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Rice Basketball cruises past St. Thomas in opener

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Rice basketball took care of business in their season opener, cruising past St. Thomas to improve to 1-0 in their inaugural campaign as AAC members.

As it has for the past several years, the 2023-2024 Rice Basketball season began with Max Fiedler at midcourt going up for the ball before distributing it to his teammates. Fiedler won the tip, dished it to Anthony Seldon who hit a jumper to give Rice an early lead. The problem, however, was that it did not last long.

Initially ahead 4-0, Rice allowed seven unanswered points from St. Thomas to fall behind before the first media timeout. Whether it was rust or nerves, it didn’t last long.

“It was good to get their attention a little bit, right? This is an older group. Max [Fiedler] and Travis [Evee] aren’t going to panic,” Pera said of that brief deficit. “Adversity is going to be a good thing for us.”

From then on, the rout was on. Rice took care of the basketball, committing zero turnovers in the first half and just five total turnovers in the game. Combine that with a 52.8 percent shooting performance from the floor and 14 made threes made for easy work of their intra-city foe.

“Really fun to get out there and play one that counts,” head coach Scott Pera said.

Max Fiedler finished with a double-double, notching 16 points and 11 boards. That’s come to be expected at this point. Seeing a strong debut from the likes of Sam Alajiki (who went a perfect 5-for-5 from three) and Noah Shelby (14 points) was a nice bonus.

Final Box | Rice 101 – St. Thomas 57

What They’re Saying

“I come into every game the same way. I’m trying to guard first and rebound and then whatever comes on the offensive end comes. When the ball got to me early, I made a few shots. It kept flowing and I felt good about it, so I just kept shooting the ball.” – Sam Alajiki

Key takeaway | Depth will be key

Absent a near-historic defensive performance like the Rice women’s basketball team was able to display on Monday night, there was never going to be too much to draw on from this game against St. Thomas. The bigger, more physical and more talented Owls handled their visitors with relative ease, as would have been expected in a matchup like this. More games are coming to test the defense.

No, the most compelling storyline from Tuesday night’s victory was the depth Rice was able to put onto the court and when they used it. Emptying the benches late in the second half of a runaway game doesn’t take much guts. Pera didn’t wait for the curtain call, though, he rotated through 10 players in the first half alone, giving non-trivial minutes to bench assets he intends to rely on more heavily this season.

“We had stretched of playing really good and I think what you saw, you saw the depth tonight. I thought Alem and Sam really sparked us in the first half and blew the game open,” Pera said.

Everyone that was healthy played. 13 different players scored. Seven non-starters played at least seven minutes. It was everything you could have hoped to see from a bench in a season opener. Rice is going to need these guys as the season progresses. They showed out well.

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Rice Football 2023: UTSA presser quotes and depth chart

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Rice football visits UTSA this week. Here’s what Mike Bloomgren had to say about the matchup at hand and a few depth chart notes.

Head coach Mike Bloomgren and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the SMU game and looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with UTSA.

Listen Now: The Roost Pod – Breaking down Rice Football vs SMU

We touch on those items, then dig into the Rice football depth chart and what the team looks like heading into the weekend. First, the quotes:

Press Conference Quotes

“There was the holding call that was crtiical. There were a couple fouls on defense that kept drives alive and that were after the whistle type plays that are just things that we have to clean up if we want to be a championship level football team. When the margins are so small, you gotta have the discipline to not have the self inflicted wounds.”– Mike Bloomgren on what the team learned from the SMU game

“I thought our win against Houston was phenomenal. I thought that was a great step. Now, how do we do it in our conference against the top teams in our conference? We played three [great teams] in a row. How do we find a way to make that play in the fourth quarter? Because we’re pushing teams to deep water. We’re doing things, we’ve never been able to do and certainly wouldn’t be able to do in the past but they starting quarterback going down. ” – Mike Bloomgren on the growth of the team

“They play a three-four defense that’s going to build a wall. And they make everything incredibly hard to run the ball and then they play it top down with their cover four behind it. When you do that, it hard for an offense. Now their offense, they’re going to be that downhill run team and they’re going to take some shots. They’re going to line up and have Frank [Harris] just make plays. ” – Mike Bloomgren on on UTSA

“The biggest thing for me is just that chemistry. I feel like chemistry is a big thing between quarterbacks and receivers and I feel like I got that pretty early with Chase [Jenkins] and AJ [Padgett is from my area, so we were throwing in the summer when we weren’t up here. So we definitely got some chemistry in that, and just having guys who can throw the ball back there, like they can, it’s just great. It’s great to have. ” – Wide receiver Landon Ransom on his relationship with the Rice quarterbacks

“I can’t tell you how many conversations Daveon [Hook] and I have had about — ‘When we’re seniors, when we’re playing, this is how we’re going to do it.’ It’s really cool to be on the field with Daveon and Plae [Wyatt], Plae’s a character too. Getting to be on the field with him and his energy, it’s awesome, especially just thinking back to a year ago when me and Daveon were on scout team just doing our best to wreck havoc for the offensive guys. Now being able to do it in an actual game, it’s really a blessing and I feel really lucky to be able to be on the field with them.” – Safety Tyson Flowers on the comradery in the secondary 

Depth Chart

Rice Football

Depth Chart Notes

The offensive depth chart doesn’t look any different this week, with a very important caveat. The status of JT Daniels for this game is not certain, “doubtful” in Bloomgren’s own words. Make sure you read our Thursday practice report, reserved for subscribers, for the latest on the Rice football quarterback situation heading into the UTSA game.

