BOISE — Losing at Taco Bell Arena is not something Boise State coach Leon Rice is used to dealing with.
That’s changed this season.
Once a place where the Broncos were almost unbeatable, they dropped to just 6-5 at home with a 83-72 loss to UNLV Wednesday night.
The five home losses are the most since Boise State went 11-5 at home during the 2011-12 season and the .545 winning percentage at Taco Bell Arena is currently the worst in Rice’s nine seasons at Boise State.
“I hate it, and it’s not going to happen, it’s not going to keep happening,” Rice said. “I’m not giving up on this team at all…But hey, it’s accountability. We have to get that done. We’re suffering through some stuff, but we still have a winning program and winning culture and they show up every day and work hard and pick each other up and don’t feel sorry and pout, but we can also get pretty fired up about losing and I hate it. It’s not going to happen for long here.”
The Broncos went 15-1 at home last season and were 53-7 at Taco Bell Arena the previous four years. But they lost at home to Idaho State in the season opener and also lost to Oregon, Nevada and Fresno State prior to Wednesday.
Rice has never lost more than five home games in his eight previous years at Boise State. The Broncos will have to beat San Jose State, Utah State, Colorado State and Air Force to keep it from happening.
As for Wednesday's game, the Broncos just can't seem to catch a break. If they aren't losing on a last-second shot they are facing a team that can't seem to miss. They had another strong offensive game but watched as UNLV got hot and stayed hot, making 14 of 26 3-pointers.
Derrick Alston had 17 points, Alex Hobbs had 16 and Justinian Jessup added 15 for the Broncos, who shot an impressive 52.7 percent from the field. It was the fourth straight strong offensive game for the Broncos, who also got 13 from Zach Haney.
There wasn’t much the Broncos could do with UNLV making shots like it did all night. Six different players made 3-pointers for the Rebels, led by a 5-of-6 performance from beyond the arc from Noah Robotham. Nick Blair was 3 for 5 from deep, Amauri Hardy was 2 for 4 and Bryce Hamilton was 2 for 5.
Rice warned Tuesday that UNLV was a “scary” team because of how well they can shoot the ball from 3-point range. The Broncos played pretty good defense for the most part as the Rebels drained several from way beyond the 3-point arc and others with hands in their face.
"They do a good job of finding each other," Rice said. "When they are going like that, it seemed like everyone they snapped off was pure, and it was a lot of different guys. ... When they are going like that, they are really, really hard to guard.
"We weren't aggressive enough defensively. They are quicker than us which makes it harder, but we have to be able to defend the 3. There were too many open looks."
UNLV (12-10, 6-4 MW) had lost its three previous games by 17 points each, but rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half. The Rebels also ended a five-game losing streak in Boise.
The rare 9 p.m. start didn't help. The announced crowd of 3,200 was the second-lowest of the season and one of the Broncos' smallest in a conference game in quite some time.
Boise State led 43-39 at the break, but UNLV opened the second half on a 20-10 run to lead 59-53 on a 3-pointer from Robotham. The Rebels had their biggest lead at 65-57 on a bucket from Kris Clyburn with 10:35 left in the game.
But the Broncos answered on a nifty bank shot from the wing by Hobbs, a 3-pointer from Alston and an inside post move from Haney to cut the deficit to 65-64.
After UNLV scored the next three points, Hobbs scored on two straight possessions to even the score at 68-68 with 6:05 left.
UNLV took the good for lead on, you guessed it, a 3-pointer from Hardy to make it 71-68 with 4:55 to play. The dagger then came from Robotham, who hit an NBA-range 3 with 2:06 to play to make it 76-70.
Boise State was outscored 15-4 to finish the game after being tied at 68. The Broncos scored four minutes in the final six minutes as they continue to struggle finding a go-to guy late in games.
Robotham had 21 points to lead the Rebels, while Clyburn had 17 points, Hardy had 15 and Blair added 14 points. The Rebels finished just one 3-pointer shy of their season high of 15 set against San Jose State.
The Broncos lost for the second straight game after a 20-point loss at Nevada last Saturday.
It looked good for the Broncos in the early going. Boise State led 8-0 early before UNLV started chucking up 3-pointers. The Rebels hit three in a row to cut the Boise State lead to 12-11 with 15:10 left in the first half.
After a Alston dunk made it 14-11, Haney scored nine straight points for the Broncos to up their lead to 23-13. But three more 3-pointers from UNLV cut the Boise State lead to 29-25 with 7:10 to go in the first half.
A 3-pointer from Alston, a free throw from Haney and a steal and layup from Pat Dembley upped the Broncos’ advantage to 40-32, but two late buckets from UNLV, including a 3-pointer from Nick Blair with 20 seconds left, shorted Boise State’s lead to 43-39 at the break.
The Rebels started 7 of 10 from 3-point range and finished 8 for 15 from deep in the first half. Five different UNLV players made 3-pointers in the first half.
It was only the beginning of the hot shooting for the Rebels, who shot their way to a huge road win.
Boise State returns to action Saturday when it hosts San Jose State at noon.