PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2022

Tad Boyle

Evan Battey

K.J. Simpson

Colorado Buffaloes

Postgame Press Conference

Colorado - 80, Oregon - 69

MODERATOR: Coach, you can have an opening statement, and then we'll open up for Q&A in a second here. We've got Evan Battey and KJ Simpson as well.

TAD BOYLE: We beat a really good program that's won a lot of games and very, very well coached. Got great toughness about them. And we knew this wasn't going to be easy, and it wasn't.

I'm so proud of our guys because we really struggled offensively out of the chute. And at times before, those of you who followed our team, sometimes that's gotten -- in the past, that's kind of gotten into our bloodstream and it's affected us on the other end of court.

But defensively in that first half to hold them to 30 points and not have your best offense -- I think we were 4 for 16 in the first half from three. We had some good looks.

Normally, every time Evan shoots it now, I think it's going in. But we missed some shots, it didn't affect us on the other end, and we hung in there.

And the second half we traded baskets with them. Joe Young -- not Joe Young, Jacob Young, his a little brother, was terrific tonight. And Guerrier was as well.

But we found a way to break it open and beat a good team, and now we live to see another day.

Q. Seemed like you went right at N'Faly Dante from the tip. They had a seven-man rotation tonight, and you took advantage of that. What were you seeing out there?

EVAN BATTEY: It's a point Coach told me to be aggressive every night and night in night out. So I knew that going in. And I just wanted to get my team lift coming into the game give my team some aggression.

TAD BOYLE: I would say this, too, just to piggyback on Evan, Evan is matchup nightmare now, the way he's shooting the three ball. And that was effective tonight with Dante on the pick and pops.

Q. At the end of the first, K.J., you had that huge dunk. And then, Battey, you followed up with a layup and that three-pointer. And then Luke O'Brien tied off the first with that three-pointer. What was the momentum going into the second half, and how did that help you propel you into second? What was that sequence like?

K.J. SIMPSON: Well, we always stress finish half strong, and that was just something we went into doing. We executed a play, especially for Luke, we executed that play to perfection, and Luke hit a wide-open big shot.

And that's something we try to focus on especially drown the stretch, going into the second half you want that momentum and same energy that you just finished with. So that's what we tried to focus on.

Q. At the under 12 of the second half, Tristan, Jabari and Nique all had three fouls. What kind of challenges did that present as far as managing minutes for an already depleted bench, and how did you strategize rolling with the punches on that one?

TAD BOYLE: I'm comfortable playing guys about three fouls, but when they get four, especially when -- if it's being called tight, which tonight's whistle was -- they let some things go, and sometimes it was called tight.

So you just -- when you get four, I try to wait for that last media timeout before we go in to finish the game just because a guy like Tristan is so important to us, both offensively and defensively, that you don't want to lose him with six, seven minutes to go in the game.

So, yeah, it was -- foul trouble was a challenge for us tonight. Coach Rohn did a good job, and we collaborated at timeouts and that sort of thing. But we found a way to fight through that foul trouble and finished it off.

Q. Tad, that same sequence, the one mismanagement, if any, by them after they had been jockeying their guys with foul trouble, Dana kept Dante in rather than take him, and that's two fouls in 27 seconds, and that knocked them out for five minutes. How pivotal did you feel that was when they had been jockeying so well for, at that point, about 30 minutes? That was their one mishap.

TAD BOYLE: That was big. And I'm going to credit our senior here to my right. Evan recognized that, and he came down in a kind of semi-break situation, and we swung it to him outside the three-point line. He saw Dante on him, and he took him to the rack and forced the issue.

And, again, we got a lot of fouls called on us guarding the ball tonight, and that was a foul on him guarding the ball. So really a smart play by Evan in that situation.

But it was big. We always want to put foul pressure on the other team. And I don't know how many free throws we shot tonight. We shot 19 free throws tonight, but we only shot 3 in the first half.

So getting to the foul line, we're 77 percent free-throw shooters from the foul line, so getting there is a big part of our offense. And we did a better job of that in the second half.

I'll say this. Again, relative to the last game we played in Boulder, to your question, the way we finished the half was crucial. Because we didn't do that in Boulder, and they ended up with a one-point lead and took the momentum in the second half. We finished the half tonight, like K.J. said, and it really good job.

Q. For Evan and Coach. Guys know you're capable, but you also know you have a lot of work to do at this tournament to get into the Big Dance. Number one, overcoming that slow start, you can't have magic if you bow out in the first half of the game; and, number two, what kind of attitude do you take going forward?

EVAN BATTEY: Just nice game, it's not -- there's no 40-point plays, like make your way automatically. It's a possession-by-possession thing. And just making the right play and living in the present I think.

TAD BOYLE: We have haven't talked one bit with this team about the NCAA Tournament. It's about winning the next game, figuring out how do we improve from one game to the next.

And we know our situation. I'm a little disappointed finishing fourth in a Power Five league. And we're not in conversation. But the only way you get there is to win the next game. That's what we gotta do.

Q. (Off microphone)?

TAD BOYLE: I think there's a big bias with East Coast and, quite frankly ESPN. They're talking about Virginia Tech. They got one quad 1 win. We got three. They're squarely on the bubble. We're not even in the conversation.

