Rice won’t exempt himself from punishment for first career ejection. ‘I let them down.’
Pondering what to do next after the first ejection of his career, Boise State men’s basketball coach Leon Rice gave a security guard a hug.
“Well, where are we watching the game?” Rice quipped.
Rice watched the second half of Boise State’s 85-78 loss to Air Force on Wednesday in an office inside Clune Arena, an experience made more painful by the delay between the cheers he heard in the gym and the action happening on the television in front of him.
“I told the team that I let them down, and I wasn’t there for them in the second half. I wish I would have been,” Rice said. “It was one of those things where it just happened so quickly and then it was done. I was sitting by myself in an empty locker room going ‘now what?’ It felt helpless not being able to be out there and help those guys.”
Rice was ready to make amends for his mistake Friday as the Broncos (11-8, 3-4 MW) began preparations for Saturday’s Mountain West contest against Utah State (14-5, 3-3) at 8 p.m. Saturday at ExtraMile Arena (ESPNU, 670 AM).
“I’ll probably have some running to do at practice,” Rice said.
Rice was assessed two technical fouls with 19.2 seconds left in the first half for arguing with an official about a call that went against the Broncos. Falcons senior guard Caleb Morris made all four ensuing free throws, and the Broncos went to the locker room down 42-34. Assistants Mike Burns, Tim Duryea and R-Jay Barsh handled coaching decisions in the second half, getting the Broncos as close as two points on two occasions.
Rice couldn’t help but feel at fault for Wednesday’s loss, which left Boise State alone in eighth place in the Mountain West standings.
“It’s hard to walk that line sometimes, and I’m not making excuses for it because I know I went over the line,” Rice said. “It’s just like a 5-second bad decision and that’s what happens in competition sometimes. You’ve gotta make sure that you’re sticking up for your team and fighting for your team and that was the case, but it went one step too far.”
Note: Fan are encouraged to wear blue to Saturday’s game for a ‘Blue Out.’ The first 5,000 fans will receive blue T-shirts, and the first 1,000 students will receive blue pom poms.
Women’s basketball: Hodgins nears milestone
Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year Braydey Hodgins is on the cusp of a career milestone.
The senior guard from Pasco, Washington, needs just seven points to become the 22nd member of Boise State’s 1,000-point club, a mark she could reach as early as Saturday when the Broncos (13-6, 5-2 MW) play Utah State (5-12, 0-6) at 2 p.m. in Logan, Utah.
Hodgins is averaging 10.7 points per game and has 993 career points going into the Mountain West matchup. Three members of Hodgins’ immediate family also have eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in collegiate hoops. Her mother, Karen (Murray) Hodgins scored 1,745 points at Washington from 1981 to 1984, and older sisters Delaney (2015-18) and Hayley (2013-16) rank first and second on Eastern Washington’s career scoring list with 2,120 and 1,865 points, respectively.
Note: Saturday’s women’s game in Logan will be streamed by the Mountain West Network, which is available online at BroncosSports.com/mwn, or listen to a radio broadcast on 1350 AM.
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 4:19 PM.
