Boise State vs. San Diego State in Mountain West matchup with NCAA Tournament implications: TV channel, game time

The Boise State men’s basketball team wraps up its Mountain West home slate on Tuesday with a must-win game against San Diego State.

Tipoff between the Broncos (18-11, 10-8) and Aztecs (19-9, 13-5) is scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain time at ExtraMile Arena.

In the latest NCAA Tournament projection from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, San Diego State was among the first four out. Boise State was not listed as a bubble candidate by Lunardi.

The Aztecs are tied for second in the MWC with New Mexico (22-7, 13-5), one game behind Utah State (24-5, 14-4). The Lobos were included in Lunardi’s last four in.

Boise State has won three straight games and is locked in a three-way tie for sixth place with Colorado State (19-10, 10-8) and UNLV (15-14, 10-8). The Broncos close the regular season on Saturday at Colorado State.

Grand Canyon (18-11, 11-7) and Nevada (19-10, 11-7) are tied for fourth place. The top four teams receive a first-round bye for the MWC Tournament.

San Diego State, which has dropped three of its last four games, defeated Boise State in triple overtime at Viejas Arena in early January, 110-107. The Aztecs coughed up a 24-point first-half lead and needed a miracle comeback in the first overtime to pull out the win.

“It’s epic,” Broncos head coach Leon Rice said of the matchup with San Diego State. “And we need a sold-out arena, we need a great crowd for Tuesday night. We’ve got some great seniors that we’re going to honor, and we’re going to honor this crowd by how hard we’re going to play.

“We know how talented and how good San Diego State is. They lost a tough one (to New Mexico on Saturday), but they’ve been playing great. We’re going to have to play an A-plus game against them.”

The Broncos have five seniors on their roster: point guard Dylan Andrews, forward Javan Buchanan, guard RJ Keene II, center Dominic Parolin and guard Brennan Ramirez. Andrews, Buchanan and Keene II are all starters while Parolin is a key reserve.

Senior guard Reese Dixon-Waters is San Diego State’s leading scorer at 12.6 points per game. He also averages 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists.

Junior guard Miles Byrd is one of the top two-way players in the MWC at 10.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 blocks.

HOW TO WATCH BOISE STATE VS. SAN DIEGO STATE

Who: Boise State hosts San Diego State in its Mountain West home finale

Records: Boise State 18-11, 10-8; San Diego State 19-9, 13-5

When: 7 p.m. Mountain time | Tuesday, March 3

Where: ExtraMile Arena | Boise, Idaho

TV channel: CBS Sports Network