Leon Rice’s Comments After Boise State’s Win Over San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament Quarterfinal
Boise State head coach Leon Rice expressed pride in his team’s performance after their 62-52 comeback victory over San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinal.
“We’ve had a great history of battles with San Diego State, so we knew it would be a tough game,” Rice said. “This is how it always goes between these two teams—great competitors on both sides. Our guys kept fighting and were tough enough to pull through. I’m really proud of our effort. That was an intense game.”
Here are the key takeaways from Rice’s postgame remarks:
On shooting 40 three-pointers and grabbing 13 offensive rebounds: “Our team is one of the best in two-point field goals in the country, but their defensive style didn’t match ours, so we had to adjust. We targeted between 36 and 50 three-pointers for the game. Part of the success came from our offensive rebounds—if we just stood around and let them grab the boards, we wouldn’t have had those opportunities. We knew we couldn’t beat them at the rim because they’re number one in rim protection.”
On finishing strong in the first half: “They built a bit of a lead, but we closed the gap and went into halftime down by only five. We told the guys in the locker room that this game wasn’t going to be decided in the first half. They beat us to a couple of balls that hurt us, but in the second half, the effort was evident. There was one play where 26 guys from both teams dove for a loose ball, and we came up with it, leading to an and-one for Andrew (Meadow). That summed up our intensity and effort.”
On underrated Mountain West basketball: “The reason we’re not getting the national respect we deserve is due to our numbers, which are skewed because of the lower-ranked teams we’ve faced this season. The NET rankings don’t always reflect the quality of teams like San Diego State, Colorado State, Utah State, and New Mexico. These teams are as good as any in the country. When we played New Mexico, it was ridiculous they weren’t ranked—they were leading the league with just a few losses. The Mountain West isn’t getting the respect it deserves, partly because we’re on the West Coast and many people don’t stay up for our late games. But I’d put these teams up against any other in the nation.”
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