What head coach Leon Rice said following Boise State’s road victory over Colorado State

The Boise State men’s basketball team closed Mountain West play in style on Saturday with a near wire-to-wire 78-67 road victory over Colorado State.

The Broncos (20-11, 12-8) led by double figures for most of the half en route to their fifth straight win. Colorado State (20-11, 11-9) had won eight straight games entering Saturday’s matchup.

“This time of year, the energy and the effort, that’s the most important thing,” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said. “You can’t go on the road and win one like that without some depth.

“That was tough circumstances. I’m sure there were a lot of people who didn’t think we were going to get this done tonight, except for the people in that room. Really proud of their effort and the way we approached this game.”

Junior center Drew Fielder had another strong game for the Broncos with 23 points and six rebounds. Fielder was coming off a career-high 33-point performance against San Diego State.

Dylan Andrews added 19 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Broncos, who will be the No. 6 seed at the MWC Tournament if Nevada (19-11, 11-8) defeats Air Force (2-27, 0-19) at home on Saturday night.

The Rams shot 50 percent from the floor (26 of 52) but were just 6 of 20 (30 percent) from beyond the arc.

Boise State will likely need to win the MWC Tournament at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas to secure an NCAA Tournament bid.

Colorado State is locked into the No. 7 seed for the MWC Tournament.

Here are the highlights from Rice’s postgame comments.

On solid defensive performance

“They didn’t get many clean looks. They hit two (three-pointers) right there at the end when the game was kind of decided, two or three. Throughout the course of the game, that was amazing. We kept pretty good heat on the ball all night.”

On another dominant rebounding effort

“They all know that’s a non-negotiable in this program. And they see what it does and how much value it has and why RJ Keene plays. Because he gets credit for five (rebounds), but I’m telling you, I think he tipped that one at the end that got us another possession and got the (lead) back to 15 or 17, and it was pretty much game over then on that play.

“It spreads throughout the team. To come on the road and play with that much good energy and good togetherness, and just the resolve that we were going to get it done. Because we knew it wouldn’t be easy, and it wasn’t.”