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MBB: Owls drop first CUSA road tilt to UTSA

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Rice basketball saw their conference winning streak come to an end, falling on the road to UTSA by a final score of 95-79.

The assignment coming into this game for Rice was relatively straightforward. Guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace came in averaging nearly 40 points per game. They were going to score — the Owls just needed to make sure the other pieces of the Roadrunner offense were limited. Things did not go according to plan on that front.

Jackson and Wallace scored 40-flat, but Giovanni De Nicolao notched 19 points and Nick Allen put up 20 points, both season highs. Those four scored 86 of the Roadrunners 75 points, more than enough to cover a respectable shooting night from Rice,

The Owls shot 44.4 percent from the field, but only 25 percent from three. Nine different players both scored and registered at least one rebound. Outside of an off night from Jack Williams, who was coming off back-to-back double-doubles, the rest of the offense played well enough. It was defense, once again, that cost them against the Roadrunners.

UTSA topped 90 points in two other contests this season, wins over Mid-American Christian and Bethany College. Their previous scoring high in Conference USA was 75.

The Box

Player FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
J. Williams 2-9 1-3 2-2 1 6 7 0 1 2 1 3 7
Q. Millora-Brown 7-9 0-0 0-0 4 4 8 0 0 1 1 1 14
D. Peterson 1-5 0-2 2-4 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4
C. Mullins 6-12 0-5 2-5 2 1 3 4 0 1 5 1 14
A. Adams 3-6 2-5 2-2 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 4 10
R. Martin 2-6 0-4 5-6 0 4 4 3 2 0 2 3 9
T. Harrison 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
J. Parrish 2-5 0-0 3-4 1 3 4 2 0 1 3 2 7
P. Moore 2-5 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 4
T. Murphy III 3-5 3-4 1-1 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 10

Player of the game – Trey Murphy

It wasn’t a great team shooting performance for the Owls, but freshman Trey Murphy found the net several times. He tied a career-best with three three-point shots made. His development from behind the arc is important for this offense — the more nights like this he has, the better.

Up next – UTEP

One road game down, two to go. Rice will continue their longest CUSA road trip of the season on Saturday, heading west to El Paso to take on UTEP. The Miners are 0-3 in CUSA play so far and 5-9 on the season.

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Owls set for big recruiting weekend

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With a few weeks remaining before National Signing Day, Rice football is working to finish off their 2019 recruiting class.

National Signing Day, February 6, is fast approaching. Rice signed 17 players during the early signing period —  a three day stretch in December which seems like so long ago. Now, though, the holidays are over and coaches and players trickling back to South Main.

Soon the final push for the 2019 Rice Football class will begin in earnest. That starts with an extremely important official visit weekend kicking off on Friday. Rice is tentatively scheduled to host nine players including a few signees. Here are five priority targets the Owls are after this weekend:

Brian Chaffin – Center from Stanford (Grad Transfer)

Graduations, injury losses and transfers have left a leadership void on this team. Bringing in the right veterans who understand the culture Bloomgren is trying to create at Rice would be a big catalyst to this program. Chaffin is one such player. An Under Armor All-American out of high school, Chaffin was a top-10 center in the nation. Recruiting by Bloomgren while he was at Stanford, he played in 28 games over the last three seasons along an impressive offensive line.

Reagan Williams – Fullback from Stanford (Grad Transfer)

Williams is another Stanford product with meaningful collegiate experience. The fullback played in 32 games over the past three seasons and could be the second Pac-12 fullback transfer in two years for Bloomgren. Rice added Gio Gentosi last year, who capped off the season with his first career touchdown. Needless to say, the fullback is an important piece in this offense.

Cooper Laake – Defensive Tackle from Austin, Tx

A former Texas Tech commit, Laake’s recruitment opened up when Kliff Kingsbury was replaced in Lubbock by Matt Wells. Laake has offers from Colorado State, Oregon, and Purdue among others. He’s a gamechanger up front. The 6-foot-3, 270-pound defensive tackle would be an even bigger addition in light of recent transfer news at the position.

Jovoni Johnson – Dual Threat QB from Conway, AR

Losing a commitment at the 11th hour wasn’t part of the plan at quarterback, but Rice could rebound nicely with the addition of Jovoni Johnson. Standing 6-foot-5 with some nice wheels, Johnson has intriguing raw talent. He threw for 1,339 yards and ran or 853 yards during his senior season, tallying 30 combined touchdowns. He’s being targeting by Arkansas for a walk-on spot but Rice would prefer he heads south to Texas.

Tom Stewart – Pro Style QB from Harvard (Grad Transfer)

Given the health concerns at quarterback last season it would be prudent for Rice to invest in another veteran arm who’ll be ready to come in and play immediately if needed. Stewart saw action in five games in his first two years at Harvard before appearing in nine contests last fall. He threw for 1,974 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions. His teammate, wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley, is also high on the Owls’ priority list.

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MBB: UTSA game preview

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Rice basketball is riding a two-game winning streak in Conference play. Can the Owls make it three in a row with a win over UTSA on Thursday?

Rice is playing their best basketball of the season at an opportune time. After a slow winter on the court, the Owls have won two in a row. If they want to extend that streak to three they’ll have to win on the road, something that’s been a challenge for head coach Scott Pera’s younger squad.

