PAC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 11, 2022

Tad Boyle

Evan Battey

Jabari Walker

Colorado Buffaloes

Postgame Press Conference

Arizona - 82, Colorado - 72

MODERATOR: Coach, opening statement, and then we'll open up to questions.

TAD BOYLE: Number one, Arizona was terrific tonight. They played like a No. 1 seed and a top five team in the country.

Really proud of our guys for the way we fought and competed. But as you look at the numbers on the stat sheet, you get outscored, what is that, 16 points in the foul line, and they shoot 52 percent (audio interruption).

We really fought it tonight. We tried to go zone there for a four-minute stretch to keep these guys in the game. But it wasn't enough to overcome a really good Arizona team. They're well coached. They're terrific.

So I don't want to take anything away from them. But I'm really proud of our players, for their fight and toughness and competitiveness. And really what this team has done in terms of the growth from November and December, we had a guy like Jabari, last year is a role player, kind of a pick and pop four man, and to see his transformation this year and to see what Evan Battey has done with his game and his leadership this year, and all our young guys growing and developing. Couldn't be more proud of a group of young men than I am these guys. And I love them.

Our season is not over, I don't believe. Probably not going to be in the NCAA Tournament, but hopefully we'll get a chance to play in the NIT, and we'll relish that. And that's not guaranteed either, but we'll hopefully have that opportunity, and we're gonna maybe the most of it and finish this thing strong. Because this group is a special group, and I want to coach them as long as I can, especially this the guy to my left. And we got one more shot.

So congrats to Arizona.

MODERATOR: Open up in front.

Q. Coach Lloyd was in here a few moments ago, and he pointed out the peculiar offensive performance you guys had, 16 -- or 50 percent from the three-point line, but only 8 of 30 on two-point field goals. Just what do you make of that, but what was so difficult about getting two points --

TAD BOYLE: We had difficulty getting to the foul line. We average 18 free throws a game. We had ten of them tonight. And two of them were at the end when it was just a -- so we really got eight free throws tonight. And we average 18.

So we couldn't get to the foul line. And we had trouble finishing against their length. The physicality of the game was -- the game was physical tonight, just like it was in Boulder. But we weren't able to get to the foul line for whatever reason. And we weren't able to finish.

In the first half, you make nine threes, and you're down nine. I mean, that's all defensive. We had ten turnovers. That really kind of reached up and grabbed us there in that first half. Did a much better job in the second half, only had four turnovers.

But, yeah, we don't normally take 32 threes. And you make 16 threes, you feel like you have a chance to win a game. But our defense wasn't good enough, and we couldn't keep them off the foul line.

Q. You talked about how Arizona being a top five team and they've got a couple players over there that are gonna play at the next level, to be sure.

TAD BOYLE: So do we.

Q. Yeah, there you go, you anticipated -- talk about Jabari's performance, especially early in the game, not taking a back seat to anybody?

TAD BOYLE: These guys, one thing you can say about our guys, they're not afraid. Our guys came tonight ready to compete, and they had their hardhats on. And obviously we shot the ball well from three.

And I told them at halftime, one of the things that's dangerous about making threes is you just rely on it. And then you look backwards in the game, and you see they got to the foul line 20 -- we got outscored 16 points at the foul line, and we lose by 10.

So if we can figure out a way to get there more or finish better once we're at the rim, you got a chance to beat these guys. But when they shoot 25 free throws, 24 for 25, and they shoot 52 percent, you gotta look at your defense and the way you're playing.

Q. (Off microphone)?

TAD BOYLE: Yeah.

Q. (Off microphone)?

TAD BOYLE: His growth, Jabari's growth as a player has been unbelievable this year. And I think he's struggled. What's crazy about his numbers is he struggled shooting the ball about the first third of the season. I think he was putting a little pressure on himself and just not in the flow. And then he got his mind right and got mentally right in terms of his stroke.

We knew from last year he was a good three-point shooter. I told Jabari, as long as you're taking good threes, I want you to keep letting it fly. And he's done that. And he hasn't taken a lot of bad shots.

And he's become a better play maker. He's made some plays, just last night and tonight. He made a play tonight where he drove, and he kicked Evan for a wide-open corner three.

So his game continues to evolve, continues to develop. He's 19 years old. He's got a great future ahead of him. And I can't say enough about him. He's been a joy to coach. And he's been a great teammate.

So Jabari's gonna have decisions to make when the season is over. He knows that. His family knows that. I know that. We all know that. We're not even talking about that right now. Because every decision that we make right now is with the team's best interest at heart.

Because it's about how can Colorado basketball win as many games and hopefully advance in postseason play as we can. We still hopefully have an opportunity to do that. When the season is over with, we'll sit down, and now it's what's best for Jabari Walker, what's best for Evan Battey, what's best for every player in our program.

That's never going to change as long as I'm the coach. And I'm never gonna hold a guy back. We're just gonna try to get as you much solid information as we can. And the decision is his, it's not mine. And I'm going to support him in whatever the heck he does because he's a terrific young man.

And I can't predict the future. I don't think Jabari can even predict the future right now. We'll just wait and see and support him in every way we can.

