Nevada faces Boise State in MWC quarters

No. 8 seed Boise State (13-19, 8-11) vs. No. 1 seed Nevada (28-3, 15-3)

Mountain West Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas; Thursday, 2 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Boise State is set to take on Nevada in the quarterfinals of the MWC tournament. In the regular season, Nevada won both of the head-to-head matchups. The teams last played each other on Feb. 2, when the Wolf Pack outshot Boise State 55.6 percent to 46.4 percent and had seven fewer turnovers on their way to a 93-73 victory.

STEPPING UP: Nevada’s Caleb Martin has averaged 19.6 points and 5.1 rebounds while Jordan Caroline has put up 17.7 points and 9.6 rebounds. For the Broncos, Justinian Jessup has averaged 13.9 points and 4.5 rebounds while Derrick Alston has put up 13.1 points and four rebounds.

JUMPING FOR JUSTINIAN: Jessup has connected on 41.5 percent of the 205 3-pointers he’s attempted and has made 16 of 39 over the last five games. He’s also made 72 percent of his foul shots this season.

SLIPPING AT 72: Boise State is 0-12 when it allows at least 72 points and 13-7 when it holds opponents to less than 72.

ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Broncos have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Wolf Pack. Nevada has 36 assists on 83 field goals (43.4 percent) across its past three outings while Boise State has assists on 42 of 78 field goals (53.8 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: Nevada has turned the ball over on just 14.4 percent of its possessions this season, which is the ninth-best percentage among all Division I teams. The Wolf Pack have turned the ball over only 10.2 times per game this season.