BOISE, Idaho — It didn't take long for the Boise State men's basketball team to shift their focus from a failed opportunity to a familiar future opponent, on Wednesday.
"That's the beauty of these guys. Whenever we've had a big challenge they've responded," said Boise State head coach Leon Rice following a 78-56 loss to the Rams two days ago. "And we've got a big challenge ahead of us on Friday."
This season, due to COVID-19, the Mountain West attempted to limit travel by scheduling two-game series against conference opponents just two days apart at the same venue.
In a typical year, the Broncos would have to wait weeks before getting another shot at a team that beat them. Now they'll barely wait 48 hours to try and revenge their first conference loss of the season.
"That's the hard thing about these two-game series and it's the good thing about them. Now we get to battle again against a good team," said Rice.
"The loss hurts and it's a sour taste," added senior Derrick Alston. "So we're just excited to go back at them on Friday."
There will be plenty at stake in the rematch between the Broncos and Rams. At the moment, Boise State is tied for first place with a 9-1 record in Mountain West play. A win would give them a half-game lead on second-place Utah State (10-2 in MW) and 1.5-games up on Colorado State (9-2).
However, a loss on Friday would drop the Broncos all the way to third and catapult the Rams into a tie for first place. It would also give Colorado State a valuable tiebreaker over Boise State, having swept the regular-season series.
"We knew the series was going to be big one," said Rice. "Playing here in Fort Collins is always hard. So, yeah, that sets up for another big one on Friday."
"I take a lot of blame on the loss, too, being you know being the leader of this team," said Alston. "I'm not going to hold my head down. You have to go back out there and respond and we'll be ready to go on Friday for sure."
Prediction: Alston is going to have a big game Friday
Considering he is the team's leading scorer, destined to be named First-Team All-Mountain West for the second straight year, that might not seem like a very bold statement.
But it is worth acknowledging.
Over the last two seasons, Alston had a knack for elevating his play following a loss. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Alston has had the chance to respond to a loss 12 different times. He's averaged 20.6 points in those games, shot .436% from the field, .363% from three, and .886% from the free-throw line.
Now compare that to his stat line from all other games over that span: 17.0 points, .345 3-PT FG%, .422 FG%, .799 FT%.
Alston stopped short of making Friday's game against the Rams bigger than it has to be, referring to the ten conference games that still remain on the schedule.
"We treat every game like it's a championship game," said Alston. "That's our mentality for sure. We can't put all our eggs in one basket. There's still a lot of games left to be played."
Alston will play in the 92nd game of his collegiate career on Friday. In his time as a Bronco, he's gone from barely playing to barely missing a minute. He experienced a six-game losing streak as a sophomore and was a big reason for the team's recent 13-game winning streak.
"[I've] just having been through so many battles," said Alston. "[I'm] thankful for those experiences."
With that being said, Alston's maturity now stands out even more than his production. Be has confidence in his teammates and he has rarely forced anything during his senior season.
"I just try and be the best basketball player out there," Alston said. "That's what I try and do every single night and just try and impose my will on the game."
With first-place in the Mountain West on the line, Alston has a chance to continue adding to a legacy that will already go down as one of the best in school history.