large as nine before Nevada responded with a 15-5 run to take a lead of its own. Over the final 8:03 of the half Boise State outscored Nevada 22-15 to enter the break up six, a lead that would remain with the Blue and Orange the remainder of the game.
Ten-straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers from Tyson Degenhart helped Boise State build the lead to as large as 13 in the second half. Nevada responded with a 21-9 spanning six minutes to get back to within one with just over four minutes left on the clock before the Broncos rattled off five straight of their own to set up the dramatic finish.
Emmanuel Akot finished the night with 16 points, four steals and three assists. His 16 points are the most he has scored since dropping 16 at Fresno State (Jan. 28).
The conference championship is the Broncos’ seventh regular-season title in program history. Boise State shared titles in 2014-15 (MW), 2007-08 (WAC), 1998-99 (Big West), 1988-89 (Big Sky) and 1975-76 (Big Sky), and won the Big Sky outright in 1987-88.
The win gives the Broncos 24 victories on the year, the second-most of the Leon Rice era and the most since the Broncos captured a share of the 2014-15 regular-season MW championship (25). Boise State won a school-record 25 games in both 2007-08 and 2014-15, and have won at least 20 games nine times in Leon Rice’s 12 seasons.
The announced attendance of 11,954 was the highest of the season and the largest crowd since Feb. 12, 2011 against Idaho (12,193). Boise State eclipsed 10,000 fans in three of the final six home games of the 2021-22 season.
The Broncos will close out the 2021-22 regular season at Colorado State, Saturday. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. MT, and the game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network.
