Basketball team, ready for big conference games, knows pain of Boise State football loss

Boise State men’s basketball’s 67-58 victory over Wyoming on Tuesday night was sort of like a tree falling in the woods — nobody was there to hear it.

“(Fans) just looked and went, ‘Oh, good. The basketball team won,’” head coach Leon Rice said Thursday.

He wasn’t annoyed by any means — he gets it. As a big football fan himself, Rice understands that Boise State fans were zoned in on the football team’s game in the College Football Playoff at the Fiesta Bowl, which was happening simultaneously.

Boise State fell to Penn State 31-14, bringing the football team’s season to a close. For many fans, that will mean the focus turns to basketball.

The next chance to catch Rice’s Broncos is Saturday, as Boise State (11-3, 3-0) welcomes perennial Mountain West power San Diego State (8-3, 1-1) to ExtraMile Arena for a 2 p.m. tipoff.

The Aztecs are just two seasons removed from their national championship game appearance and they made the Sweet 16 last season. They have wins over Creighton and No. 14 Houston already, and their losses came to Gonzaga, Oregon and Utah State, which is 13-1. Oregon also has lost only once, and both the Ducks and Zags are in the Top 25.

Boise State is undefeated at home, including an 84-71 win over Clemson. The Broncos also have a neutral venue overtime win over Saint Mary’s in Idaho Falls.

“Hoping to have some great crowds,” senior forward Tyson Degenhart said. “I know a lot of our fans are both basketball and football fans, so to get more of them into the stadium would be awesome, and hopefully have a sold-out environment on Saturday.”

The basketball team’s game at Wyoming started an hour after the football game and finished with about 10 minutes left in the Fiesta Bowl. The team made a vow not to look at the score on their phones until after the game, so they didn’t have a clue what was happening until they could watch the end in the media room.

Degenhart’s analysis of the game?

“We had our chances. We just didn’t make enough plays,” he said.

His thoughts echoed those from Boise State football players and coaches, who saw a handful of self-inflicted errors costing the team a shot at a landmark win.

The basketball team knows the disappointment. The Broncos have made the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons, with quick exits every time. In fact, Boise State has been to the tourney on 10 occasions — including five times under Rice — and lost every game, meaning it holds the unwanted record of most NCAA tourney berths without a victory.

Rice says the ability to bounce back from disappointment is the “cornerstone of greatness.”

“We always tell our guys you’re not absent from mistakes; the great ones have the perfect response,” Rice said. “And it’s the same with teams and programs, and Spencer (Danielson) and his guys will have the perfect response.”

Degenhart has been involved in the past three March Madness disappointments: ‘22 and ‘23 losses to Memphis and Northwestern in the first round, respectively, and last year’s loss to Colorado in a First Four game.

“Losing that game gives you all the motivation in the world to get back,” Degenhart said. “Being to the tournament three times, you get that taste of what it’s like and how close you can get. You realize how thin that line is, how fine the line is, between winning and losing.

“Once you get there, you learn that. And then you just keep putting that in your goals and working towards it each and every day.”

Saturday’s game will be nationally televised on CBS, and Boise State will be looking to put on a better show than it did in December in a CBS game. The Broncos were down 44-24 at halftime against Washington State and saw their second-half rally fall short in a 74-69 loss.