Rice Basketball earned a big lead and lost it, rallying late and holding on to secure a home win over Texas State.
Physicality was on full display when Rice basketball hosted Texas State on Wednesday evening. A tight contest in the early goings was turned into a sturdy halftime lead in favor of the Owls’ behind one of the more dominant rebounding efforts the program has seen in some time.
Texas State committed just five turnovers in the first half and shot a respectable 42 percent from the floor. And yet, they trailed by 12 points in large part because the Owls outrebounded the Bobcats 22-10 with a whopping 11 offensive boards leading to 16 second chance points.
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Then, it was as if the visitors flipped a switch. Texas State exploded out of the gates in the second half, nearly evening the rebounding battle in the next 10 minutes as they rallied to retake the lead in a 23-3 outburst. That Rice opened the half 2-for-9 from the field did them no favors.
Facing a six point deficit, Rice fought back. Trae Broadnax keyed the rally with several heads up defensive plays, putting the Owls back in front on a marvelous fadeaway followed by consecutive made free throws. Rice took a five-point lead into the final minute before Texas State cut it to one. Jalen Smith then made consecutive free throws to extend the edge to three before Nick Anderson iced things with a pair of foul shots of his own with 1.5 seconds remaining.
Rice Basketball improves to 4-6 with the win. The Owls are 3-2 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.
Final Box | Rice 77, Texas State 72
What They’re Saying
Key takeaway | Learning on the Go
Following a week of consecutive gut punches, Rice basketball found a way to finish on Wednesday in a game that felt much more meaningful than just a singular win. But of course, it wouldn’t come easily.
That Rice saw a double-digit advantage wither in minutes in the second half and still found a way to rally spoke volumes about how far this team has come.
“I think those are the moments that kind of define teams a little bit,” guard Trae Broadnax said. “It was like a test of our mettle and our toughness.”
“I think coming off the week that we had last week where we went 1-2 but we felt like we took a step forward. We tried to put our best foot forward today in some spurts, for sure.”
ESPN win probability gave Rice more than a 90 percent chance of winning in this game on three separate occasions. Between them, Texas State mounted their rally. Afterward, Rice saw the late game lead dwindle to one point. The next step will be finding ways to maintain that consistent advantage and render the need for a furious comeback moot
“I feel like these experiences we’ve had over the last 10 games have not been lost on the guys,” Lanier said. “They’ve learned from it and I think tonight was an example of learning from previous games.”
Up Next: vs Arkansas State (Sat, Dec. 13 at 2:00 pm)
