BOISE — Coming off what was arguably its most impressive win of the season thus far, the Boise State men’s basketball team hits the road to face arguably the hottest team thus far in the Mountain West.

The Broncos (12-4, 4-1 Mountain West) are scheduled to make a quick jaunt down to Logan, Utah, on Saturday to take on Utah State (15-1, 5-0). The Aggies are the defending Mountain West regular-season champions and have risen to No. 25 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

“They’re just a complete team and they’re playing with great synergy and togetherness,” said Boise State coach Leon Rice. “They play really hard and are scoring real easily and their defense has created a lot of problems for a lot of people. Right there, there’s a lot of challenges, they’re good on both ends of the floor and they have good personnel, well-coached and a great atmosphere. That’s a lot of things to overcome to go get it done.

Boise State, however, does come into this game brimming with confidence following Tuesday’s 81-59 win against UNLV. The Broncos came into that game looking for a bounce-back win following a loss to San Diego State three days earlier and dominated the Rebels all over the stat sheet, leading by as much as 29 in the second half.

“I think we had a great game against UNLV, especially rebounding,” said point guard Alvaro Cardenas, who had 13 points and nine assists against the Rebels. “We killed them on the glass, so we need to keep that same mindset, that same desperation on defense and that same intensity.”

Utah State had to do a little rebuilding of its roster this year after coach Danny Sprinkle left for Washington after one season in Logan, and 2024 Mountain West Player of the Year Great Osobor followed him to Seattle, but with returning starters like Ian Martinez and Mason Falslev, both averaging 16.8 points per game, and seven transfers added in the offseason, the Aggies have once again built themselves into one of the dominant teams in the Mountain West.

Rice credits the Aggies’ ability to have continued success through coaching changes to the atmosphere that has been built inside Utah State’s Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. It’s a 10,270-seat arena that ranks right up there among some of the toughest places in the Mountain West to play.

“It’s my favorite, I really enjoy playing there,” said Cardenas, who transferred to Boise State from San Jose State. “It’s a great atmosphere and the special thing about it is there are so many students. Half the crowd is basically students.”

Even though San Jose State might not be quite to the level that Boise State is when it comes to drawing a crowd, Cardenas said the students at Utah State were still ready to heckle him when the Spartans came to Logan in past seasons.

Cardenas, who is from Granada, Spain, says he’s been heckled in Spanish inside the arena. The point guard refused to repeat what they said, citing it as ‘disrespectful,’ but still appreciated the creativity and applauded their Spanish.

“They tried to cuss me out in Spanish, which was really funny,” Cardenas said. “At halftime they started saying things in Spanish and I was laughing. I personally love it, it’s one of my favorite places to play, like I said. I really enjoy it.”