Kobe Sanders or Kobe Bryant? What Leon Rice said after Boise State survives at Nevada

‘When their Kobe shows up and looks like Kobe (Bryant), and for us to get the win after he gets 30, that tells you a lot about our guys,’ Rice said

Boise State Broncos head coach Leon Rice. / Troy Babbitt-Imagn Images

The Boise State men’s basketball team overcame a 10-point first-half deficit in Saturday’s Mountain West Conference game at Nevada and held on for a 70-69 win. 

Andrew Meadow led the Broncos (19-8, 11-5) with a career-high 24 points, four rebounds and two assists while Javan Buchanan added 17 points, four rebounds and three steals off the bench. 

Kobe Sanders shined in defeat for the Wolf Pack (15-12, 7-9) with 30 points — a season-high — four rebounds and four assists. 

“We knew this would be a really, really tough one,” Broncos head coach Leon Rice said after the win. “They’ve been playing great here and when their Kobe shows up and looks like Kobe (Bryant), and for us to get the win after he gets 30, that tells you a lot about our guys. Just resilient and tough.”

Here are the highlights from Rice’s postgame radio interview. 

On big games from Javan Buchanan, Andrew Meadow

“I was telling Meadow ‘No, you’re turning (shots) down. I’m going to sub you for turning them down. You shoot.’ He was aggressive, and I want him to shoot more! There was another one late in the shot clock where he drove instead of shooting it. And he said the pass took him out of the shot, but still just get it up on the rim. We’ll chase it down and go from there.

“Javan had a little stretch against their zone when … because they’re big, so that zone creates some problems. They know that our numbers from two are so good, and they know we’ve got to prove it from three a little bit every now and then.”

On Kobe Sanders’ 30-point game

“He made tough shots all night long. We got him going, but then he was seeing a huge hole. That’s the guy that they were talking about in the preseason. That’s the guy that the NBA scouts were talking about in November. And we got to see that, unfortunately, tonight, but found a way and made some impressive plays down the stretch.”

On Wednesday’s rematch with Utah State 

“They’re playing good still. They’ve got a great team, great coaches. They present a unique problem because they’re going to play 40 minutes — or close to it — of a matchup zone that presents its own problems. I thought we handled it pretty good down there. Your offense is always a lot better when you make perimeter jumpers.

“We need a big sellout. We need it as loud as it’s ever been. When we go to Utah State, you know what we see down there. We need to welcome them back with the ExtraMile madness.”

MORE BOISE STATE NEWS & ANALYSIS

• SDSU athletic director says Pac-12 will have TV deal soon; Expansion comes next

• Mountain West men’s basketball update: Utah State bags critical home win over San Diego State

• Clutch Broncos: 3 takeaways from Boise State’s hard-fought 70-69 victory over Nevada

• 2025 NFL mock drafts: Ashton Jeanty intrigued by Dallas Cowboys

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Continue to follow our Boise State coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.