By Stephen Vilardo, SuperWest Sports
New Mexico keeps on winning and owns a one-game lead over Utah State in the Mountain West standings.
The Lobos will put their six-game winning streak on the line when they host Wyoming tonight.
If they can take care of business at home against the Cowboys the streak will be seven strong when they host Utah State on Sunday.
The Aggies are finding their stride once again having won three in a row after knocking off Colorado State on Tuesday night.
A win in that one would give the Lobos two wins over USU and a two-game lead on the rest of the conference with just five games remaining in the regular season.
The Aggies and Lobos both should be comfortably in the field of 68 as long as neither team has a drastic slide over the last month.
Boise State on the Rise after Four Straight Wins
Another team in the conference that is starting to come on once again after a low point is Boise State. The Broncos have won four in a row and sit at 17-7 on the season and 9-4 in conference play.
They have a bye in the midweek before looking to run the winning ways to five in a row at San Diego State on Saturday.
The last loss was a buzzer-beater in Fort Collins at the hands of Colorado State. That was the second consecutive loss for the Broncos and put them at 2-4 in games played in 2025 up to that point.
Leon Rice called that loss “rock bottom” and since then Blue and Orange have just been winning.
Following the defeat, Rice tweaked his starting rotation moving Emmanuel Ugbo and RJ Keene into the starting five. Ugbo had his best outing of the season with 12 points on 62.5% from the floor in the most recent win over San Jose State.
Keene has not committed a turnover since being inserted into the first five.
But perhaps even more important to the recent success of the Broncos has been the improvements on the defensive side of the ball as a team which has stepped up over the last four games since the shift in the lineup.
Boise State has allowed just 57.5 points per game in the last four games while limiting their opponents to just 46.5% from the floor. BSU is now 37th in the nation with an opponent’s shooting percentage of 52.2% on non-blocked two-point FGs.
Another key in the four-game run has been the play of Javan Buchanan off the bench. Buchanan has averaged 13.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocked shots during the four-game winning streak.
The junior forward has shot 55% from the floor in his last four.
Obviously, the two stars of this squad continue to be Alvaro Cardenes and Tyson Degenhart, but the addition of another scoring option, especially off the bench can take their efficiency on offense to new heights.
Boise State is up to 47th in the NET rankings and firmly on the bubble. Sunday’s game at Viejas Arena on Saturday will be a huge one for both teams with NCAA implications.
Boise is just 6-6 this season in Quad 1 & 2 games while the Aztecs are 7-3 in such games. The victor in this one will have a leg up on the resume, especially if the visitors can steal one on the road.
SuperWest Player of the Week: Nelly Junior Joseph, F, New Mexico
The Lobos collected a key win at Colorado State last Wednesday and beat up on Air Force over the weekend.
In the two wins, the Lobo star averaged 16 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 52.6% from the field.
His 21-rebound performance against the Falcons was a career-high and the sixth-highest single-game performance this season in Division 1.
SuperWest Freshman of the Week: Elijah Price, F, Fresno State
The Bulldogs have had their struggles this season, but the play of Price has been a bright spot.
In three games over the last week, the forward averaged 13.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.7 rebounds while knocking down 19 of 23 from the foul stripe.
writes about various topics for SuperWest sports, including stats and records, college sports, and motorsports. He also founded and runs the Sports and Entertainment Research Center (SERC).
