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Conference USA Basketball 2023: Mid-January Roundup

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

Team NET  KenPom Record
Charlotte 95 108 12-6 (3-4)
FAU 12 35 17-1 (7-0)
FIU 243 237 8-10 (2-5)
LA Tech 151 145 10-8 (3-4)
MTSU 125 128 11-7 (4-3)
North Texas 48 63 15-4 (6-2)
Rice 166 184 13-5 (4-3)
UAB 76 70 13-6 (4-4)
UTEP 180 187 10-8 (3-4)
UTSA 319 322 7-12 (1-7)
WKU 160 151 11-7 (3-4)
Kenpom, NET, and standings reflect games as of 1/17/2023

Key Storylines

Above the rest

At 17-1 and the only unbeaten team in conference play. Florida Atlantic deservedly checked in at No. 24 in the AP Poll this week. The Owls own two head-to-head victories over North Texas (6-0 in league games against non-FAU squads) and look to be the class of the conference by a sizable margin. How long that lasts will depend entirely upon their ability to endure the strain of the conference slate.

They’ve got a four-game lead on the middle of the pack, but there’s still plenty of basketball still to be played.

Last Minute Rice

Rice basketball has been anything but boring this season, particularly in the last fortnight which included two buzzer-beaters, three overtime games and a streak of six consecutive games that were within a three-point margin at the end of regulation. Oh, and Max Fiedler just recorded the second triple-double in school history along the way.

Divvying out the middle of the pack

As things currently stand, seven of the 11 teams in the Conference USA Basketball standings are within one game of .500. From Rice to UTEP, there’s a log jam of 3-4 to 4-3 teams with preseason frontrunner UAB smack dab in the middle at 4-4. We’re likely going to see some separation in the next few weeks, but it’s hard to say who will emerge from the chaos at this juncture.

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Rice Football 2022: NFL Owls Wild Card Round Recap

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Rice Football is well represented on 2022 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls from this week and the season as a whole.

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) Wild Card Result
LA Chargers Bryce Callahan (DB)
Christian Covington (DL)		 at Jaguars L, 31-30
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) at 49ers L, 41-23
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) vs Cowboys L, 31-14

Offense

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett was limited with a knee injury in practice this week and was inactive for the Bucs’ Wild Card game against the Cowboys following 10 consecutive regular season starts.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams made his career postseason debut this past weekend with two tackles in the Seahawks’ Wild Card game against the 49ers, including one tackle for a loss.

Bryce Callahan – CB, Chargers

Callahan was third on the team with six tackles in the Chargers’ Wild Card game against the Jaguars. He also added one pass defended. It was the first playoff appearance for the seven year pro.

Christian Covington – DL, Chargers

Covington appeared in four games for the Chargers this season before being placed on Injured Reserve after suffering a pec injury in the Chargers’ Week 10 game against the 49ers. He did not play in the Chargers’ Wild Card game against the Jaguars.

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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Max Fiedler triple-double lifts Rice Basketball past UTSA

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Rice basketball fell behind big, but rallied late with Max Fiedler’s triple-double outing powering the Owls past UTSA on the road.

Following a stretch of games in which Rice basketball had built early leads and tried to hold on, the Owls found themselves in the exact opposite scenario on Monday night at UTSA. The Owls went ice cold from the three-point line while UTSA began the night on a heater. Rice began the night 2-of-12 from long range. UTSA started with makes on 8-of-14 triples. And just like that, an 18-point UTSA lead materialized.

Somehow, Rice thundered back. With 4:02 to play, the Owls trailed by 10. With 1:45 to go, they trailed by six. Finally, with 1.1 on the clock and the Owls nursing a miraculous one-point lead, Rice sent UTSA’s Japhet Medor to the line to shoot two. He made one and overtime commenced.

Cameron Sheffield and Mekhi Mason put Rice in front by five, then Travis Evee and Quincy Olivari followed with a combination of threes and free throws to build a nine-point advantage. They’d win by that margin, capping off one of the more improbable comebacks in the conference this season.

Final Box | Rice 88 – UTSA 79 (OT)

Key takeaway | Triple-Double Max

Max Fiedler has been praised for his ability as a facilitator for years. The veteran big man is one of the best in the game when it comes to getting the ball to his teammates, but cracking the double-digit mark in assists on Monday (11) set up an even more impressive feat. With 13 rebounds and 24 points, Fiedler became the second player in program history to record a triple-double.

The assists came in overtime, part of an incredible performance that sparked the thrilling come-from-behind victory. It’s not uncommon for Fiedler’s contributions on the court to go well beyond what shows up in the box score. Against UTSA, that box score reflected his significance loud and clear.

Up Next: at North Texas – Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7:00 p.m.

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Rice Women’s Basketball rallies to beat UTSA

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Rice women’s basketball fought through some early shooting woes and exploded from the three-point line to beat UTSA.

