San Jose State stuns Boise State in opening round of Mountain West Tournament

The Boise State men’s basketball team is one-and-done at the Mountain West Tournament after suffering a stunning 84-74 loss to San Jose State in Wednesday’s opening round.

The 11th-seeded Spartans (9-23) advance to face No. 3 New Mexico (22-9) at 9:30 p.m. Mountain time on Thursday at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

The sixth-seeded Broncos (20-12), who entered the MWC Tournament on a five-game winning streak, will miss the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

Javan Buchanan starred for Boise State in defeat, tallying 28 points and 13 rebounds.

Colby Garland had 22 points to lead the short-handed Spartans. San Jose State had just seven available players for Wednesday’s game.

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

Sleepy Broncos

Playing in front of a sparse crowd at Thomas & Mack Center, the Broncos lacked energy throughout Wednesday’s game.

A poor Dylan Andrew pass led to a transition alley-oop slam by Adrian Myers that put San Jose State up 23-19 midway through the opening half. Sadraque NgaNga, a former Boise State player, then scored four straight points for a 31-23 Spartans lead.

The Broncos answered with an 11-0 run to jump back in front, but Garland knocked down an NBA three-pointer at the buzzer to put San Jose State up 41-39 at the break.

San Jose State extended the lead to double figures at 55-45 on consecutive Garland jumpers followed by a Myers step-back three-pointer. The lead swelled to 14 at 74-58 on a Jermaine Washington driving layup.

Lethargic Boise State was unable to make a run down the stretch in a stunning result at the MWC Tournament.

Boise State goes cold

The Broncos had an off shooting night against San Jose State, finishing 22 of 58 (38 percent) from the floor and 5 of 23 (22 percent) from beyond the arc.

A 25 of 30 performance (80 percent) at the foul line kept Boise State in the game.

San Jose State, meanwhile, shot 30 of 61 overall (49 percent) with nine made three-pointers.

Disappointing season ends abruptly

Boise State was expected to contend for the MWC title this season, but head coach Leon Rice was unable to put the pieces together.

The Broncos suffered an inexplicable loss to Division II Hawaii Pacific in their opener and limped to a 1-5 start in MWC play. After closing the regular season with five straight wins, Boise State laid another egg on Wednesday at the MWC Tournament.

The Broncos’ roster will look much different next season as starters Dylan Andrews and Buchanan and key reserve Dominic Parolin are all out of eligibility. Starting guard RJ Keene II is applying for a sixth year and could also be forced to move on.

With a looming move to the Pac-12, Rice will have plenty of roster moves to make during the offseason.