The source for Rice sports news

  • Football
    • Recruiting
    • Offer Tracker
    • Roster
    • Schedule
    • NFL Owls
  • Premium
    • Patreon
    • Season Preview
    • Join / FAQ
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Store
    • News
    • Basketball
    • Baseball
    • About
    • Contact
  • Login

Rice Basketball season comes to an end with AAC Tourney loss to Wichita State

March 13, 2024 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice basketball came out hot but was unable to finish, falling to Wichita State in the first round of the AAC Tournament in Fort Worth, TX.

Shocked doesn’t even begin to accurately describe how Rice basketball must have felt midway through the first half on Wednesday afternoon. The 13-Seed Owls had taken a 17-4 lead over the 12-Seed Wichita State Shockers to start the game. Things were going well. And then Wichita State just could not miss.

Wichita State hit 19 of their final 22 shots of the first half, thundering back from a 13-point deficit to take a 13-point lead at the break. During that stretch, the Shockers shot 86.3 percent from the field. Few could have anticipated quite how quickly the script could have been flipped, even when accounting for the Owls’ inconsistency on defense and a potent shooting performance.

“Basketball is a game of runs, right?” Travis Evee mused when recalling that furious Wichita State rally. “I think we really stayed together. It heightened our focus, our energy to climb back and weather that storm.”

Down by double-digits to start the second half with their backs against the wall, Rice basketball thundered back. Evee knocked down a pair of threes, keying a 12-0 Rice run to turn a potential blowout into a one-point game after Alem Husenovic knocked down a key jump shot.

It truly was back and forth from that point onward with 11 lead changes transpired over the course of the next five minutes and neither team leading by more than two possessions until the Shockers’ Xavier Bell knocked down a fast break layup with six seconds on the clock to put the game out of reach.

With the loss, Rice basketball falls to 11-21 on the season. A streak of back-to-back seasons in which the Owls played in a postseason tournament will come to an end as the program does some soul-searching in hopes of charting a brighter future moving forward.

Final Box | Wichita State 88 – Rice 81

FINAL | WSU 88 – @RiceMBB 81

Owls' season comes to an end in Fort Worth. pic.twitter.com/tz9bCH9hqd

— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) March 13, 2024

What They’re Saying |

“It’s been a great four years and this one’s going to sting, probably for a while. It’s not the way that we wanted to go out, but I think in about a week or two weeks, whenever this wears off, I’ll really be able to look back and really be thankful for everything that this university has given me, everything that [head coach Scott Pera and Max Fiedler] have given me. I’m gonna miss playing with them. I’m gonna miss putting on the jersey. I’m gonna miss being in the locker room with these guys.” – Travis Evee on his Rice basketball career

Key takeaway | Going the wrong way

In the seventh season under Pera, Rice basketball has officially taken a significant step backward. The Owls finished above .500 under Pera for the second time last season but will finish this campaign 10 games below .500, their worst mark since his inaugural season.

The offense, which has been Pera’s calling card, has regressed from scoring 76.9 points per game last season to 71.7 points per game this season. The defense, a constant source of frustration, ranks 269th in the nation, allowing 75.3 points per game, a number that will worse after allowing 88 points on Wednesday.

“It’s uncanny, the misfortune we had this year,” Pera said, noting the series of close losses and bad bounces along the way.

Pera has built his tenure on the back of steady, gradual improvement. Faced with a tougher league schedule with the move to the AAC and the departure of star guard Quincy Olivari, who led the Big East in scoring for Xavier this season, it feels like that train has jumped the tracks.

Pera’s seventh season ends like many of the ones before it, with him at the podium reiterating “We’ve got to get better defensively.” Seven seasons in and the refrain is the same. And it’s not going to get any easier.

Rice basketball will lose Travis Evee and Max Fiedler this offseason. There is talent remaining on the roster, but the proof of concept of what this could be feels sufficient. At its best, this has been a .500 program under Pera, whose future on South Main is in question. Athletic Director Tommy McClelland has proven amenable to patience in other sports, but that’s come in conjunction with progress. This was a step back — and a significant one at that — one that Pera might not survive.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts
  • Rice Baseball 2025: MLB Owls Update – May 28
  • The Roost Podcast | Ep 199 – 2025 Rice Football Opponent Previews: USF
  • Rice Baseball: 2025 MiLB May Update
  • AAC Baseball sends UTSA, ECU to NCAA Tournament

Filed Under: Archive, Basketball Tagged With: game recap, Max Fiedler, Rice basketball, Travis Evee

  1. Item 1
  2. Item 2
  3. Item 3
  4. Item 4
  5. Item 5
  • Jack Ben-Shoshan, Rice Baseball
  • Rice Football
  • Rice Baseball, David Pierce
  • Rice Football
  • “He’s a Bulldog”: Parker Smith’s Journey to Rice Baseball Ace
Become a patron at Patreon!
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter