MOUNTAIN WEST MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 11, 2026

Colby Garland

Tim Miles

Jermaine Washington

Thomas & Mack Center

San Jose State Spartans

Postgame Press Conference

San Jose State 84, Boise State 74

TIM MILES: Well, it was an excellent win. Anytime you win in the postseason, you're excited. It's a shot in the arm. These guys winning in the Mountain West, I think, is a special treat. We've been obscenely shorthanded all year, even though tonight we had guys in foul trouble, but we managed to do it.

These two guys were terrific. But really I thought our defensive effort was solid. We had eight steals. We were able to run off our defense, and you could just see an energy level that was really good. We'll need that again tomorrow night against New Mexico.

Q. Being just the second ever 11 seed to win in this tournament, what does that mean to you guys, and what is it about this team that gave you the confidence that you thought you could do it tonight?

COLBY GARLAND: Obviously it feels great. Anytime, like Coach Miles said, that we win in the postseason is great. Exciting. We know how much work we put in this summer and the fall.

We never doubted ourselves, even how the season went and non-conference went. We had a lot of skids, a lot of whatever, injuries. But we never stopped believing in ourself. We keep working. We keep chopping wood every day. We get up, we fight, and you seen it tonight on the court. We just got it done. Just happy that we got it done.

JERMAINE WASHINGTON: Like he said, no matter what, we was still pushing through, intensity the whole time. We worked hard this whole week to be prepared, so yeah.

Q. Every time they pushed, you pushed back, whether it was a defensive play or a tough bucket by one or both of you guys. What was your mindset down the stretch? I think you never let it get to within five.

COLBY GARLAND: Yeah, Coach did a great job telling us before the game, when things don't go our way, we can't hang our head. We did that a lot of times this season where things didn't go our way, we kind of quit. We just kind of lost our intensity.

We can't lose our fight and our vigor tonight. We didn't do it. We kept our head high. Basketball is a game of runs or whatever. They went on their run; we went on our run. They went on a run again. We withstanding, and just kept pushing and we kept pinching and kept fighting and we just came up on top tonight.

Q. How big was the buzzer beater at the first half momentum going?

COLBY GARLAND: It was good. I think Jermaine made a great play. I think he had tipped a ball, then they got the ball at half court, maybe Adrian or somebody - I don't know - and Jermaine found me. He Drew two and found me. It just got us going. I'm glad I hit the shot. I'm glad Jermaine trusted me to shoot the ball. So I just appreciate him.

Q. Jermaine, you hit several big shots, especially those threes in the second half. How important was that for your team's momentum overall?

JERMAINE WASHINGTON: I think it was really big, but starting with my defense, trying to pressure the ball, get energy for the team. I feel like when I'm good on defense, we get electrocuted and we spark for offense.

Q. Colby, 25 and a half a game against the Lobos this year. Curious what you were able to do in those two games that gave you so much success putting up some points?

COLBY GARLAND: The man beside me set me up exactly what I'm play them again tomorrow. I don't know watching this press conference exactly what.

TIM MILES: They're asleep. The whole country is asleep.

COLBY GARLAND: Just come out being aggressive happened to make shots tonight coach put me in position to succeed and I just happened to play good versus those guys, man.

Q. What is it about the Lobos that make them a difficult matchup?

JERMAINE WASHINGTON: They have good guards. Jake hall is a tremendous player. They've got bigs, John, all that. Got to come ready.

COLBY GARLAND: I think they're a great size team and they play fast. They play fast from Antonio trove owe they have a lot of guys. They have a lot of length and athleticism Jake hall Barry get downhill or whatever stop them early in transition.

I think they're a good team. They're obviously a good team, they're together and they have a great coach, so just got to come out and fight tomorrow.

Q. Both of you guys also, you played them twice this year, and if you could pick out something, what would you say was something that got in the way that maybe didn't get you guys to the finish line?

COLBY GARLAND: When they went on their runs, we didn't with stand it like we did tonight. I think that's been the case for us all season. We've been in games. We've been in games with every team I feel like, and before we kind of let up and then they'd run off at the end on us.

I think the biggest thing for us coming into this game is we got to punch first. We got to come out with intensity from the beginning. We can't get a slow start. We can't have slow starts. When we have slow starts we're playing catchup. We're a lot of guys down and it's hard to play catchup. Come out and have the same intensity from the beginning to the end.

Q. You talked about having the same intensity from beginning to end. How exciting is it to get the first step where you can keep working towards something to salvage what you did this season, to finish it off strong?

COLBY GARLAND: It feels great. I thank God. Like I said, we work hard every day. I feel good about it, so we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Q. Coach, how big was Japhet Moupadele, the depth overall?

TIM MILES: Yeah, he was really important to us. I thought that when he came in, he Provided solid defense, and he was able to drive the ball tonight and I thought when we got some of their big guys in space, he was one of the guys. Sadra also, that did a good job driving the ball.

These guys need a little rest sometimes, on so these guys have to be able to do that for us.

Q. That 14-point lead to start the second half, what was said in the locker room at halftime to kind of just help build that?

TIM MILES: Say that again.

Q. Just 14-point lead to it start the second half. What was said in the locker room to help build that swing?

TIM MILES: Yeah, nothing. I mean, like every other locker room. We watched our film. We talked about any adjustments we might make. There was really no talk about just the mechanics of what we're trying to do.

I thought that the guys -- you know, their energy was good all day. Their intensity was good all day from their shoot-around to their warm-up to obviously the game. I think you can see real fire in them.

We haven't always been that way. It gets to be a long season, a grind, and we're wearing these guys out. How many guys played 40 minutes tonight? Oh, no, nobody did? That's not true. Oh, there we are. A couple.

So, you know, I think that's really important that when they come, they just come with that mental focus.

Q. Jermaine, Colby is kind of like your extra coach on the floor. On behalf of Adrian, Melvin, what does Colby mean for you guys? What does he do for you on the floor?

JERMAINE WASHINGTON: Oh, man, he's our captain, our leader. We go to him for whatever we need, plays, whatever. He's the leader on the team. We just employ to him a lot. Captain, energetic, all that great point guard too. He finds me a lot.

Q. Boise is just a well-balanced offensive team. We're kind of waiting for them to come back, to come back. Obviously you pushed back, but what is Coach Miles telling you the last two, three minutes to close out the game?

TIM MILES: Give them the repeatable stuff.

COLBY GARLAND: Yeah, I got it. Can you repeat that question again? I'm sorry.

Q. In closing out games you had mentioned in a couple of questions that came in and out closing games, they have their runs and their pushes, but this time there was an energy, this emotion, this intensity, this confidence. Where does that play in the factor of closing the game out?

COLBY GARLAND: It plays a big part. I feel like I said it earlier. Like Coach Miles said, it started from shoot-around in film this morning.

We had it the whole day. We had it the whole day. We was eating, we was talking about the game. We was excited for it. Like I said Coach Miles did a great job like in time-outs telling us to stay on it, stay on it.

Assistant coaches yelling at us, getting us right. I'm just happy that we stayed on it today, and we're going to do it again tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: We're going to let the student-athletes go at this time. Questions for Coach.

Q. Can you talk about the impact that your bench and your support staff had tonight? I don't know if I have ever seen a more animated and connected bench than what we saw tonight.

TIM MILES: We were at Air Force and we played and we won. A friend of mine who has been around my teams at Colorado State, Nebraska, and this was their first game at -- to see us play at San Jose State. I get a text, and it says, hey, I just want you to know, your bench looked really uninspired and not involved. That's not a Tim Miles coached team.

So I put JaVaughn Hannah, who has been out for us, and is also a team captain, I'm, like, hey, dude, the bench energy is on you. I'm going to threaten him. I threatened him, right, like, you're going to pay the price if you don't have that bench right.

You could really notice it as we came back in the game against Wyoming. We got way down and we came back. Then tonight I thought it was really good too, because a couple of those guys ran into me coming off the bench. When the walk-on guys are apologizing for running into the coach, that's always a good thing.

Q. Another thing, too, in a game like this where it's sort of an underdog situation, you need those hustle plays, and you described it before with the steals and the blocks especially too; you had 13 blocks and steals combined; Boise State only had four; just can you go more in depth into that?

TIM MILES: Exactly. Those are critical plays, and we're not a great shot-blocking team, so to be able to do that tonight was good. If you look at the points off turnovers, it was 15-4. That was really critical. Probably the difference of the game almost, right?

So those plays leading to easier offense, so we're not out there grinding, and because we're short-handed, those guys get a little bit fatigued. You need those easier opportunities. We were good that way tonight.

Q. You mentioned it before, but you can rely late in games on more than just these two guys to get buckets, especially tonight.