Q. Jabari, obviously a huge first half for you. Not as many looks for you. In the second half, I think you only had a few shot attempts. What changed? Was there any defensively Arizona was doing differently against after the break?

JABARI WALKER: Yeah, I used a lot of my shot fake. The big guys were closer to me so I didn't get the same three-point opportunities, and I just wanted to become a better play maker in that second half. And I got some other guys some good looks, double in the post a couple times. So the dynamics of the game just changed in the second half, and I just went with the flow.

Q. Coach, the three big men on Arizona combined for 38 points. What is it about them makes it so hard to guard? Is it they're length? Just their size in general?

TAD BOYLE: Tubelis in the first half was terrific. He made some big-time plays. He had 18 points at halftime. We did a better job on him in the second half, but he was the difference in that first half for sure.

And what makes Arizona so dangerous, you look at last night, Koloko has 24, tonight has eight, but they've got five guys in double figures. They're very well balanced. They've got a lot of different weapons; so don't rely on just any one guy. And they're very balanced.

And tonight obviously these guys were good. We just didn't have enough balance in terms of our scoring. But Ballo and Koloko, when they're in the middle of the lane and they are posting up with a forearm here and we're trying to front and we're not allowed to get around and then the fouls are called on us, you can't guard them. You can't guard them down there. There's no way to guard them in the low post when they're allowed to do that.

And we did not lose this game because of officiating. We lost it because of maybe free throw shooting, but it wasn't officiating. It was a totally different game official-wise, officiating-wise today than it was in Boulder. And in Tucson they just blew our doors open. We weren't very good that night.

But tonight we couldn't keep them off the foul line, and our post defense was challenged because when they set up camp down there they're very, very good and they are very physical offensively before they catch the ball.

And that's why they're very well coached in that regard. I gotta look at the film and see, but we wanted to get a little bit more pressure on their passers tonight. We weren't able to do that as well as we wanted to. And, again, they got to the foul line 25 times and we got 10 times.

And that's just part of the deal. I'm not complaining about it. I'm just talking about what I see here. We weren't good enough. But they're terrific. Their bigs are terrific.

Q. Evan, looking ahead a little bit, you've played on a team that made a little run in the NIT a few years back. What's the challenge in shaking this off, leader of this team, getting these guys ready to go next week?

EVAN BATTEY: I mean, first and foremost, I want to thank the Pac-12, honestly, for following me these four years and giving me a chance to play on this grand stage and just giving me a chance to just compete with the best of them.

As far as your question goes, you really got to embrace it. Whether it's the NIT, the NCAA Tournament, whatever it is, you got embrace it and be present and be where your feet are and just try to have fun with it.

It's not really -- it's a blessing to be playing this time of year, and there's plenty of people who are not playing this time of year. So just gotta to be grateful almost.

Q. Evan, it's senior year, your last time through this process. What's going to be your lasting impression of this Pac-12 tournament?

EVAN BATTEY: I'd say our guys fight. I'd say that not necessarily pertaining to this tournament, but I think nobody expected us to be here. Young team, didn't pick -- they picked us sixth, we finished fourth.

We've had some triumphs as far as overcoming some adversity that I'm really proud of. And I love this team. So I'd say our fight and just -- this one game doesn't define us.

Q. Jabari -- and, Coach, if you wouldn't mind weighing in as well -- but, Jabari, I think you told Mark Johnson on the radio last night that you feel like you guys are playing your best basketball this season right now, and every time you go out and play you feel like you're getting better. Even with the loss tonight, do you still feel like that, and how do you channel some energy into likely going to the postseason here in a couple days?

JABARI WALKER: The way we responded in the second half was unbelievable. We talked about it in the locker room, and for us to come out and make a run like that, it's hard to do against a team like that, especially playing in almost an away game, it felt like. So just the togetherness of this group is unbelievable. I've never played on a team like this, besides last year. These last two years have been crazy.

TAD BOYLE: I'll just kind of piggyback on what Evan and Jabari said. What this team has overcome, when you look at Eli Parquet going down with a season-ending injury and then Lawson goes down, we're basically playing with eight scholarship guys for the last five, six weeks.

And to see them come together and embrace each other and support each other and understand each other and play for each other has been really special to watch. And Tristan having COVID on the Washington trip, we lose to Washington on the road by two points and we get blown out by Washington State. I wasn't myself that night. I felt like death warmed over.

But losing Tristan for those two games -- because when you have an eight-man rotation and one guy comes out of it, it makes a big difference. If you've got a nine- on or ten-man rotation and one guy comes out, maybe you've got somebody else that can pick up the slack.

But we rely on every single player that's playing minutes for us when you're going with eight. And to see those eight guys really come together and bond and believe in each other and support each other, it's been -- like Jabari said, it's been special to see and watch.

And that's hopefully the culture that we've tried to create, and that Evan Battey as our senior leader has been so selfless. And even Jabari, as good of a player as he is and dynamic of a scorer, like he said, when they're taking his three away or they're putting a little bit more attention on him defensively, he's a willing passer.

So, fun group to coach, and we just want to make it last as long as we can. That's how I feel. I think these guys feel the same way.

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