LAS VEGAS — Naje Smith scored six of his 18 points in overtime and No. 2 seed Boise State outlasted seventh-seeded UNLV 87-76 on Thursday night in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Smith added six rebounds for the Broncos (24-8), who will play the winner of the quarterfinal match-up between No. 3 seed Utah State and sixth-seeded New Mexico in the semifinals on Friday.
"You know, these guys, we've done that before. We've been in so many close games," Boise State head coach Leon Rice said. "We actually talked about that kind of stuff before the game as a group, of we don't know what the circumstances are gonna be, we don't care what they're gonna be, we're just gonna find a way."
Marcus Shaver Jr. added 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Tyson Degenhart recorded 16 points, while Chibuzo Agbo totaled 16 points and six boards.
Elijah Harkless finished with 18 points, six rebounds and seven assists to pace the Rebels (19-13). UNLV also got 18 points from Justin Webster also had 18 points and Jordan McCabe scored 10.
Agbo scored 12 in the first half to help the Broncos take a 50-34 lead into halftime. Harkless and Webster combined for 19 second-half points and Shane Nowell buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 73.
"It just shows how resilient we are together as a team, you know," Smith said. "Ever since the beginning, we knew this is what we dreamed about and this is worked towards, so it's nice to see our work finally paying off. You can definitely tell down the stretch how we're the most-connected team and how we stay together, and that's what helps us win these games."
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