Rice women’s basketball was clearly looking for an early three-point bonanza against UTSA but the expected fireworks fizzled early on. The Owls shot a miserable 1-for-12 on three-pointers in the first quarter alone, accounting for nearly seventy percent of their average of 18.6 three-point attempts for the game in the first 10 minutes as they fell behind 20-12.

Despite falling behind, Rice did not abandon the game plan. They took 10 more three-pointers in the second quarter, this time hitting four of them, and rallied to retake the lead in the final minute before halftime.  After trailing by as many as 11, the Owls were right back in the mix at the break.

Both teams traded blows in the third before Rice appeared to have opened up a commanding fourth quarter lead, going up 11 points on a three by Katelyn Crosthwait with 3:19 to play. UTSA would claw back to within two points in the final 30 seconds, but Rice did enough to hang on for the win.

Final Box | Rice 78 – UTSA 76

Key takeaway |  Three-point throwdown

Head coach Lindsay Edmonds and her staff had noticed UTSA play more zone in a recent game and was ready to act on it should the Roadrunners do something similar against the Owls on Monday. They did, and the Owls took to the air.

Even with some early misses, Edmonds stayed the course, despite turning to the scorer’s table at one point to check how many threes they had taken to that point — 14 — “Oh my goodness,” was her only reply.

“A lot of our threes were coming from three of our best three-point shooters,” she said afterward. “Those are what those players do, So I have no problems with them taking good shots.”

Edmonds did admit the quality of shot improved as the team entered the heart of the second quarter, moving the ball more effectively and playing inside out. That set up leading scorer Katelyn Crosthwait for a massive evening. She connected on 7-of-14 threes, scoring a team-high 23 points.

“Threes are my thing. That’s what I rep every single off day,” Crosthwait said win a grin.

Up Next: vs North Texas – Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7:00 p.m.

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Rice Basketball Roundup: MBB and WBB vs UTEP

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

Rice Basketball

Rice basketball fended off an early UTEP run then made a thriller at the buzzer to notch their first conference home win of the season.

After failing to hold sizable leads in previous games, Rice basketball was handed a very different game script on Saturday against UTEP. The game began with a modest back and forth before a 13-3 UTEP run late in the first half put Rice into a perilous position. Quincy Olivari quickly keyed an 11-2 Rice spurt to return the game back to near level in the waning minutes of the first half.

Already survivors of an early scare, Rice entered the second half motivated. Olivari and Travis Evee strung together a trio of three-pointers and a few more buckets, a 13-0 run, which put Rice back in front for the first time since the 11:25 mark in the first half.

It wouldn’t be easy, though. UTEP took the lead on a free throw with six seconds to play. Then Evee took the ball down the court and put one up at the buzzer, watching it fall through the net for the game-winner.

Final Box | Rice 83 – UTEP 82

Key takeaway | In the hunt

Entering Saturday, eight of the 11 teams in Conference USA were within one game of .500 in league play, with most hovering somewhere between 2-3 and 3-3. If Rice basketball had hopes of contending for an upper-half finish in the conference they needed to avoid falling too far in the race early on in the season. They did that this weekend, earning an important win to move back to .500 in league play.

The Owls were one of only two teams in the conference without a home win in league play prior to this important victory. Head coach Scott Pera is quick to preach the significance of taking care of home court, and they achieved that today.

Up Next: at UTSA – Monday, Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m.

Rice Women's Basketball

Rice women’s basketball was able to build a lead and maintain it, taking down UTEP on the road for their second conference win.

On New Year’s Eve, Rice women’s basketball beat UTEP to stop a losing skid. On Saturday, they did it again, taking down the Miners for the second time this season. The game was tight early, with the Owls holding small leads in the first and second quarters with both teams shooting well early on. Things began to shift in the third quarter when the Rice defensive effort was cranked up to another level.

UTEP was held to 7.1 percent shooting in the third frame, making just one shot from the field. That stingy defense, combined with a 50 percent shooting mark of their own from the floor, helped Rice open up an 18-point advantage which proved too big for the Miners to climb out of, even with a stronger fourth quarter.

“I felt we imposed our will for 40 minutes. We really executed the defensive gameplan and we then we had a really balanced attack on the offensive end,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. ” You saw a lot of effort and energy, but most importantly, I just liked our focus.”

Final Box | Rice 73 – UTEP 62

Key takeaway | Confidence builder

With the loss, UTEP falls to 4-2 in conference play, undefeated in games against all other foes except for the Rice Owls. The win was important, if for no other reason that to soothe any anxieties associated with a prolonged losing streak. But more than that, it was a win against a very good conference foe.

UTEP is second in the conference standings right now and Rice has already beaten the Miners twice. Middle Tennessee (6-0) is playing exceptional basketball right now, but everyone else in the conference is on the Owls’ level — as things currently stand — and we’ve seen this team hang with great teams over the past year and a half.

Every team has tough stretches of its season for one reason or another. Notching a second win against this team proves that this Rice women’s basketball squad can be a real force if they’re clicking at the right time.

Up Next: vs UTSA – Monday, Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m.

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