What Nick Boyd, Jared Coleman-Jones said after loss against Boise State in Mountain West Conference Tournament
San Diego State’s run in the Mountain West Conference Tournament ended after one game on Thursday, falling to Boise State 62-52 in the quarterfinal round.
The Aztecs led 33-22 late in the first half and were tied on multiple occasions in the final 10 minutes of the game before Boise State put together a 13-3 run to advance past San Diego State and into the semifinal round. San Diego State will now await their fate for the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is released on Sunday afternoon.
San Diego State guard Nick Boyd led the Aztecs with 20 points. Boyd knocked down three second half three-pointers scoring four of San Diego State’s five baskets over the final 20 minutes. Senior forward Jared Coleman-Jones had seven points and nine rebounds for the Aztecs.
Here’s everything Boyd and Coleman-Jones said after Thursday’s loss in the Mountain West Conference quarterfinals.
Nick and Jared, this is your last season for the team, and just kind of how hard you've worked individually and the chemistry you've built?
Nick Boyd – You're making it sound like this year is over or something. No, but it's been fun. Obviously, coming in here new, a bunch of different guys on the team from all over the place, a lot of freshmen, a lot of sophomores, guys stepping into bigger roles. Outside looking in, I'm amazed by their growth as an older guy, and I'm positive -- I know we've still got basketball to play, so I'm just looking forward to getting to the postseason and having more fun with them.
Jared Coleman-Jones – Yeah, definitely. Just piggybacking off what Nick said, it's a great opportunity to play with some young guys and really just see them grow all year. To be in my last year, it's great to be able to just see how far I can take my game in a new environment, step into new roles, step into more expectations. It's fun. It's great to be able to just play basketball and play basketball at this level.
Nick, what would be your sales pitch on San Diego State to get into the NCAA Tournament?
Nick Boyd – Man, I'd just say, you can just go from just our resume as a team. We did what we had to do in the non-conference, handled business, came to the Mountain West league, play where a lot of people thought it was down, but you see now we've got like five teams fighting to get in there. On top of that, we had to beat a team three times, which isn't easy. But at the same time, no excuses. But beating them three times -- you see what we did in the non-conference, and that would be why I think we should be in.
Obviously, the season isn't over. You will play in the postseason. But it will either be the NIT or the NCAA Tournament. Given the expectations of this program, is it a failure if you don't make the NCAA Tournament? Is that how you guys view it, knowing how many times this program has been? Or is this season a success if you make the NIT?
Nick Boyd – I mean, I wouldn't say it's a failure. You can ask a bunch of teams around the country how hard it is to play postseason basketball. That's not an easy thing. Like you said, the program, those around postseason basketball, like it's nothing, but if you ask a bunch of teams around the country, it's not easy to play postseason basketball. For our group, we're talented. We're talented to be in the tournament, whether the NIT or the March Madness tournament, I'm going to be happy, and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to have more games with this team and keep building to something special.
Jared Coleman-Jones – Definitely I'm grateful to be able to be considered for any postseason, but at the same time, I wouldn't call it a failure. I think it's all about perspective. Once again, we have a really young team, but at the same time, guys are growing. You can throw Heide in there. You can throw BJ in there. Guys who have really stepped into their roles and grown and are playing way better and doing better things. I wouldn't call it a failure, but at the same time, it was a goal, and hopefully, we can still get in there.
Jared, even though you didn't have your teammate Magoon out there, Boise State still credited your defense for being an elite shot blocking team, especially inside the arc. Did you expect Boise State to shoot 40 threes out there today?
Jared Coleman-Jones – I didn't, honestly. But I talked to them for identifying what the crux was on our team. Cardenas and some of those guys were finding switches and pulling their shots when they got their shots, and they were hitting them. It's just tough to guard that sometimes, but we've got to tip our hats to them.
The second-chance points, the 18 offensive rebounds, I know Coach touched on it, but obviously, you knew that was something that when we win, they're doing that well. How frustrating was that to see them get some huge buckets on put-backs?
Nick Boyd – Yeah, Coach touched on it. It's on us to do something about it. Very frustrating. We just didn't execute in that aspect of the game, and it ultimately cost us. They shot 40 threes. They didn't make a lot of them, but they got a lot of them back. When you do things like that, you're playing with fire, and that's where we are right now.
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Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.