PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2021

Tad Boyle

Colorado Buffaloes

Postgame Press Conference

Colorado - 72, USC - 70

THE MODERATOR: We'll start with an opening statement.

TAD BOYLE: I felt like tonight was a high-level basketball game by two really good teams, a lot of good players on that floor. Boy, Evan Mobley, we had done a really good job on him the first two games and not that we didn't think he was a good player, we knew he was a good player, but our guys had kind of kept him in check. But tonight, he made some big-time shots and bigtime plays and we did a really good job on Eaddy early, much like we did on Bradley last night early, but then we got, he got going in the second half too. They made some big-time shots to close the gap and I don't think it was necessarily always bad defense, we had a few breakdowns. But I just thought it was two really good teams with good players. Evan Mobley would make a play, Mckinley Wright would make a play, Evan Mobley would make a play, McKinley would make a play, then one of their guys would make a play. Jeriah Horne made some big shots for us down the stretch there.

So I thought our guys really battled, great defensive intensity out of the gate, and then, but when USC gets it going offensively they have got some really, really talented players and they were good tonight. So it was kind of one of those games whoever had the ball last and fortunately it was us tonight and D'Shawn Schwartz made a big-time tip dunk to win that thing.

Q. You alluded to it a second ago, but USC shoots 60 percent in the second half and normally a team does that they're not the one that loses the game. So other than just shear Willpower and just a desire to pull this one out and get the final basket, I mean, what did it take to actually pull this one out and get the win tonight?

TAD BOYLE: I think the key was rebounding. And that's something we had talked about coming into this game. USC's a really good rebounding team, especially offensively, and again when they shoot 60 percent, there's not a lot of offensive rebounds to be had. But in the first couple games they had 12 and 13 rebounds against us, respectively, and tonight they only had eight. And our guys, we out-rebounded them by eight and I thought that was the difference in the game, quite frankly, because it was a, kind of a heavyweight fight with them making shots, us making shots, and yeah, we felt like, man, we went some stretches where we could not stop them and had no answer for them and we're pretty good defensive team, but USC played extremely well, I thought, offensively tonight.

Q. The role Jeriah Horne has played here over the last few weeks, it continues to grow and he just continues to step up in the moments as a big veteran player for you guys. What can you say about his game tonight just staying steady through some misses and hitting some really clutch shots?

TAD BOYLE: Yeah, he's a big shot-taker, big shot-maker. He's got supreme confidence. He's a rhythm shooter. He missed some ones that he normally would make. I mean, 6-15 is not normal Jeriah Horne, usually that's 6-9 or 6-10. But he got it going and he doesn't, the great shooters, they don't have a memory and he let's it go, and his teammates believe in him, he believes in himself. And what a team victory. I thought in the first half our bench was terrific. Kedshawn Barthelemy, when McKinley went out with the blow to the head, gave us big-time minutes. Jabari Walker gave us big-time minutes. Maddox Daniels hit a big shot for us in the second half, a pull up that was a much needed basket.

So the thing I love about this team is we have so many weapons and certainly Jeriah's one of them and he's become a reliable guy. We've got a really good kind of mojo going with starting our two bigs, with Dallas and Evan, but then as the game goes on Jeriah gets in the mix and when he's playing well, we're a force to be reckoned with ourselves offensively.

Q. Tonight was a game of runs. In what ways is a veteran team like yours able to adjust when USC may go on a run and while you guys may go on a run, just kind of that type of game?

TAD BOYLE: Yeah, I think the big thing for our team is we don't panic and we don't get our heads down. We realize that that's part of the game and it's two nights in a row now, with Cal last night, USC tonight where they made some big-time shots down the stretch and part of that might, you might look at your defense, but part of that is they just made great shots. But I thought the other key tonight, guys, we won this game at the three-point line. We made 12 threes. They made eight. Because you look at the percentages, they shoot 52 percent, almost, we shoot 42 and a half percent, so they're definitely more efficient offensively than we were, but we made timely threes. And they went to zone, which I thought we handled it pretty well, didn't have great possessions there early against it, but once we got into a rhythm, we're a pretty good zone offensive team. So we finally got them out of it and then they were switching ball screens and sometimes we handled that well, sometimes we didn't. But this team just has a resiliency and a fight and a belief in themselves and a toughness that is fun to be around.

Q. You just mentioned making those plays down the stretch and a team that doesn't panic. Regardless of how tomorrow goes, are these the kind of games that will get you prepared for whatever happens next week?

TAD BOYLE: Absolutely. This is a NCAA tournament-level game, a second round or even a Sweet 16-type game. That's what tonight was. Two teams that were very efficient and battled and made big-time plays. This was a high-level basketball game and we made an extra play and D'Shawn Schwartz, what a, I mean, the shot against Dayton last year to win that game was a big-time win for our program and then tonight's tip dunk, I mean, those are big-time finishes. So, yeah, it's going to prepare us for it without a doubt.

