LAS VEGAS — Update: Boise State defeated Wyoming 68-61 Friday night to punch its ticket to the Mountain West Tournament Championship. A game recap of the Broncos win can be viewed here.
After splitting its pair of regular season matchups, Boise State and Wyoming meet in a rubber match Friday at 7:30 p.m. MT in Las Vegas for a chance to advance to the Mountain West Conference Tournament championship game.
The top-seeded Broncos (25-7, 15-3) survived a scare vs. Nevada Thursday in the quarterfinal, topping the Wolf Pack 71-69. Fifth-year senior Emmanuel Akot lead Boise State with 22 points and went 8-for-15 (53.3%) from the field.
As the No. 5 seed in the Mountain West, Wyoming (25-7, 13-5) used its daunting physicality and rebounding ability to take down No. 4 UNLV on Thursday 59-56. The victory marked the Cowboys' first win in Las Vegas against UNLV since 2003.
Out of the Broncos 25 wins, 11 have come by a margin of 6 points or less. Across Thursday's four quarterfinal matchups, only San Diego State's 53-46 win over Fresno State had a final score margin of more than 3. Colorado State punched their ticket to the semifinal with a 53-51 victory over Utah State.
Boise State and Wyoming are not unfamiliar with battles going down to the wire in 2022. The Broncos defeated the Cowboys 65-62 on Jan. 25 in Boise, but Wyoming equaled the series with a 72-65 win in Laramie Feb. 3.
According to ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, Wyoming's NCAA Tournament fate could come down to the result of Friday's semifinal bout.
Lunardi's latest bracket -- updated at 10 p.m. MT Thursday -- ranks Wyoming as a "last four in" squad, currently slated to face Wake Forest in a play-in game to earn a 12-seed in the tournament's East region.
As they were ranked prior to Thursday's win over Nevada, Lunardi has the Broncos as a No. 7 seed in March Madness, lined up for a matchup with No. 10 Creighton in the bracket's Midwest region.
Bronco Nation can keep up with the score, updates and highlights from Friday's game with KTVB's Game Tracker and live blog. Scroll down to find KTVB's Game Tracker, which will have the latest scores and a live blog with the newest tweets and updates by KTVB's Jay Tust and Will Hall from Las Vegas.
To earn a ticket to the Mountain West Championship Saturday night, Boise State will need to play lights out in the paint against the Cowboys.
Wyoming out-rebounded UNLV 45-29 in its quarterfinal win, including 12 offensive rebounds that led to 30 paint points for the Cowboys.
Wyoming big man Graham Ike has proved to be problematic against the Broncos. In Boise State's Jan. 25 win, Ike scored 19 points -- the most of any Cowboy -- and added 9 rebounds. Ike led all scorers with 30 points in Wyoming's Feb. 3 win in Laramie and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Boise State's starting lineup will likely be on the court almost all 40 minutes Friday night if the game is as close as slated to be. Akot, Marcus Shaver Jr., Abu Kigab, Tyson Degenhart and Mladen Armus each spent 30-36 minutes on the floor vs. Nevada Thursday.
Shaver initially did not travel with the team to Las Vegas and has not practiced in a week due to an illness. Shaver did score 15 points and tied a season-high with 8 rebounds Thursday, however.
"That's Big Shot Shave for you," Boise State head coach Leon Rice said.
Boise State has an opportunity to break the program record for the most wins in a season, after tying the 2007-2008 and 2014-2015 teams with 25 wins.
Colorado State and San Diego State are scheduled to tip off at 10 p.m. MT Friday following the conclusion of Boise State vs. Wyoming.
The Mountain West Championship tips off Saturday in Las Vegas at 4 p.m. MT.
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