What Boise State’s Leon Rice said about dominant home victory over Duquesne

Broncos hammer Dukes, 86-64

Boise State Broncos forward Pearson Carmichael. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Sophomore guard Pearson Carmichael scored a career-high 26 points off the bench on Wednesday as the Boise State men’s basketball team secured an 86-64 non-conference win over Duquesne at ExtraMile Arena.

Carmichael finished with 26 points and six rebounds, going 10 of 13 from the floor and 6 of 8 from beyond the arc against the Dukes (6-4).

“The last two days in practice I was like ‘Whoa, here we go,’” Boise State head coach Leon Rice said of Carmichael. “And that’s a reflection of … I think our whole team is getting better at practice, and you’re seeing them reap the rewards of that.”

Drew Fielder added 23 points for the Broncos (7-3), who close non-conference play on Sunday against Saint Mary’s (9-1) in Idaho Falls. 

Here are the highlights from Rice’s postgame press conference. 

On Carmichael’s three-point shooting

“He’s a stat-filler. But he earned his way back onto the court a lot with the way he’s guarding and with the way he’s rebounding — he had six rebounds tonight. That’s the non-negotiable. The made shots, we’ve got skilled guys and we’ve got a smart enough team, they got him more shots when he was cooking. That’s the beauty of this team; we’ve got a lot of guys on a given night that can do that.”

On Carmichael’s development

“Developing is hard because you have to become uncomfortable, you have to work through stuff and you have to have people that are willing to hold you accountable because they love you and know what you can become. It’s been a hard journey on (Carmichael) and we’re going to make it even harder for him as far as on what he can become. He’s still scratching the surface. That’s why they came here, that’s what their families want, that’s what the kid wants and we’re going to do everything we can to develop these guys. If they don’t want it, you can’t do it. But basketball is important to him, he loves it.”

On Saint Mary’s 

“We’ve had great battles with these guys. It’s amazing how their consistency of … you’re like ‘Oh, they lost a lot of guys, they’ll be a lot different.’ They’re not at all different. They’re the same really good team. They don’t ever beat themselves, they all know their roles, they’re all physical and tough. It’s a great basketball team we’re playing. 

“The two times we’ve played them in (Idaho Falls), they’ve been amazing games. We’ve been fortunate to be on the right side of it. You’ve got to play so good against them.”