The Lobos (12-11, 5-7) fell to seventh place in the Mountain West with a heartbreaking 59-58 loss to SJSU. The new rules came to help SJSU, as they were able to advance the ball after calling a time out giving them a chance to get a great look for the game-winning basket. Tonight, the Lobos will have a tough task to be able to move up in the standings as they head to Boise Idaho to take on the Boise State Broncos (16-8, 9-4), who are in third place in the conference.
The Broncos won the first meeting in Albuquerque, were they came out with a runaway 81-60 win. The bright spots for the Lobos in the first meeting were Khadijah Shumpert and Emily Lines. Shumpert finished the first meeting with 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks while Lines had a very solid performance, finishing with 15 points, 3 rebounds and two assists. It will be interesting to see what kind of minutes Lines will be getting in this meeting.
The biggest key for the Lobos in this meeting will be their defense. In the first meeting, the Lobos didn’t have an answer for the Broncos’ attack. The Broncos finished the game shooting 55.4% for the game, but that doesn’t tell the whole story, as the Broncos shot better than 66.7% in all but one quarter. The Lobos must play better defense to have a chance to win this game. If the Lobos are able to play better defense and have a good offensive game, they should be able to put themselves in a position to win this game on the road.
Boise State Broncos
The Broncos are led by Head Coach Gordy Pressnel, who is in his eleventh year at Boise State. During his time at Boise State, the Broncos have moved from the WAC and joined the Mountain West halfway through his tenure. The Broncos are coming off a 22-11 season, where they finished 11-7 in conference play, before winning the MW Tournament to get the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos are having a better start to the season than last year, but they are in the same position the Lobos are: needing to win the MW Tournament to have a chance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Broncos are led on the court by three players this season, each averaging over 12 points per game. The leading scorer for the Broncos is Brooke Pahukoa who is averaging 14.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Pahukoa had a huge game in the first meeting between the two teams, finishing the game with 25 points on 8-13 shooting, including 7-10 from three. Shalen Shaw is the Broncos second leading scorer and leading rebounder, averaging 12.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. She had a very productive game in the first meeting, scoring 15 points on 6-9 shooting, grabbed 8 rebounds, and had a good defensive game with 3 blocks and 2 steals. The third leading scorer is Miquelle Askew, who is averaging 12.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In the first meeting, the Lobos had no answer against her, as she finished with 18 points on 9-12 shooting.
The other Boise player to keep an eye on is their point guard, Yaiza Rodriguez, who is averaging 7.0 points and 5.2 assists per game. The Lobos need to do a better job of putting pressure on the Bronco point guards, as while they did finish with 17 turnovers in the first meeting, the Broncos did have 23 assists and had a lot of easy looks at the basket.
Team Stat Comparison
- Points Per Game: Lobos 62.6; Broncos 68.9
- Points Allowed Per Game: Lobos 59.8; Broncos 62.7
- Field Goal Percentage: Lobos 37.1%; Broncos 41.9%
- Three Point Percentage: Lobos 27.7%; Broncos 31.6%
- Free Throw Percentage: Lobos 64.8%; Broncos 74.3%
- Defensive Field Goal Percentage: Lobos 37.4%; Broncos 38.8%
- Defensive Three Point Percentage: Lobos 31%; Broncos 29.6%
- Rebounds Per Game: Lobos 40.5; Broncos 38.9
- Assists Per Game: Lobos 13.6; Broncos 15
- Turnovers Per Game: Lobos 15.2; Broncos 16
- Turnovers Forced Per Game: Lobos 17.7; Broncos 16.7
Picks
On Saturday, I ended up going 3-2 on my picks, improving my record to 48-21 in MW picks this season. Here are my picks for Wednesday’s action:
BSU vs UNM
UNLV at AFA
FSU at WYO
SJSU at Nevada
CSU vs USU
Conference Standings
- CSU 12-0
- FSU 10-2
- BSU 9-4
- SJSU 8-5
- USU 6-6
- UNLV 6-7
- UNM 5-7
- WYO 5-8
- SDSU 4-9
- Nevada 3-9
- AFA 1-12
Prediction
These two teams are in completely different places right now. BSU is playing better, are the home team, and they won the first meeting by 21 points, so I don’t have much confidence in the Lobos winning this tough road game. I put the odds of the Lobos winning the game at 27%, with the final score being a 77-65 Lobo loss. I hope that I am wrong and the Lobos come home with the huge road win.
Game Info
Who: New Mexico (12-11, 5-7) vs. BSU (16-8, 9-4)
Where: Taco Bell Arena, Boise Idaho
When: Wednesday February 17, 7 PM MT
Radio: 610 AM
Stream: Campus Insiders