‘Keep shooting’: Max Rice dumps slump in The Pit to lead Boise State to big victory

Max Rice’s shooting slump is officially a thing of the past.

The sixth-year senior at Boise State hit four field goals or less in six of the Broncos’ past seven games, but he couldn’t miss when it mattered most Wednesday in the Broncos’ 86-78 win at No. 19 New Mexico.

Rice finished with a career-high 35 points, went 12-for-20 from the floor and hit a career-high seven 3-pointers. His previous career-high was 30 points in the Broncos’ home win over the Lobos last season.

The former standout at Bishop Kelly said he took the Broncos’ 90-84 overtime loss to Utah State on Saturday personally and went into Wednesday’s game on a mission.

“I had a lot of sleepless nights before this one, kind of beating myself up over that last game,” Rice told KBOI radio after the game. “I don’t like losing. It was a long week, and I’m glad it paid off tonight.”

After a couple bad misses from 3-point range drew taunts from many of the 13,239 fans who packed The Pit, Rice found his stroke in the second half. He hit a 3 to break a 67-67 tie with a little more than 6 minutes to play, fought through contact to pad the lead with a layup and even got an off-balance heave from 3-point range to fall to give the Broncos a four-point lead with 2:50 to play.

Boise State basketball coach Leon Rice said he wasn’t worried about his son’s slump. He called it something shooters have to go through.

“Sometimes the ball bounces in and sometimes it bounces out,” Leon Rice told KBOI radio after the game. “You don’t get too high or too low. You just keep the confidence going and keep shooting.”

Chibuzo Agbo finished with 16 points, including a spinning finish at the rim that gave the Broncos (15-6, 6-2 Mountain West) a five-point cushion late in the second half, and a 3-pointer that put Boise State up 77-69 with 3:40 to play. St. John’s transfer O’Mar Stanley posted his fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

The Broncos found themselves down 10-2 early in the game, but they took the lead with a 14-0 run that was highlighted by a two-handed slam dunk by Kansas transfer Cam Martin.

Boise State led 41-38 at halftime, but New Mexico (18-4, 6-3) stayed within a possession or two for most of the night thanks in large part to point guard Donovan Dent’s 31 points.

Dent drove to the basket time and again in the second half, but the Broncos owned the paint on Tuesday. Boise State scored 28 points in the paint in the first half and finished the game with 46.

The Broncos also protected the ball, turning it over just 11 times, and Boise State limited an offense that averaged 92 points over the Lobos’ previous five games to 78.

Jamal Mashburn Jr. finished with 14 points for the Lobos, and freshman JT Toppin chipped in with eight points and 15 rebounds.

On the opposite end of the shooting spectrum from Rice was New Mexico senior guard Jaelen House. He finished with 12 points, but his 2-for-15 shooting night, including 1-for-8 from 3-point range, helped doom the Lobos.

The big picture for Boise State

A win at The Pit certainly gave the Broncos’ postseason resume a boost. It was Boise State’s fourth Quad 1 win of the season and the second win over a ranked team in less than a month. They also knocked off then-No. 17 Colorado State at ExtraMile Arena on Jan. 9.

The win planted Boise State firmly in second place in the Mountain West, behind Utah State, which claimed the top spot with a win in Boise on Saturday.

It could also loom large with plenty of tough games still on Boise State’s schedule. The Broncos, who are trying to make their third straight NCAA Tournament, travel to Colorado State on Tuesday and Utah State on Saturday, Feb. 10. They’re on the road Feb. 24 to face Wyoming, which knocked Colorado State off in overtime on Saturday and is often a tough place to win, and they close the regular season at San Diego State.

The Broncos also still host New Mexico on March 2 and Nevada on March 5.

Boise State is back in action at home Saturday against Air Force (2 p.m., Mountain West Network). The Falcons (8-12, 1-7) share last place in the conference with San Jose State and they have lost 10 of their past 11 games.

Six Mountain West teams have shown up in various NCAA brackets this year as the prognosticators come out with bracketology: Boise State, Utah State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Colorado State and Nevada.

The lastest ESPN bracket, prior to Wednesday night’s BSU win, had the Broncos as one of the last four teams in the tourney. It also had Utah State, New Mexico, Colorado State and San Diego State in the field.