Q. Is there anything that McKinley Wright does that surprises you anymore, including walking out of the locker room after it looked like he got knocked out. I mean, literally knocked out. Anything that he does that can surprise you?

TAD BOYLE: No. And I knew this much, I knew if McKinley Wright could come back, he would come back. So when I saw him walk through the tunnel it was kind of a Willis Reed moment for those of you that remember the '69 championship, and there weren't enough fans in here to -- but our fans saw it and they started cheering him and I think it gave our team a lift. And again Keeshawn came in off the bench and played -- he's not used to playing extended minutes, he's been playing four minutes here, five minutes there type thing in games, and he played -- he got a little tired, but he made some plays for us and kind of kept us, kept our engine going, which is, which McKinley obviously always does for us.

Q. Just that final possession you guys had, McKinley just trimmed some time off the clock, ends up taking the final jumper, and of course D'Shawn crashes the glass, tips it in. Could you take us in the huddle a little bit that preceding timeout? Was what transpired with that final play, was that reflective of what you guys had talked about huddle or --

TAD BOYLE: Yeah, I'll, absolutely, yeah, no, there was about a four and a half second, five second differential, so we were going to hold it for the last shot. We want to take that shot with about three to four seconds to go on the shot clock. I think there was a little bit less than that. But we wanted to definitely take it down to the end. We had a play called for McKinley, kind of an isolation play, and Eaddy did a good job of sniffing it out, and Evan Battey made a really, really veteran play and he came and set a ball screen for McKinley. McKinley got a great look, I mean, there's nobody we want shooting that ball in that situation more than we want McKinley. He had a wide open 15-footer. It didn't go down, but D'Shawn Schwartz did his job and he crashed the boards and he was able to get the tip dunk and it was, again, big-time players make big-time plays. So, yeah, we didn't get what we necessarily wanted. We wanted to get something at the rim, maybe put ourselves at the foul line. USC did a good job of guarding it, and Evan made a great job of recognizing it and setting a ball screen for McKinley to free him up and McKinley got a great look. We'll take that look from him. He's making that pullup 15-footer a lot right now. So, yeah, that's what went on huddle there.

Q. For as long as I've known you, you've talked about playing for championships. You got a chance to do that tomorrow. Couple guys on your program, McKinley Wright, obviously a star pupil of yours, and Nate Tomlinson right by your side, who was a big part of that other championship of yours, Jeriah Horne. What are your feelings and thoughts going into this and maybe reflecting at all or is it just full steam ahead focusing on tomorrow?

TAD BOYLE: Full steam ahead, but we are playing for a championship, we're playing for a championship ring, there's a handful of people in that locker room. Nate Tomlinson is one of them, Mike Rhon is one of them, Bill, the guys that have been here from the beginning have championship rings, but the players don't. You don't get this opportunity very often. So kind of the thought process for us tonight was you got to take advantage of your opportunities in life and tonight's opportunity was win a basketball game for the opportunity to compete for a championship and tomorrow's opportunity is to go out and win a championship. And I'm sure Oregon State's feeling the same way. They're playing great basketball right now. Wayne Tinkle's done an unbelievable job with that team from the month of November, December to where they are now. He deserves a lot of credit and their players have gotten better and their team's gotten better. So we got our hands full. They're playing good basketball right now.

Q. Wanted to ask about that with Oregon State, a team playing with a lot of confidence right now, what's maybe the keys for you guys in that matchup going into tomorrow?

TAD BOYLE: Well, I think when you start talking about Oregon State, you got to start with Ethan Thompson, but they have got other weapons. Jarod Lucas is as good a three-point shooter as there is in this league, he's a great 90 percent-plus free throw shooter. Alatishe is a major problem in terms of his athleticism and he is finishing around the rim. He's very bouncy. Silva, if he catches it deep, forget it. He's not playing a lot of minutes for them, but when he plays, he catches it down low. He's a load. They have got multiple guys that are playing well, and again we've got our hands full. So we played them a few weeks ago in Corvallis and we won the game, but it wasn't an easy win, it wasn't a blowout win, it was a hard fought win, and that's the kind of game we're going to be in store for tomorrow because I know Oregon State, they're playing for their NCAA tournament lives and a championship. We're playing for a championship. So we better be ready to strap it up. But these opportunities don't come around very often. We had one, what was it, eight years ago? 2012. Nine years ago. Whatever it was. It's a long time to not have this opportunity. So we have put ourselves there, now it's a matter of going and trying to get it done.