As for the defense, the depth chart does have a few changes, most notably the removal of Chris Conti after he suffered an injury prior to last Saturday’s game against SMU. Taking his place at the starting linebacker spot is DJ Arkansas, who had already been being utilized in a few packages over the past few weeks.

Demone Green has supplanted Van Heitmann as the primary backup to Coleman Coco and Jsoh Pearcy remains listed atop the other side. We’ll have more updates on his status later in the week as well. Ditto for the free safety spot, where Gabe Taylor has been given an OR designation to reflect his questionable availability.

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Rice Football Recruiting Update: Adding on to 2024

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There’s been a lot of action on the Rice football recruiting front in recent weeks. Here’s the latest on the Owls’ new additions.

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Rice Football 2023: NFL Owls Week 9 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2023 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 9.

There are former Rice football players scattered across the NFL. Stay tuned each week for their game results and notables from each player.

Team NFL Owl(s) This Week Result Next Week
Denver Broncos Elijah Garcia (DL)  — BYE —  — at Bills (MNF)
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P)  — BYE —  — at Chargers
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) at Panthers W, 27-13 at Patriots
Los Angeles Rams Austin Trammell (WR) at Packers L, 20-3  — BYE —
New England Patriots Calvin Anderson (OL) vs Commanders L, 20-17 vs Colts
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) vs Titans W, 20-16 vs Packers
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) at Ravens L, 37-3 vs Commanders
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) vs Texans L, 39-37 vs Titans

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Patriots

Anderson was inactive for the Patriots’ Week 9 game against the Commanders.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson returned to the field after missing the last two weeks with a concussion. He was targeted twice this week but did not record any receptions.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett was active but did not play in the Bucs’ Week 9 game against the Texans.

Austin Trammell – WR, Rams

Trammel was busy on Sunday, returning three punts, one kick return and recording a six yard reception.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams was inactive for the Seahawks Week 9 game against the Ravens.

Elijah Garcia – DL, Broncos

Garcia and the Broncos were on bye in Week 9.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox and the Lions were on bye in Week 9.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell was perfect once again this week, delivering a pair of short field goals and two extra points in the Steelers’ Thursday Night Football victory over the Titans.

More Owls in the NFL

From practice squads to current free agents, there are other Owls on the cusp of returning to active rosters. Find more detail on current contractual agreements and former Rice football players waiting for their next opportunity here.

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Rice Women’s Basketball silences HCU in historic defensive performance

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Rice women’s basketball pitched a near-perfect defensive performance in their season opener against HCU, holding the Huskies to 38 points in the win.

The crowd filling the lower bowl of Tudor Fieldhouse hadn’t even had time to exhale from their raucous cheering at the opening tip before Rice Women’s Basketball had its first lead of the 2023-2024 season. Malia Fisher won the tip, got the ball to Destiny Jackson and watched as Owls’ senior leader drained a three to put Rice in front.

Those three points by themselves would nearly be enough to preserve the Owls’ advantage in the first half. Rice held Houston Christian to a meager 6.5 percent shooting mark from the field, holding the visiting Huskies to just five first half points, a school record.

“It’s definitely something that we’ve worked really hard on,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said of her team’s defensive performance, mentioning her team’s experience in her system. “They know exactly what I want and they know what the expectations are.”

It would prove to be the start of a historic defensive performance for the Owls. Just three times in the past 10 seasons had Rice held an opponent to fewer than 40 points. The program record is 28 points, set against Prairie View A&M in 1994. To even be in that conversation is impressive.

Houston Christian entered the fourth quarter with just 17 total points. With history in reach, Rice limited HCU to just 21 more, posting a 70-38 win in their season opener.

Rice women’s basketball didn’t secure a program-best defensive performance — at least not according to the record books — but Edmonds and company will take the win, soak in the strong defensive showing and get to work on tightening up the mistakes.

“Winning is hard. The expectations are set really high for this team and we’re striving for perfection,” Edmonds said. “I feel like tonight we showed in spurts who we are, but I don’t think we played a 40-minute game of Rice women’s basketball. I think there’s definitely some areas that we can clean up and improve in, but [we’re] 1-0 to start the season and I’m proud of them for that.”

Final Box | Rice 70 – HCU 38

Key takeaway | Don’t worry about the offense

Counting the exhibition, this was just the second game this team has played together against people wearing different color jerseys. If you’re going to have some growing pains, it’s best to get them out of the way against opponents the caliber of HCU before getting to the meat of the nonconference schedule — and that is coming — but for now, Rice is happy to take the win and plenty of teaching material.

The offense was never a serious concern for this program under Edmonds, not in the slightest. Rice led Conference USA in field goal percentage last season and would have ranked second by a few percentage points to AAC-leading USF. This team can shoot. The scoring will come.

“There’s going to be nights when the shot doesn’t fall,” Edmonds said. “But the two things that we can control is our defensive intensity and our rebounding effort.”

Rice won the battle of the boards 57 to 32. The defensive performance speaks for itself.

Scoring is volatile. Defense is more absolute. Either you can defend at a high level or you can’t. Monday’s debut game against Houston Christian suggests Rice might be pretty good in that respect. The baskets will come.

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