BOISE, Idaho — In Boise State's 77-62 win over Nevada on Tuesday night, it was evident early that Max Rice was going to be productive against Nevada. In the first four minutes of the game, Rice had scored all eight of Boise State's points and made three of his first four shots.
He went on to score 29 points in the entire game, four points more than his career-high. His scoring was what kept Boise State ahead in the first half, and the defensive attention he had on him in the second half opened up the floor for other people to score.
"I’ve seen guys score a lot of points in a half," said head coach Leon Rice about Max's first half. "But when they’re that efficient that’s what makes all the difference in the world. That ranks up there as one of the best halves in this gym since I’ve been here and that’s saying something.”
The last time the two teams saw each other was in Reno at the end of December. Nevada guard Kenan Blackshear made a layup with under four seconds in the game to put the Wolf Pack up a point, eventually winning them the game.
Rice finished that game with two points, which weighed heavily on his mind going into their second match-up.
“Sometimes to get myself going, I’m like, these dudes don’t believe I belong out here," said Rice. "I had two points the last time I played them, I’m like, I gotta prove myself to them and show them that I can hoop too. So tonight I kind of did come in with a different mindset and it really paid off for me and I’m obviously going to keep doing that in the future."
21 of Rice's 29 points came in the first half. In the following period, it was the effort of sophomore Tyson Degenhart that won the game. After attempting only two shots in the first half, Degenhart scored 12.
With 12 games left, the Broncos are in sole possession of first place in the Mountain West. On Friday night, they'll head to Albuquerque to face off against New Mexico.
Tip-off is at 9 pm MT and the game will be broadcast on FS1.