TIM MILES: Yeah, I don't think there's any doubt. You see Melvin Belle. Adrian Myers can do some really good things shooting and driving, making foul shots. Melvin Bell getting better and getting better as a true freshman. Those guys are all really important.

We're going need everybody to do well. Five guys if double figures tonight. You know, that's got to be our MO. If we just have two guys rolling and everybody else is kind of, like, standing there watching and not being a productive player, we're in trouble.

So I was really excited to see that tonight.

Q. Coach, could you just talk about facing New Mexico for a third time?

TIM MILES: Yeah. You know, it was not exactly what I had hoped, but I think Colby said it the same way. I think they're the most well-balanced team in the Mountain West, offense and defense. They're good on both ends.

They can hurt you inside with Buljan. Those guards are really tough, and all three of them, I think...

Jake, No. 4, and Albury. And then Chol can really shoot it too. And Haupt is tough. They're really in -- JT Rock has given us some problems.

They've got great personnel. I think they're well-coached, and that's always a real problem. We'll have to -- I'll figure them out tomorrow, though, later tonight.

Q. Coach, just how different are these 8:30 p.m. starts compared to those average 2:00 p.m. starts?

TIM MILES: It's past my bedtime, I'll tell you. I was yawning. In the old days I would always drink a cup of coffee on my way to the gym, kind of get me all jacked up. After 15 years of never sleeping at all that night, I'm like, okay, enough of the coffee.

When I came out here, I'm, like, okay, no more caffeine. Tonight I'm, like I need some caffeine. I slammed a Pepsi. That kind of got me going a little bit. Maybe we'll just take a little half-caf. You're probably too young to know what that is, but that's okay.

Q. Tim, after the January 30th game against San Jose you did say what you said a while ago, that they were -- U&M is --

TIM MILES: Then they lost three in a row after that, so I'm trying to do the same thing.

Q. Since that time their defense was -- they were first ten games of league play ranked 24th in the country in defensive efficiency. Since playing you guys basically, they were ranked 176th. Their defense isn't the same over the last ten games. When you watch film or what they were doing earlier, I guess the question is, what are they getting away from defensively that they were so good at for that first half?

TIM MILES: It's been five weeks, and I have not watched them since honestly. I can't answer that specifically. What I would tell you is just like anybody, right, they've had some injuries, right? They've had some guys out. Sometimes -- like for us JaVaughn Hannah is a guy that picks up everybody's trash. He finds every problem and solves it live in the action, right? Without him we don't have that.

And now tonight we were way better at that. Like other guys were locked in and doing it, but we just haven't had that consistently, that diligence. So maybe it's some of that too. You know, as you go, teams have peaks and valleys, and everybody is in a one-and-done situation.

New Mexico is playing for a lot, let's face it. They're right on the smack -- I was on the bubble for years when I was a CSU coach. It's like the Mountain West special.

That's the way it is. I know they want to play in the NCAA Tournament. I know we're going to get a great shot from them, and we're going to have to be well-prepared.

Q. I know this is nothing new for you right now, but you guys played seven. You only have -- I don't even know if you have seven available, and you find a way to play seven guys tonight. 40 minutes for two guys. 37 for another. At this point how do you do a 24-hour turnaround? Are they all taking shots of Pepsi too or...

TIM MILES: I thought we agreed it was half-caf. I didn't want to pick one brand over another. You know what, they're young. What a good problem to have. I'm playing too much, Coach. I'm, like, suck it up. Dude, you got good legs. Let's go.

Honestly I tell them that all the time. What a good problem to have. You're playing too much. Oh, geez. You know? Nobody is going to cry for you, dude. Get your butt out there and play harder.

Q. Tim, I don't know if it's too early to ask this since your season is still going on, but after the way this year has gone, what does a win like tonight mean for the outlook of the season and more importantly, what does it mean for the future of your program?

TIM MILES: Yeah, I just think that, one, I think or recipe works. When we get the right ingredients, players, right, that we can contend with just about anybody in the league. Tonight I thought we did a really excellent job on the defensive end to start, and that really led us into where we were going.

It wasn't like we just baked a whole bunch of threes. We've done that too at nights, just go out and bang a whole bunch of threes, and of course, you're going to be pretty tough on those nights. That wasn't the case tonight. Might need it tomorrow night, but I think it's a great sign that we're positioned to be able to win, especially in the postseason.