Nevada got a lot of freebies Wednesday night in Reno and it cost Boise State a game and the lead in the Mountain West basketball race. Nevada beat Boise State 85-77 outscoring the Broncos by 19 points at the free throw line, 30 of 34 to 11 of 16.

Why did Nevada shoot 34 free throws to just 16 for Boise State? I used to like to think that type of discrepancy was squarely on some bad officiating but last night Boise State settled for the outside shot while the Pack forced the ball inside and drew fouls.

BSU took 20 three point shots basically 20 possessions with no chance of drawing a foul. Still the free throw numbers looked one sided. Nevada made 27-29 free throws in the second half, 13 of 14 in the final five minutes.

Through it all Boise State led by 8-pts at the half and by as many as 10-pts in the second half and with just over three minutes to play if was a 1-pt ballgame.

Eventually the made free throws doomed the Broncos who return home to host San Jose State Saturday at 2 p.m. The 17-9 Broncos have three regular season games remaining as they hope to log a fourth straight season of 20 or more wins.

At 10-5 in league play BSU trails Colorado State and Nevada, both 11-4 and would be the #3 seed in the post season tournament if the season were to end today..

 

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