NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST FOUR

March 20, 2024

Leon Rice

Chibuzo Agbo

Cam Martin

Max Rice

UD Arena

Boise State Broncos

Media Conference

Colorado - 60, Boise State - 53

LEON RICE: These guys battled and battled even when the shots weren't dropping. We competed on the glass, we guarded really well. And it was two really good defensive teams. And they made a couple of crucial plays down the stretch that just got just enough gap that they were able to finish.

Q. Max, obviously we know how much you wanted this. Just describe the disappointment of not being able to get it done.

MAX RICE: I thought down the stretch there were a couple of plays, bang, bang plays we'd miss a layup and they'd go down hit a tough 3. You just have to have those go your way in March if you want to get those done.

But I know when I go back and rewatch that it will be very hard because I feel like we were right there with three minutes left. We just didn't get it done.

Q. Chibuzo, you guys, like Max was alluding to, you had some good shots there. They just didn't seem to be following. What do you think, was it just ball luck or?

CHIBUZO AGBO: We didn't have the best shooting night, obviously. 2-for-18 from the 3, those shots we normally make. Inflated ball. Some shots should have definitely gone our way but that happens sometimes.

Q. (Indiscernible) what did you see on your end from that?

CAM MARTIN: I thought we played hard and we put ourselves in a situation to win. We controlled what we could control. We guarded hard and rebounded, and the shots just didn't fall.

Q. Cam, talk about -- it looked like you rallied there when Max went out with his fourth foul, kind of came back and you went on that little run.

CAM MARTIN: Kobe came in and brought some energy. We were feeding off of -- getting some stops. That was the biggest thing. We were just getting stops and putting ourselves in positions to try and take shots. We just didn't hit some big shots.

Q. Cam, you guys, 19 offensive rebounds, you and the other big guys inside really did a really good job in that. What was key for that? How much did that keep you guys in the game?

CAM MARTIN: We emphasized rebounding, it's one of our three standards. And it's been something we've been really well at all year. We try and emphasize beating teams rebounding, offensively and defensively. And we did that tonight.

Q. What can you say about the two guys to the right of you, kind of ended their careers. Along the same lines, you have a couple more years left. How much hungrier does it make you to get back here and get the job done?

CHIBUZO AGBO: These are our vets. They've been leading our team all year. We've just been talking about what we would have done to win this game. We would have been willing to give up everything.

These guys have done a lot for this program, showed up every day, been great leaders. Worked really, really hard. They've done and given everything to this program. A lot of respect for these two guys here.

Q. When you get to this point and your two best players are limited to eight points, how tough does it make it to win a game like this?

LEON RICE: Just so many balls, like we just said, we smoked some lanes to start the game. In the first half we were right there. Then we just had so many balls that rattled in and out that --

Then we had a 4-point lead. I thought that was a crucial point. We had the four-point lead, got the stop and Simpson made a great play and stole the ball and scored. That was a huge, huge play. It would have been our ball up four, here we come.

You credit them. They got some veterans that are great players. And Simpson didn't shoot the ball, but he gets 19 points, 11 rebounds, four assists. That's a heck of a guard's effort. Even though he didn't make shots he made huge, huge plays and made the free throws.

And then da Silva, there were just a couple, like the end of the shot clock 3, holy cow, that was -- in such a tight game every point is huge. And neither team was making many 3s and both teams were guarding the 3 really, really well. Two good defensive teams. And plays like that just separate a game.

Q. Obviously your third one. Just with this being Max's last one does it make it any tougher?

LEON RICE: No, I mean, I think what makes it tougher is this team has just been a joy to coach. I told them that afterwards. They all love each other so much. The coaching staff loves them. They just show up. I don't coach perfect every night. They don't play perfect, but they respond perfect to everything and to each other.

They're always caring about doing the right stuff. And we have unselfish guys. Like I said, none of us are perfect, but it's a team that plays really, really hard.

They accomplished so many great things. It's hard to think about that now because these things end brutally. But they provide so much joy to this community that we're in in Boise. And they just play with passion and fire and a lot of great memories with this team.

