BOISE -- The Boise State men's basketball team took over first place in the Mountain West Wednesday night.
Kind of.
The Broncos entered the evening tied atop the conference standings along with Nevada. Boise State beat New Mexico on Tuesday, which left them as spectators to the regular season title race on Wednesday.
The Wolf Pack, who were clinging to a one-game lead in the Mountain West, played hosted in-state rival UNLV. Without their leading scorer Caleb Martin, Nevada lost to the Runnin' Rebels, 86-78.
At 10-2 in Mountain West play, the Broncos now hold a 0.5-game over Nevada, who is 9-2 in conference. On that note, the two will meet in Boise next week, and at the moment, the Wolf Pack hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, having beaten the Broncos, 74-68, on Jan. 20.
Needless to say, when Boise State hosts Nevada on Wednesday, Feb. 14, it will be one of the biggest games in the Mountain West this season.
WHO LEADS NEVADA NOW?
Nevada junior Caleb Martin did not play last night. Wolf Pack head coach Eric Musselman said that Martin has a ligament injury in his foot, and referred to his 6-foot-7 forward's status as "not good," according to Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Martin leads the Wolf Pack in scoring and ranks No. 2 in the Mountain West, averaging 19.8 points per game.
It is also worth noting that one of the top contenders for Mountain West Player of the Year will be "out indefinitely," the latter of which Murray reported.
Boise State guard Chandler Hutchison is the likely front-runner for that honor at the moment, and his top best competition, Martin, just went down.
TOUGHEST PLACE TO PLAY: TBA
The Wolf Pack loss on Wednesday snapped their conference-best 16-game home winning streak.
So who has the longest active home winning streak in the Mountain West now? Well, Boise State does. The Broncos haven't lost at home this season, and their 13-game winning streak at home is tied for the 13th longest among 351 teams in the NCAA.
TIEBREAKER: ADVANTAGE, BOISE STATE?
Boise State went 2-0 against UNLV this season. Nevada, on the hand, is 0-1 against the Runnin' Rebels, and the in-state rivals still play once more in Las Vegas later this month.
Should the Broncos and Wolf Pack split their own season series and finish tied for first, the tiebreaker to determine seeding at the Mountain West Tournament is head-to-head record against the next best team in the league.
At the moment, it appears that team could be UNLV, however, Boise State must beat Wyoming at home in the final game of the regular season for that scenario to play out.
NOTE: When it comes to the tiebreaking procedure(s), there is still a lot of basketball to be played, and it is all just a projection at the moment.
