RENO, Nev. ? The Boise State men's basketball team is one game away from the NCAA Tournament.
The Broncos kept their magical postseason run alive Friday night, defeating Fresno State 86-85 in a WAC tournament semifinal in front of 3,547 fans at the Lawlor Events Center.
"This has been our goal since we lost at Marquette last year," sophomore Eric Lane said. "We had visions of this all season. I never stopped believing in our team."
The win sets up a championship game matchup against UTEP, which beat Rice in Friday's earlier semifinal.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Tipoff is 7 p.m. MST. The winner gets the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The loser likely will miss the Big Dance.
"We have no choice because if we don't win, we go home," BSU senior Jason Ellis said. "We're not ready to go home."
The matchup gives BSU (16-17) a chance at revenge. Last season, UTEP ousted the Broncos from the WAC tournament after BSU had swept the season series.
This year, UTEP (26-7) won both games against the Broncos by 14 points.
But the eighth-seeded Broncos will take their chances against the Miners. BSU already has won three games in Reno, including Thursday night's stunner over top seed and 24th-ranked Nevada.
"We've just got to be solid against them," Lane said.
That's what UTEP is expecting tonight.
"It's obvious they are playing better," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "They are playing as good as anyone in this tournament. They are playing with so much confidence and making shots. It's going to be a very exciting game because both teams like to play uptempo. It's going to be a shootout at the OK Corral."
The Broncos are trying to become the first team to play four games in the tournament and win it since UNLV did in 1998. They are the lowest seed to ever make the WAC championship game.
The main reason ? Ellis, who was a man among boys Friday night. He finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds.
"Our horse was on and we went to him," Graham said.
Sophomore guard Coby Karl went from goat to hero in the final seconds.
Karl, who was 0-of-11 from the field, had the ball stripped from him by Kevin Bell, who converted a layup that put the Bulldogs ahead 85-84 with 20 seconds left.
But BSU designed a play for Karl on the next possession, and he was fouled. Karl, who missed a free throw in the closing seconds against Nevada, made both to give the Broncos the lead.
"I was mentally and physically fatigued," Karl said. "Luckily, I was able to redeem myself. It was a horrible performance."
Jermaine Blackburn (22 points) and Lane (14) also reached double figures for the Broncos, who outrebounded Fresno State by a whopping 45-30 margin.
The Broncos enjoyed a double-digit lead for much of the second half, but the Bulldogs used a traditional three-point play by Mustafa Al-Sayyad and a 3-pointer by Ja'Vance Coleman to pull within 83-80 with 1:24 left.
Blackburn, the hero of Thursday's win, made one of two free throws before Coleman hit a trey as he was falling out of bounds on a possession where the Bulldogs got three offensive rebounds to pull within 84-83 with 40.3 seconds left.
Fresno State had one last chance, but Coleman missed a wide open trey and McNeal Thompson got the rebound as time expired.
BSU lost Seth Robinson (eight points) to a shoulder injury with 13:42 to play. He returned to the bench with ice on his shoulder and his left arm in a sling. Graham said he will miss tonight's game and likely any after that should BSU win.
"That really hurts us because he's been playing well," Graham said. "He's one of our energy guys."
Both teams started the game on fire. The Broncos made 11 of their first 18 shots, while the Bulldogs dropped in eight of their first 11 shots.
BSU, which led by as many as 10 points in the first half, took a 49-43 lead into halftime thanks to its sizzling shooting (57.1 percent).
The Bulldogs, who overcame a double-digit deficit in their quarterfinal against Louisiana Tech, made seven 3-point goals in the first half.
NOTE: UTEP's pep band played for Boise State, which did not bring its band to Reno. It even played the BSU fight song.
The Broncos kept their magical postseason run alive Friday night, defeating Fresno State 86-85 in a WAC tournament semifinal in front of 3,547 fans at the Lawlor Events Center.
"This has been our goal since we lost at Marquette last year," sophomore Eric Lane said. "We had visions of this all season. I never stopped believing in our team."
The win sets up a championship game matchup against UTEP, which beat Rice in Friday's earlier semifinal.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Tipoff is 7 p.m. MST. The winner gets the WAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The loser likely will miss the Big Dance.
"We have no choice because if we don't win, we go home," BSU senior Jason Ellis said. "We're not ready to go home."
The matchup gives BSU (16-17) a chance at revenge. Last season, UTEP ousted the Broncos from the WAC tournament after BSU had swept the season series.
This year, UTEP (26-7) won both games against the Broncos by 14 points.
But the eighth-seeded Broncos will take their chances against the Miners. BSU already has won three games in Reno, including Thursday night's stunner over top seed and 24th-ranked Nevada.
"We've just got to be solid against them," Lane said.
That's what UTEP is expecting tonight.
"It's obvious they are playing better," UTEP coach Doc Sadler said. "They are playing as good as anyone in this tournament. They are playing with so much confidence and making shots. It's going to be a very exciting game because both teams like to play uptempo. It's going to be a shootout at the OK Corral."
The Broncos are trying to become the first team to play four games in the tournament and win it since UNLV did in 1998. They are the lowest seed to ever make the WAC championship game.
The main reason ? Ellis, who was a man among boys Friday night. He finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds.
"Our horse was on and we went to him," Graham said.
Sophomore guard Coby Karl went from goat to hero in the final seconds.
Karl, who was 0-of-11 from the field, had the ball stripped from him by Kevin Bell, who converted a layup that put the Bulldogs ahead 85-84 with 20 seconds left.
But BSU designed a play for Karl on the next possession, and he was fouled. Karl, who missed a free throw in the closing seconds against Nevada, made both to give the Broncos the lead.
"I was mentally and physically fatigued," Karl said. "Luckily, I was able to redeem myself. It was a horrible performance."
Jermaine Blackburn (22 points) and Lane (14) also reached double figures for the Broncos, who outrebounded Fresno State by a whopping 45-30 margin.
The Broncos enjoyed a double-digit lead for much of the second half, but the Bulldogs used a traditional three-point play by Mustafa Al-Sayyad and a 3-pointer by Ja'Vance Coleman to pull within 83-80 with 1:24 left.
Blackburn, the hero of Thursday's win, made one of two free throws before Coleman hit a trey as he was falling out of bounds on a possession where the Bulldogs got three offensive rebounds to pull within 84-83 with 40.3 seconds left.
Fresno State had one last chance, but Coleman missed a wide open trey and McNeal Thompson got the rebound as time expired.
BSU lost Seth Robinson (eight points) to a shoulder injury with 13:42 to play. He returned to the bench with ice on his shoulder and his left arm in a sling. Graham said he will miss tonight's game and likely any after that should BSU win.
"That really hurts us because he's been playing well," Graham said. "He's one of our energy guys."
Both teams started the game on fire. The Broncos made 11 of their first 18 shots, while the Bulldogs dropped in eight of their first 11 shots.
BSU, which led by as many as 10 points in the first half, took a 49-43 lead into halftime thanks to its sizzling shooting (57.1 percent).
The Bulldogs, who overcame a double-digit deficit in their quarterfinal against Louisiana Tech, made seven 3-point goals in the first half.
NOTE: UTEP's pep band played for Boise State, which did not bring its band to Reno. It even played the BSU fight song.
