GAME NOTES: It is another case of worst versus first in the Mountain West Conference on Wednesday night, as the Boise State Broncos clash with the San Jose State Spartans.

The Broncos, who are on the road for the last time during the regular season, ascended into a tie for first place in the MWC standings over the weekend on the strength of a 56-46 win at San Diego State. The victory was the fourth in a row and the 12th in the last 13 outings for a BSU squad that has a league mark of 12-4.

Boise State, which will be in Las Vegas next week for the conference tournament, still has a home date remaining against former Western Athletic Conference foe, Fresno State, this weekend.

Another league opponent from the Golden State, the Spartans are just trying to finish off the campaign with a win against another Division I member at this point. To say that the 2014-15 season has been disappointing for the Spartans would be an understatement, seeing as how the squad has a grand total of just two wins in 28 chances and neither of those have come against formidable competition.

Since taking down St. Katherine College back on Dec. 9, with the other victory for the program coming in the season opener versus Bethesda, San Jose State and been hampered by an unsightly 18-game slide. The latest loss came against Nevada in Reno last weekend by a score of 62-51, dropping SJSU to 0-16 in conference.

Boise State has dominated the series between these two teams, both of which operated in the WAC before making the jump to the MWC, winning all but two of the previous 27 matchups. Back in January the Broncos hosted SJSU in Idaho and blew the doors off the visitors in an 86-36 final, a margin of victory which stands as the largest in a conference game in program history.

Needing a statement win against a San Diego State squad that had just made it back into the national rankings, the Broncos played it perfectly as they dropped the Aztecs in California of all places, but double figures no less. Derrick Marks shot only 6-of-22 from the floor and turned the ball over four times, but still he tallied a game-high 18 points and pulled down five rebounds for BSU, while James Webb III again raised his game to new heights with 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds against one of the toughest defenses in the nation.

Webb III has become a beast on the glass for the Broncos since the start of the conference schedule, pulling down 9.1 rpg which is more than twice what any of his teammates are producing entering the week. Because of him, Boise State is topping opponents on the boards by 2.2 rpg. Webb III is also putting up 12.8 ppg on not just 55.5 percent shooting from the field but also 44.8 percent beyond the arc. Marks continues to earn kudos from around the league as he generates a staggering 22.3 ppg, helping to push the program to a 10.1 ppg advantage over the competition.

It has been one disappointment after another for the Spartans, a team which has had to deal with not only injuries but also suspensions up and down the roster. Last time out the team dropped in on Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center and subsequently turned back in a double-digit defeat even as Jaleel Williams tallied a game-high 21 points by shooting 5-of-10 behind the 3-point line. Brandon Mitchell added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench, but it didn't help with leading scorer Rashad Muhammad being held to 3-of-12 shooting and six points.

For Muhammad, who is averaging 13.7 ppg, the single-digit scoring effort snapped a run of 11 consecutive games scoring at least double figures. Rather surprisingly, just three games ago Muhammad tallied a season-high 27 versus league-leading San Diego State, which should give some perspective on how enigmatic the Spartans have been all season long. In conference play Muhammad is posting 14.7 ppg, but shooting only 34.0 percent from the floor, while Williams adds another 12.2 ppg for a group that is being blown out by 20.2 ppg by the rest of the MWC.

Stranger things have happened, but to think that the Spartans have the fire power to take out a streaking team like Boise State is hard to fathom at this point.