None us want it to end because you don't get a group of special, 25 special people together like this very often. So you just hate for it to end this way where especially the seniors. Max has done some great things, but to go out 1-for-9, that's going to eat at him the rest of his life. I know how he is because it means everything to him. So in that way it's really hard.

Just saying goodbye to this team is the hardest thing. And every team is special for their own reasons, but this team, the way they were with each other. And just come rain or shine they showed up with great attitudes. And I'm going to miss this group a ton.

Q. Talked a lot about how well you and Tad knew each other's teams. Did that change anything in the chess match of this game at all? Was it pretty much straight forward?

LEON RICE: It was Boise State versus Colorado. I hate Tad right now. My arch enemy. (Laughter).

No, we have so much respect for each other and his program. I knew that was -- that's a really good team and I knew that. They've lost one game since January. And they lost on a one-possession deal like tonight. The other team just made one more play than them, kind of.

So I knew -- and they have veteran, veteran guys that were hungry -- not that we didn't, but da Silva and KJ, those two made huge, huge plays when they needed them the most.

So I'm happy for Tad -- not now I'm not, but later I will be. It was never about me and Tad. It's always about the players that you have out there. But I knew that both teams were going to compete their tails off defensively.

Q. Just felt different this year. Felt like this was to be the team to break through. Last two tournaments you obviously never had the lead and you're hitting huge shots back and forth in this one. You're right there with the lead up four, about four minutes to go. I know every loss in the tournament stings, but just thinking about what this team could have done if you won this game and moving forward. It was a back and forth game. Just the way it went, did it make it any tougher?

LEON RICE: Yes, yes, it did, because we were up with the ball. Like I said, KJ jumped a point guard and he just made a play, and made a play when -- we had the ball. I'm like, okay, good, we'll go run a play here and get a bucket. Now you're up six. Just that fine a line.

Obviously, yeah, this is a really, really tough draw and then a tough, tough, tough loss that we'll have trouble with for the rest of our lives. That's the way it is.

When you have a good team, that's the way it is. But there's a lot of things we've got to keep upgrading and we'll keep moving forward.

Like I told these guys, it doesn't minimize what they accomplished this year, and we're going to break through, because when you keep knocking on the door, then eventually you get the seed you deserve, you get the match-up, those things come.

But it's a hard tournament to get to. For us to go three years in a row, when you look back on history, when we got here, they never received an at-large bid in the history of the program.

Now you go three years in a row -- I know it stings. That's the biggest part of the pain is that we have so many people that support us now and care about us, we want them to be able to keep this thing rolling.

But this group has provided amazing moments for our fans. Our fans have been amazing. Some of the wins that this group has had this year, accomplishments, we've beaten San Diego State six out of seven. Go down to The Pit and win. We do some amazing moments that are milestones every year. And to get three straight NCAA Tournament bids is impressive.

But we're going to keep growing, and that's always our thing is keep growing this program, keep getting better and keep getting better, and this offseason's huge for that. With the players we have, they're going to build on it. With the players we have coming, we have some great ones coming, and there will be some more.

You just gotta keep fighting and every day get better, and if we can put on a better team next year, you go farther. It's coming.

There's always the next mile, the next hurdle, the next milestone, but it doesn't mean that this team didn't accomplish a heck of a lot because they sure did, and I was really proud of them.

Like I said, they just represent us so well. They do everything right. They're awesome to be around. The community's really proud of them. They engage everybody. They treat everybody so good. They go the extra mile in everything that we do and couldn't be more proud of a group and just to be around them.

Hey, I know the fans would love them more if we made three more 3s tonight, but our love shouldn't be conditional. I know it always is with the fans, but the true fans appreciate these guys, the way they battled and that kind of thing.

This will be a tough one to get over, no doubt. And it will take some time, but our mission is always the same. We're going to come back better next year than we were. We've got a great nucleus coming back. We have some redshirts that were good. We have two freshmen that are brilliant coming in. Those two redshirts just had an amazing year to getting better, and then the nucleus we have back is pretty darned special.

You hate to move on and turn the page, and I'm not ready to do that, but there's always -- the program's growing every year. And that's what we're proud of. And now the next step is to make a big run, and we'll get there.