What Boise State’s Leon Rice said following overtime loss to UNLV

Broncos drop fourth straight game in Mountain West play

Boise State's Dylan Andrews | Boise State Athletics

The Boise State men’s basketball team dropped to 1-5 in Mountain West play on Tuesday with an 89-85 overtime loss at UNLV.

The Broncos have lost four consecutive games entering Friday’s home matchup with Colorado State. 

“I’ve got to help them more, because we were right in position to win that game,” Broncos head coach Leon Rice said after the game. “We gave them baskets that we didn’t have to give them."

Boise State (9-8, 1-5) had 15 costly turnovers that led to 29 UNLV (8-8, 3-2) points. 

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

On sloppy turnovers 

“We get a rebound, we throw it right to them, and they get a dunk. We don’t block out on a free throw, and they get a tip dunk. We dribble right into them and turn it over. That’s basketball, you can’t just throw it to the other team and let them dunk, especially when we were doing some great things. 

“But still, we had enough out there to do it, and we were in the position to do it. But credit them, too. They made some big plays, some big defensive plays. … You’ve got to capitalize on the things you can control, and you don’t have to throw it to the other team. That’s what we’ve got to solve, but I’ve got to keep helping these guys. I’ve got to help them more, I’ve got to be a better teacher because some of this stuff we’ve got to soak in better. … We’ve got to be better as a unit, five guys as a unit. When we get that, this team can be good. But you can’t slide away from that in tough times, and it’s got to be every possession.” 

On shooting woes

“I always say, ‘The operation is a success and the patient dies because we missed our open shots.’ You’ve got to capitalize on those. We got some pretty dang good looks at three and we only made three of them. We were three for 14. Our shooters have to shoot, that’s their job, and they’ve got to make them. So we did a better job of getting them some quality looks, and you’ve got to step up and make them.” 

On Drew Fielder’s three-pointer to force overtime

“Our guys did a great job. (Spencer Ahrens) did a great job of finding him, that’s why we put it in his hands. He can be a good decision-maker. They did a good job of executing that. That was awesome, and I thought ‘Here we go, here we go.’”