Rice Basketball needed overtime to eek out a win over Northwestern State, but the Owls found a way to hang on.
Things were never comfortable at Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. Even though Rice basketball had never lost to Northwestern State in 11 previous meetings, the Demons made sure they did everything they could to jeopardize that streak.
Rice scored first, but never led by more than seven points in the first half, allowing Northwestern State to pull even on two separate occasions. In fact, Northwestern State went more than 59 minutes without seeing a lead, trailing by as many as 13 points midway through the second half when Denver Anglin drained one of a trip of threes.
More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview
From there, though, the comeback was on. The Demons responded with a 13-4 run to get back in the game and took their very first lead of the contest with 48 seconds on the clock. Kellen Amos would knock down three free throws to go back in front by two, only for Northwestern State to take the lead again on another three, this time with 6.2 seconds left in regulation.
Amos leveled the score with another free throw, but missed what would have been the game clinching shot from the charity stripe and the game went to overtime. In OT, it was Alem Huseinovic who hit a three with 1:01 to play to give Rice some breathing room before Rice made one final defensive stand to hang on for the win and improve to 3-1 on the season.
Final Box | Rice 77, Northwestern State 75
FINAL | @RiceMBB 77, NWST 75
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) November 16, 2024
Owls prevail in OT pic.twitter.com/O7eMG0nk5S
What They’re Saying
We’re obviously on a journey trying to become a good team. We’re not there yet, but the mark of a good team is that when you are in close, hard-fought games, that you can find a way to win. Whenever you do that, it becomes a frame of reference. To have a game like that early in the year, where a lot of things went against us late in the game, missed free throws, turnovers, and some good one-and-one play by (Northwestern State), when things looked bleak we still found a way to fight our way back. It’s a credit to our guys that we have this frame of reference. – Rice basketball head coach Rob Lanier
Key takeaway | Winning Ugly Works For Now
Rice basketball doesn’t have a longer active winning streak against any other Division 1 opponent on the hardwood. Losing to Northwestern State on Saturday wouldn’t have been a fatal blow, but it would have marred a season that’s shown so much promise despite the obvious growing pains. Lanier hasn’t hid from those warts, but they’re still painful to grow past in real time.
Because Rice did win, they start 3-1 for the first time since 2021-2022. They snapped a three-game losing streak in overtime and found a way to win on a day when so much wasn’t going their way. Winning every game by 50 would be nice, but if that’s not going to happen, the end result is the most important factor to replicate. Especially right now as this team learns to win well, a win is a win.
Up Next: at Louisiana (Tues, Nov. 19)
