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Rice Basketball Roundup: MBB and WBB split vs Charlotte

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Both Rice basketball teams were in action against Charlotte on Thursday. Here’s a brief rundown of how the men and women faired and what’s next for both.

Rice Basketball

Rice basketball overcame a slow start and had to hang on late, edging the Charlotte 49ers at home for their fourth consecutive Conference USA win.

It was a slow start for Rice basketball at Tudor Fieldhouse on Thursday evening. The Owls traded blows with the Charlotte 49ers throughout the first half, but neither side led by more than four and ties were the common thread. The Owls shot just 20 percent from three before the break and were dominated on the boards, with Charlotte owning a 19-12 advantage. Still, it was a close game at the half.

Rice found their shooting stroke early in the second half. The Owls exploded with a 21-6 run, taking a 15-point lead and putting the pressure back on Charlotte. They responded, thundering back and cutting the Rice edge to two points with 5:43 to play. With 14 seconds to go, the game was tied.

Familiar with the pressures of a close game late, Rice got the shot they needed down the stretch — this time in the form of free throw from Quincy Olivari — and some key defensive plays from Max Fiedler and others to close it out and earn their fourth consecutive conference win.

Final Box | Rice 65 – Charlotte 63

Key takeaway | Finding a way to score

Three-point shooting has been the Owls’ bread and butter for years under head coach Scott Pera, but Rice has recently added another level of versatility to its arsenal. In an upset win over North Texas, Rice attacked the lane, trusting their superior guards to create opportunities and capitalize.

Against Charlotte, Rice did not intentionally sidestep the long ball like they did against North Texas, but they did fall back on what worked that night, attacking the basket and trusting Travis Evee and Quincy Olivari to win inside.

A bad shooting night no longer guarantees a loss. A slow start no longer necessitates a furious comeback and near-perfect execution. They’re not perfect, but the Owls are adapting, and that’s a crucial development as they move forward.

Up Next: vs UAB – Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2:00 p.m.

Rice Women's Basketball

Rice women’s basketball never found its rhythm against Charlotte on Thursday night, falling to the 49ers on the road.

Winners of three straight, Rice women’s basketball faced a tough road test on Thursday night against Charlotte. The Owls got on the board first with a three from Destiny Jackson, but it would prove to be just one of four triples the team made in the game, shooting a lowly 21.1 percent from deep and underscoring a difficult shooting night away from home.

Both teams were deadlocked at 15-15 after the first quarter. They traded runs in the middle two frames. Charlotte led by as many as nine. Rice’s largest lead was three. Back and forth the teams went with Rice cutting down the large deficit to just one point with about two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Charlotte responded with a three, putting Rice into comeback mode in the final seconds.

Rice would get close a few times, helped by inconsistent free throw shooting from Charlotte, but it would not be enough. Although they got back within three with seven seconds to play, they could not rally on the road.

Final Box | Charlotte 66 – Rice 61

Key takeaway | Free throw woes

Charlotte let Rice hang around in this game because of free throw struggles of their own, but Rice had a legitimate shot to steal a game in which they did not play their best if they’d just made more free throws. Rice shot 65.4 percent from the charity stripe on Thursday, one of their four worst shooting performances from the line this season.

Poor shooting from the field (32.8 percent) and poor free throw shooting are hard to overcome when both droughts happen on the same night, particularly on the road. Thursday just wasn’t their night.

Up Next: at UAB – Saturday, Jan. 28 at 1:00 p.m.

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Conference USA Basketball 2023: Late-January Roundup

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Conference USA Basketball is in the thick of the conference slate. Here’s where each team stands in late January.

Team NET  KenPom Record
Charlotte 93 107 13-7 (4-5)
FAU 18 36 19-1 (9-0)
FIU 249 249 9-11 (3-6)
LA Tech 158 154 11-9 (4-5)
MTSU 107 115 13-7 (6-3)
North Texas 62 70 16-5 (7-3)
Rice 140 147 14-5 (5-3)
UAB 83 77 13-7 (4-5)
UTEP 167 180 11-9 (4-5)
UTSA 324 327 7-14 (1-9)
WKU 180 168 11-9 (3-6)
Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 1/23/2023

Key Storylines

Owls up

Winners of three straight and 13 of their last 16, Rice basketball continues to climb upwards in the standings and the ratings. Their most recent victory, an impressive upset of North Texas in Denton, put the rest of the conference on notice. Their continued ascent to sixth in the league in both Kenpom and NET suggests the Owls’ ascent might have some lasting presence and wasn’t just one good night on the road.

Top of the standings tussle

At this point, the top seed in the conference tournament and potentially NCAA berth is Florida Atlantic’s to lose. The Owls remain undefeated in conference play and the schedule is crossing through the halfway point. Can FAU run the table? It will be tough, starting with a matchup this coming Thursday against Middle Tennesee, currently third in the conference standings.

Middle of the pack movement

The end of January and the beginning of February will serve as time to thin the middle of the pack going forward. Only so many teams will be in the race for a first round conference tournament bye in a few weeks time, making the next few games for each all the more important. Keep your eyes on three intriguing matchups over the next few days: LA Tech vs UAB and Charlotte on Rice on Thursday as well as UAB and Rice on Saturday.

