Boise State coach Leon Rice didn’t need to do much research when he saw the Broncos were matched up with Colorado in the First Four in Dayton on Wednesday night.
Rice and Colorado coach Tad Boyle have been close friends for two-plus decades and coached together with Team USA in each off the past two summers.
Boise State’s 14th-year coach said he’s already watched almost every game the Buffaloes have played this season.
“I’m pretty familiar with Colorado,” Rice said. “Tad is one of my best friends in the business and in the world.”
Colorado went 24-10 overall and 13-7 in the Pac-12 and finished in third place in the regular season standings.
The Buffaloes are loaded with potential NBA talent including freshman Cody Williams, who could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. Forward Tristan da Silva and KJ Simpson are projected to go in the second round of this year’s draft.
“They’ve got three guys who are projected in the NBA Draft next year,” Rice said. “They are a talented, talented team. And they are one of the hottest teams right now.”
Colorado won eight games in a row to get back into the NCAA Tournament picture before losing to Oregon in the finals of the Pac-12 Tournament last Saturday.
The Buffaloes rank first in the Pac-12 in overall shooting percentage at 49.5 percent, 3-point percentage at 39.7 percent and free throw shooting at 77.3 percent.
Colorado ranks third in points allowed per game at 71.1 and sixth in opponents field goal percentage at 43.6.
“They were one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12,” Rice said. “They made it to the championship game and Tad and his staff do such a tremendous job. They seem to be playing their best basketball right now. They have versatile guards, they’ve got size, they can shoot.
“There’s not a lot of weaknesses with this team. They are really guarding, too.”
Simpson leads the Buffaloes at 19.6 points per game and is shooting 45.3 percent from 3-point range. Da Silva is second at 15.8 points while Williams is third at 12.6 points per game.
Former TCU big man Eddie Lampkin Jr. averages 10.2 points and leads Colorado with 7.1 rebounds per game.
Rice and Boyle have been friends since the 90s when Rice was an assistant at Northern Colorado and Boyle was a high school coach at nearby Longmont High.
The two are part of a group of close friends that includes Gonzaga coach Mark Few, Long Beach State coach Dan Monson, former Maryland coach Mark Turgeon and others.
“We’ve known each other a long, long time and I consider him one of my best friends,” Rice said. “There’s (67) other options and you’re playing one of your best friends. That’s crazy.”
Boise State and Colorado played for the first time ever last season in the fifth-place game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational. The Broncos came away with a 68-55 win.
“I know we played them last year and they have some of the same pieces,” Boise State’s Tyson Degenhart said. “They are a great 3-point shooting team and there is a lot of familiarity between our coaching staff and theirs. It should be a lot of fun.”
