Boise State, winner of five in row, hits LV Classic on roll

San Diego State may still be the team to beat in the Mountain West when the conference season tips off New Year’s Eve. But the rest of the league may be better than originally projected.

Colorado State has played well in the preseason. Same for Wyoming. And then there’s Boise State. The Broncos, who were picked second behind the Aztecs in the MW preseason poll in October, bring a 9-2 record and a five-game winning streak into today’s Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena. And while coach Leon Rice said he’s liking what he’s seeing, he knows there’s room for improvement.

“We’re a team with a lot of new faces,” Rice said of the Broncos, who face Houston at 7:30 p.m. in the final game of today’s quadruple-header. “We’ve got a lot of new guys playing a lot of minutes and I think as we go along, we can continue to get better and keep improving in January and February and hopefully, into March.

“Last year, we were who we were in November. And as the season went on, we got worse. We had a number of injuries and we weren’t able to overcome them.”

The Broncos aren’t 100 percent healthy as they arrive in Las Vegas. Senior forward Anthony Drmic, who averages 15 points a game, has missed the last four games with a back injury and he’s probably out for the next couple of days. Sophomore forward Nick Duncan, who averages 8.9 points, has a sprained right ankle and he did not play in Boise State’s 77-33 trouncing of Abilene Christian, a game which saw the Broncos set a school record for fewest points allowed in a game.

But despite the injuries, things set up well for the Broncos. Houston, tonight’s opponent, has dropped the first two games in the Las Vegas Classic, losing to Arkansas-Pine Bluff and South Carolina State and is 5-3 overall under first-year coach Kelvin Sampson. BSU is getting strong play from senior guard Derrick Marks, the team’s leading scorer at 17 points per game, and junior Mikey Thompson, who has been thrust into a starting role and is averaging 9.7 points.

“He’s adapted well and has gotten comfortable with what we want,” Rice said of Thompson, the former Canyon Springs High School standout who had been coming off the bench the majority of his first two years at Boise State, though he did start 12 games as a sophomore. “He’s giving us quality minutes and we’re very pleased with Mikey’s progress.”

But Rice is also pleased with the play of some of his newcomers. Sophomore forward James Webb III gives Boise State extra rebounding as the 6-foot-9-inch Webb is averaging 5.4 boards. Junior guard Montigo Alford has added depth to the backcourt and is averaging 5.1 points off the bench.

That depth will get tested when Mountain West play opens Dec. 31. Boise State will travel to undefeated Colorado State (11-0) and after hosting Utah State Jan. 3, travels to Wyoming on Jan. 10. Rice said being away from Taco Bell Arena for most of the preseason should have his team ready.

“We played six of our first seven on the road,” he said, a scheduled that saw wins at San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Idaho and Saint Mary’s along with losses to nationally ranked Wisconsin and North Carolina State. “I think our cumulative schedule is helping us get ready for conference.

“I say this all the time; I think the people who don’t live it are the ones who underestimate our conference. Until you’ve been to Laramie, until you’ve been to Fort Collins and Albuquerque and Logan, you don’t really know what it’s like. It’s a very, very tough league.”

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.