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Rice Football Recruiting: ’24 WR Owen Carter commits to Owls

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The 2024 Rice Football recruiting class has its first commitment. Wide receiver Owen Carter has made his pledge to the Owls.

The calendar hasn’t hit the traditional signing day for the 2023 class yet, but the 2024 Rice Football recruiting class has already added its first pledge. Cy Fair wideout Owen Carter has committed to the Owls.

Carter was part of an early wave of offers the Owls issued early last year. He picked up his offer in August, one of just six offers in the 2024 class which Rice extended before its season kicked off in September.

Rice was the first and only FBS program to offer Carter so far, securing his commitment before the beginning of camps and additional recruiting opportunities would have occurred down the line.

“The belief [the Rice staff] had shown in me was unmatched by any other school I had talked to,” Carter told The Roost. “I believe I can make a positive impact on a program on the rise and felt the energy and brotherhood in the locker room was something I wanted to be a part of.”

Although Carter is its first commitment, the 2024 class is still in its very early stages. The Owls have offered around a dozen players thus far and that number will continue to rise following events like the junior day Rice hosted this past weekend. For now, kicking off January with a commitment from a player this staff coveted from the beginning is a positive start.

Premium: Rice Football Recruiting Offer and Commitment Tracker

There’s a lot to like on tape when it comes to Carter and his skillset. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound pass catcher can turn on the jets when he needs to, but stands out the most for his ability to go up and get the football. Being big is half the battle. Carter displays and ability to use his size and win one-on-one against defenders.

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After slow start to C-USA play, Rice Women’s Basketball is back in gear

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It was a strenuous start to conference play for Rice women’s basketball, but a three-game win streak has the Owls back on track.

The first five conference games Lindsay Edmonds coached in with Rice women’s basketball did not go well. Managing a depleted roster bereft of depth and besieged by injuries contributed to an 0-5 start, culminating in a four-overtime defeat on the road against Charlotte.

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Rice Football 2022 Offensive Player of the Year: Luke McCaffrey

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First-year wide receiver Luke McCaffrey proved to be a game-changer at his new position and was a clear pick for our 2022 Rice Football Offensive Player of the Year.

More than a year ago, amidst introductions of another decorated 2022 Rice football recruiting class, head coach Mike Bloomgren dropped one not-so-subtle nugget regarding one of her current players. Luke McCaffrey, brought to campus to play quarterback, would be playing wide receiver going forward. “It was Luke’s idea,” Bloomgren shared

By the time spring practice came around a few months later, McCaffrey seemed to be taking to the new position like a fish to water. His route running was smooth. His cuts were crisp. And if all else failed, he could beat most every defensive back that lined up against him in a footrace.

“Quarterback was something I loved,” McCaffrey admitted. “But I’m so happy I made the switch.”

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Wide receivers coach Mike Kershaw was just as happy about the switch. It didn’t take more than a few practices in the spring to understand the possibilities McCaffrey as a receiver would bring to the Rice offense. “He’s that puzzle piece that has a lot of different prongs to it. The creativity you can come up with him is endless,” Kershaw said. “He will not stand in one spot.”

Kershaw’s prediction would come true in the months ahead. McCaffrey hauled in nine passes for 46 yards in his first two contests before exploding for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 10 receptions in his third game playing the position. He followed that up with a seven-catch, 121-yard and one-touchdown game the week following against Houston.

As it weren’t clear enough at that moment, McCaffrey was proving to be even more lethal as a pass catcher in space than he was with the ball in his hands under center but even he would testify that his experience as a quarterback helped him fully understand this other side of the offense.

Offensive coordinator Marques Tuiasosopo, who watched the entire development process unfold before his eyes, was amazed. “I do think he’s special,” he said of the Owls’ newfound pass-catching weapon.

McCaffrey would go into the bye week averaging 72.2 yards per game and just shy of a touchdown per contest, with a few near-misses scattered in between. No Rice receiver would average more yards per game during the season than McCaffrey did during that stretch, and it was just the beginning of his career as a wideout.

“He’s playing well and a lot of people will forget, this is his first year playing receiver,” Kershaw mentioned during the Owls’ bye week. “He’s played five games at the position. He’s still learning.”

After a quiet game for the Rice offense against Florida Atlantic, McCaffrey exploded the following weekend against Louisiana Tech. He amassed 202 all-purpose yards, catching 10 passes with two scores through the air and another on the ground. He was unstoppable. It was his third 100-yard receiving game in seven tries.

McCaffrey would score again the following week against Charlotte but left the next contest against UTEP early with an ankle injury. That would essentially sideline him for the remainder of the regular season, one single snap against Western Kentucky notwithstanding.

More: Rice Football Iron Man — Shea Baker

Through the first nine games that McCaffrey was able to start, Rice was 5-4. They would lose the final four contests, with McCaffrey playing in just the bowl game against Southern Miss. 100 percent or not, he still posted seven receptions (all other Rice receivers had eight combined) and 67 yards.

It would be hyperbole to call McCaffrey the silver bullet, but there was no denying he made the Rice football offense work. Three of the Owls’ five worse scoring outputs of the season came without him in the lineup (at WKU, vs UTSA, at North Texas).

The emergence of McCaffrey coincided with an offensive awakening that never seemed to be fully realized. Rice football is better with McCaffrey on the field and the Owls are fortunate he’s got more eligibility to spend catching footballs at South Main.

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