So, yeah, I hope the committee is smarter than the people that are putting that thing together. But, look, I can't sit here and pounded table for Colorado because we lost to Southern Illinois, we had ten losses.

But we have a young team. And if you look at the Colorado team today relative to where we were in November or December, if you don't think we're one of the top 68 teams in the country, you're sorely mistaken.

Q. (Off microphone)?

EVAN BATTEY: Unbelievably better, just the fact we're playing together now, playing for each other, defensively and offensively, it shows. It just numbers and shows the way the ball is moving and shows in the win column. So I have no worries to that. But I just say we've gotten better.

Q. Another low turnover for your team today, and that's kind of been a mark of this streak. Not too long ago this was a huge issue for your team. How have you been able to turn it around down the stretch?

TAD BOYLE: We talk about it. We work on passing drills in practice sometimes. Coach Ray is really good basketball coach, Coach Grier is a really good basketball coach, so is Coach Rohn. And sometimes they come up with drills that these guys think might be a little silly and elementary, but they have really worked, they've helped us become better passers.

I think having freshman that grows up, that learns from his mistakes, and Keeshawn has been -- he's been really good with his assist to turnover ratio all year, with Julian and K.J., the young guards have gotten better. Jabari has gotten much, much better in taking care of the ball and being a play maker.

So I just think it's maturity and a young team growing up. But you're right. I think we were ten, nine and eight, is what Coach Grier told us after the game, our last three games in terms of our turnovers. We can live with that.

Q. Tad, there was a play where Quincy had that floater that went down, they called it a charge, and then on the other end you guys got three-point play. Just the significance of that for both your teams?

TAD BOYLE: It was huge. And K.J. took the charge and I was mad at him in the first half because he had an opportunity to take a charge on Young, and he didn't do it.

But that was a critical point in the game, and it was -- by rule, they had to wave that thing off. By rule. I was on the rules committee for four years, I'd like to see if that kid -- the ball left his hands, and it goes in, it should be good bucket but a foul on him. Because it was a charge, and he stepped in and took it. But by rule, they had to wave it off. And I know that didn't make Dana very happy.

But we came down and hit a three. That was huge momentum. I always feel like when you're ahead down the stretch, if you can get that thing to nine, that's three possessions of three pointers. So makes you feel -- but we just had to keep getting stops because Oregon can make threes. They're an explosive offensive team. But that was a big play by K.J.

Q. Tad, this is the third time in the last four seasons you guys will be heading to the semifinals round. Last year you did it with six seniors, this year with Evan and a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. What's been key about your teams heating up at the right time and coming here and performing well?

TAD BOYLE: I don't know. That's a good question. Every team is different, every tournament is different. Obviously, look at the way Stanford played and the way they won yesterday, and then they take Arizona to the wire.

It just -- I don't know why, I just know -- this is a time of year that I really embrace and enjoy, and I know this guy does, and these guys are learning. This is the best time of -- I always say the Christmas breaks are the best time to be a college basketball player, but this is even better because you get to play for something that means something.

And we're playing for a championship in this tournament, and we figured out a way to get to the semis, and now we got figure out how to beat Arizona. And that's not going to be easy. We're gonna fight.

Q. Quick, right on that note, Arizona tomorrow, I'm sure they will have some not so fond memories of the last time you guys met. I'll just get your quick thoughts on that?

TAD BOYLE: They will be ready to play the Buffs. They will be emotionally ready, mentally ready. I know Tommy Lloyd, he's a competitive dude. They got competitive players. But we're going to ready too. It's what makes this time of year so fun.

Q. Evan I know the win is the most important thing for you, but it's been a long time since you've had a double-double. What's it means for you to have it on this stage?

EVAN BATTEY: I knew you were going to point that out. I don't really care, honestly. It's the win is the most important thing. I need to step my rebounding up, and it's a matter of just getting the ball. No real secret to it.

Q. Coach, you guys held them to 34 percent from the field. How did you feel about the overall defensive effort, close-outs? How did you feel?

TAD BOYLE: Fantastic. We just had trouble guarding Jacob Young off the bounce because he's so fast, he's so athletic. Guerrier is as well. But Guerrier is a very physical driver, and we really talked about getting our hands and our arms out on the drives so the officials -- a lot of times, if they see your hands, they won't make the call; but if your hands are in here or where they can't see them -- Guerrier is really good at drawing contact on his drives and got to the foul line. Jacob Young is really good at getting downhill. And we really tried to gap up and have it be a team thing, not just an individual thing on him, but good player. He's a good player.

So defensively, I thought we were terrific other than just guarding the ball mano a mano at times, and couple times -- they got three left-handed guys. They have four when Will Richardson plays. Only had three tonight. And we gotta know who's left-handed and who's right-handed.

You live with De'Vion Harmon going right and making a floater in the lane, but you don't live with Jacob Young going left and getting to the rim.

But overall, I'm never -- we're never going to be perfect. I'm always going to have something to nitpick these guys about. But figured out a way to win. That's the biggest thing.

MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. Thank you, guys.

TAD BOYLE: Thank you.