The Owls have one road win in six chances, downing Rio Grande Valley 75-67 on Dec. 18. Outside of that game, Rice has dropped all their other away games by double-digits. A win against UTSA would give Rice a two-game road winning streak and a third win in conference play.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Radio is available via the Stretch Internet Portal.

UTSA 8-7 (2-0), Last 5 (5-0)

  • W, 67-63 @ UTEP
  • W, 75-60 vs UTEP
  • W, 70-67 vs Southeastern Oklahoma St
  • W, 64-50 @ Texas A&M CC
  • W, 101-77 vs Bethany College

Rice 7-9 (2-1), Last 5 – (3-2)

  • W, 78-66 vs Louisiana Tech
  • W, 73-65 vs Southern Miss
  • L, 103-87 vs North Texas
  • L, 83-66 vs Omaha
  • W, 75-67 @ Rio Grande Valley

UTSA players to watch

It’s been a two-man show for UTSA this season. Sophomore guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace lead the way, averaging 20.5 and 18.4 points per game, respectively. There have been two games of single-digit scoring between them this season. It doesn’t matter who’s matched up against them, both Jackson and Wallace have torched even the better defensive teams they’ve faced in non-conference play.

The problem for UTSA comes with the next man up. After Jackson and Wallace get their 40 points the Roadrunners have struggled to find anyone else who can be relied upon consistently.

Senior forward Nick Allen has had spurts of strong play, but foul trouble and poor shooting nights have been concerns. Junior forward Byron Frohnen leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.8 boards per game.

Rice keys to victory

The Rice defense has been the linchpin to the Owls’ recent success. After allowing three of their previous four opponents to top 80 points, Rice held both Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech in the 60’s — both of those offenses average in the mid-70’s.

Against UTSA the secret might just be limiting the Roadrunners secondary players. Jackson and Wallace have combined for 40+ points, but they’ve yet to score 70 together against any D1 programs. They’re going to need help. If Rice can limit those secondary pieces and keep the two stars from going too ballistic, things should work out well.

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Owls in the NFL – 2018 Wrap up

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Rice football has nine alumni currently active on NFL rosters. Here’s how the NFL Owls fared through the entirety of the 2018 season.

Chris Boswell, K (Steelers) – Boswell made 13 of his 20 field goal attempts this year, missing more than four attempts for the first time in his professional career all the while dealing with injuries which caused him to miss two games. His highlight play came in Week 12, a 2-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal. He ended the season on IR.

Bryce Callahan, CB (Bears) – Callahan set career highs in tackles (45), tackles for a loss (6) and quarterback hits (5), tying personal bests for passes defended (6) and interceptions (2). Like Boswell and several other Owls, he ended his season on IR, missing the Bears’ final three games of the regular season.

Christian Covington, DE (Texans) – Covington had a strong season which came to an end in the Texan’s Wildcard Round loss to the Colts. Highlighted by a 2.5 sack breakout against the Titans in Week 12, Covington finished the year with a career-best 3.5 sacks and eight quarterback hits.

Phillip Gaines, CB (Browns) – Gaines started the year with the Bills before being cut after seven games. He was picked up by the Browns and played in four contests before an injury forced him to miss the remainder of the season. Between both stops he registered 39 tackles and two passes defended.

Vance McDonald, TE (Steelers) – McDonald was an important piece in the Pittsburgh offense this season, finishing third on the team in targets, receiving yards and touchdowns, trailing only Antonio Brown and Vance McDonald. All such marks were career highs.

Andrew Sendejo, S (Vikings) – Sendejo was productive for the Vikings in five weeks before suffering a groin injury that ultimately landed him on injured reserve. He started the first five weeks, registering 27 tackles, 21 of them solo. He was on pace for a career-best 67 solo tackles before his season came to an end.

Jordan Taylor, WR (Broncos) – Taylor never saw the field for Denver this season after hip surgery landed him on the PUP list to start the season. He was able to return to practice in mid-October but was never activated during the season.

Luke Wilson, TE (Lions) – Wilson started eight games for the Lions this year. He caught 13 passes for 87 yards, failing to score for the first time in his six-year NFL career.

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Pete Lembo hired by Memphis

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Pete Lembo will be named the special teams coordinator at Memphis, opening up a vacancy on the Rice football coaching staff.

The Roost can confirm reports that assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Pete Lembo is off to Memphis where he’ll join Mike Norvell’s staff.

After head coaching stints at Lehigh, Elon and Ball State, Lembo served as the special teams coordinator at Maryland for two years prior to his arrival at South Main. In one brief season with the Owls, Lembo produced a special teams unit that ranked as one of the best units in the nation across a variety of aspects.

The Rice offense and defense each had their ups and downs last season, but the special teams stayed consistently strong from start to finish. Rice was led by Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Year, Jack Fox, who will pursue opportunities in the NFL this spring. Hayden Tobola finished third in the nation in field goal percentage (.909). Austin Walter finished eighth in kick off return average (27.3).

The special teams ranked 17th in the nation in overall efficiency, by far the best finish of the Owls’ three phases. Lembo’s handiwork made a positive impact on the totality of the special teams program, which ranked 114th in efficiency the year prior to Lembo’s arrival.

Expect head coach Mike Bloomgren and his staff to work quickly to fill the opening. National Signing Day is only a few weeks away, ideally, the Owls’ staff will be back at full strength before its time to finalize their 2019 class.

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