There were 45 minutes of basketball played at The Pit. In the final four seconds, New Mexico big man Morris Udeze curled off a screen, caught a bounce pass and floated the ball into the hoop.

New Mexico 81, Boise State 79 in overtime before a crowd of 14,566. The battle finally ended.

Perhaps, though, it should have only been 40 minutes.

But as time wound down in regulation, with the Lobos leading by 3, New Mexico guard Jaelen House talked coach Richard Pitino out of not intentionally fouling. Then House proceeded to miss his assignment, which left the star of the night wide open.

Tyson Degenhart, who finished with a game-high 28 points, stepped into an uncontested triple. Nothing but net.

It was the product of a perfect sideline, out-of-bounds play from BSU assistant Tim Duryea. Naje Smith caught the ball in the post. Marcus Shaver Jr. (the decoy) darted away from the ball. House stayed with him. Degenahrt stood all alone on the arc.

“We’ve had that one in the arsenal since I got here,” Degenhart said. “With how Shav has been making clutch shots, we thought there would be a chance where they’d mess up a switch and that’s the way it happened.”

Perhaps, though, Friday’s epic should’ve lasted 50 minutes.

Which wouldn’t have been a bad thing. Pitno said The Pit on Friday night was “the loudest building I’ve ever been in. By far. Not even close.” Plenty of others would agree. But Boise State seem to always be able to construct a make-shift shelter anytime a storm comes at them. 

The Lobos went up five in regulation. Boise State got it back to zero. The Lobos went up five in overtime. Boise State, thanks to a ridiculous Degenhart And-1, got it back to zero. Four seconds remained as New Mexico took the ball out of bounds under their own basket.

The Broncos had to account for New Mexico’s guards. How could you not? House had 16 and Jamal Mashburn Jr. added 25. If the Lobos were worried about Shaver beating them, Boise State had to be petrified of a Mashburn mid-range jumper to end things.

So what went wrong?

“Tyson thought he heard ‘switch,’” BSU coach Leon Rice said postgame.

Degenhart flared out to cover Mashburn. Udeze darted to the hoop, caught a little bounce pass and won the game from two inches away.

“We thought they would commit a lot of guys to Mash, which they should, he’s really good,” Pitnio said. “We told Morris, ‘Man, if you can slip to the basket, do it.’”

From the jump, Boise State struggled with New Mexico’s size. The Broncos haven’t played a team like the Lobos yet this season. A team that physical. That tough. That determined to make the paint their home.

Udeze played like a bulldozer all night. At one point midway through the second period, he ended up with the ball streaking down the lane. Imagine a freight train storming in front of you. Udeze slammed home an echoing dunk that sent the decibels soaring.

Then there was Josiah Allick, a 6-foot-8 forward with long hair that flows out of his headband like flowers out of a vase. He was the finesse to Udeze’s power, a skilled post player who seemed to know exactly what direction every missed shot was headed. Allick grabbed a game-high 18 boards.

Those guys did not have the greatest stats on the night. But they were the keys, so integral because they flummoxed Boise State’s entire game plan. Degenhart got two quick fouls. Mo Sylla notched two fouls early. The Broncos had to throw so many guys down low, that space just kept opening up on the perimeter.

And, by golly, you do not want to give space to House or Mashburn. The New Mexico backcourt duo prance around the court like rabbits, hopping and darting to their spots. And when they find an opening, they let it fly. House and Mashburn do not lack confidence. If you asked them, they probably say no one ties their shoes better. When they start hitting shots, they might as well think they’re deities.

In the second half, they started getting space. They started taking shots. Then they started hitting shots.

Boise State led by six with 12 minutes left. Then Masburn hit a triple. House started burying mid-range jumpers. The Lobos needed just over two minutes to grab the lead.

Not helping: Boise State could not hit from beyond the arc. At one point late in the game, the Broncos were 1 of 11 from deep. But, of course, they rallied.

The Broncos finished with five made 3-pointers. They shot 45%. They won the rebounding battle. Max Rice was a machine in the post, dancing among the trees and getting little floaters to drop. He scored 17. Shaver added 10. Smith grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.

And it all wasn’t enough to keep Friday night going. Wasn’t enough to keep over 14,000 humans attempting to scream their lungs out. Wasn’t enough to grab its sixth-straight win.

And still, Leon Rice stood outside of his locker room almost gleeful.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our guys,“ he said. “But you play a great team and somebody has to win. That’s the hard part of athletics.”