Boise State squanders 23-point lead in devastating overtime loss to UNLV

The UNLV men’s basketball team roared back from a 23-point first-half deficit on Friday to stun Boise State at ExtraMile Arena, 86-83.

The Rebels (13-12, 8-6 Mountain West) completed the regular-season sweep of the Broncos (15-10, 7-7), winning both matchups in overtime.

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn netted a career-high 36 points to lead UNLV. Gibbs-Lawhorn torched Boise State for 33 points in January’s 89-85 overtime victory at Thomas & Mack Center.

Drew Fielder paced the Broncos with 27 points and six rebounds.

Here are three takeaways from Boise State’s crushing loss.

Another overtime game

For the fourth time in MWC play, 40 minutes weren’t enough to decide the outcome of a Boise State game.

The Broncos suffered a triple-overtime loss at San Diego State in early January and fell in extra time to UNLV 10 days later. Earlier this month, Boise State coughed up a 20-point first-half lead against Nevada but recovered to secure an overtime home win.

The Broncos raced out to an early 32-9 advantage in Friday’s rematch with UNLV and led by 17 points with 8:55 remaining but were unable to put the Rebels away. The teams headed to overtime locked in a 77-all tie after Gibbs-Lawhorn buried a three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in regulation.

A Tyrin Jones putback dunk with 25.8 seconds to go put the Rebels up 85-81. Jones’ slam was UNLV’s 11th offensive rebound.

Dylan Andrews had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but his floater was off the mark.

It was a disastrous loss for the Broncos, who are now five games behind MWC-leading Utah State (21-3, 12-2) in the conference standings.

Broncos stick with Pearson Carmichael

For the second straight game, Pearson Carmichael got the start at shooting guard in place of RJ Keene II alongside Andrews at point guard, forwards Javan Buchanan and Andrew Meadow and Fielder at center.

The new starting five didn’t generate much early offense, but Spencer Ahrens hit a three-pointer off the bench to put the Broncos up 10-3 with 13:37 remaining in the half. Ahrens then threw down a two-handed transition dunk for a 17-6 lead.

The offense began to hum as Carmichael hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it a 26-9 game. Boise State led by as many as 23 points in the opening half before the Rebels stormed back.

Carmichael had a strong game with 16 points, three rebounds and two assists. Keene II, who didn’t travel with the team for last weekend’s victory over New Mexico due to illness, played 12 minutes off the bench and didn’t score.

How does Boise State respond?

The Broncos clawed their way back from a 1-5 start to MWC play, but Friday’s meltdown against UNLV stalled their positive momentum.

Next up for Boise State? A rematch with Utah State.

Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Mountain time next Wednesday at Smith Spectrum.

The Aggies hammered Boise State at ExtraMile Arena back in January, 93-68. It was the most lopsided home loss in head coach Leon Rice’s 16 seasons at the helm.

Sitting back at .500 in MWC play, the Broncos can’t afford to lay another egg against Utah State.