A new Bronco shines, but Boise State loses rebound battle in loss to San Diego State

San Diego State basketball’s size and length were too much for Boise State to handle on Saturday afternoon, as the Broncos dropped their first Mountain West game of the season, a 76-68 loss to the Aztecs at ExtraMile Arena.

The defeat snapped Boise State’s perfect start to conference play, dropping the Broncos to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain West. It also snapped a five-game winning streak.

Rebounding has been the Broncos’ strong suit this season, but San Diego State (9-3, 2-1 Mountain West) won the battle 39-29. The Aztecs outperformed the Broncos on both sides, winning the offensive rebounding battle 15-9 and the defensive 24-20.

“Their length creates a problem,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said. “They’re a really good defensive team, which is what we expected.”

It was rebound by committee for the Aztecs, with no San Diego State player getting more than six. But, unsurprisingly, the pair of Jared Coleman-Jones and Miles Heide, who are each 6-foot-10, helped lead the lockdown of the Broncos. Coleman-Jones and Miles Heide pulled in five rebounds apiece.

San Diego State has five players who are at least 6-foot-10. The Broncos have just two: redshirt sophomore forward Dylan Anderson and freshman forward Ethan Lathan, who hasn’t played a single minute this season.

Boise State entered the matchup ranked 59th in the nation in rebounds per game (39), compared to San Diego State’s ranking of 121st (37.6 rebounds per game).

But, despite entering with relatively even stats, the Aztecs made it difficult for Boise State to operate inside the paint. San Diego State had some of its tallest players guarding the perimeter and did a good job in the paint as well.

San Diego State scored 21 second-chance points compared to Boise State’s nine.

“They won the 50/50 battle,” redshirt freshman guard Chris Lockett said. “Our guards need to rebound more and help the game a little bit more from crashing on defense and offense sometimes.”

Junior forward Javan Buchanan was the best Boise State rebounder with eight, but he scored only four points. Other Broncos to struggle on the night included senior forwards Tyson Degenhart (nine points, three rebounds) and O’Mar Stanley (four points, five rebounds).

If there was one bright spot for the Broncos, it was the play of Lockett. The 6-foot-4 guard scored a team- and career-high 16 points, including a 3-for-8 clip from beyond the arc.

“I was taking what they gave me,” Lockett said. “Just knowing my personnel and being myself.”

Lockett started the season in a limited role for the Broncos but has now played at least 15 minutes in the last five games, including 26 minutes on Saturday afternoon.

Lockett averaged 7.2 points over the past five games. He’s also been one of the team’s best three-point shooters this season — something the Broncos badly need as they’ve struggled from beyond the arc.

Lockett is shooting 10 for 25 (40%) from three this year, compared to Boise State’s average of 30.2%.

“He’s getting better and better,” Rice said. “I told him he’s going to be a great player here. When we look back on it, we’re going to be like, ‘Oh my God.’”

Boise State will have the opportunity to bounce back when it hosts UNLV at ExtraMile Arena on Tuesday night. The Rebels (9-5) have won four straight games and are 3-0 in conference play.