Big games from distance from Jalen Smith and Nick Anderson propelled Rice basketball past East Carolina for a much-needed road win.
Rice basketball was the aggressor early in Greenville on Wednesday night. East Carolina knocked down a layup to get things started, but the host Pirates would not lead again for the remainder of the first half thanks to some efficient shooting from the Owls. The Rice lead never reached comfortable margins, however.
East Carolina tied the game twice before the break, erasing a six-point deficit then a nine-point deficit to take a deadlock 33-all score into halftime.
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Nick Anderson set the tone from the first shot of the second half, knocking down a three to spark another Rice rally, quickly pulling back in front by nine following his second triple of the half. The lead ballooned to 17 on Jalen Smith’s fifth long ball of the night, a dagger shot that put the game out of reach.
Trae Broadnax would lengthen the advantage to 18 before East Carolina began whittling the lead down from there, but the Pirates simply did not have enough time to dig out from a deficit that high.
Rice Basketball improves to 9-12 with the win. The Owls are 3-5 away from Tudor Fieldhouse this season.
Final Box | Rice 83, East Carolina 77
Key takeaway | The Recipe is Three
Scoring points generally plays a meaningful role in winning basketball games and the three-point shot has proven an excellent tool for underdogs at all stages to find success. That’s been true of Rice basketball, too.
Coming into Wednesday, Rice was 6-3 when knocking down at least 10 three-pointers in a game; They’re now 7-3 and 2-9 in all other contests. Rice drained 12 threes against East Carolina, Smith and Anderson combining for nine of them.
Rice is one of the better three-point shooting teams in the American Conference even though they’re only fifth in total three-pointers attempted. If they can continue to hit them at the rate they have lately, it might be worth leaning even further into the long distance play moving forward.
Up Next: at Charlotte (Sat. Jan. 31 at 5:00 pm)
