Rice Basketball traded punches with UTSA in the first half but couldn’t keep pace with the Roadrunners’ offense which ran away with the game in the second half.
What began as a defensive slugfest on Sunday night between Rice basketball and UTSA at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, TX was a far cry from the offensive firefight between these same teams that happened at Tudor Fieldhouse in mid-January. Both teams were held below 40 percent in the first half this time around, trading meager leads throughout the opening portion of the contest.
UTSA was the first to amass a two-score lead when Marcus Millender hit the fourth three-pointer of the evening with a little less than three minutes remaining before the halftime buzzer. The Roadrunners snagged the first meaningful a few minutes later, scoring 12 of the final 14 points from the field in the first half to take an eight point advantage into halftime.
More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense
Rice would keep things relatively close for the opening portions of the second half until UTSA started to connect from long range. The Roadrunners’ Primo Spears knocked down a trio of consecutive three pointers to get their advantage to double-digits for the first time. Rice, which had only made 1-of-14 threes to that point, found itself in a sizable hole.
The lead only ballooned from there. Shortly thereafter UTSA took charge in earnest with an emphatic 16-3 run, rendering signs of life from three-point range largely moot. Rice basketball has now lost six of its last seven games.
Final Box | UTSA 84, Rice 56
FINAL | UTSA 84, @RiceMBB 56 pic.twitter.com/dkE3JR4aYA
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) March 3, 2025
Key takeaway | Scouting the Standings
March is officially here and the conference tournament is right around the corner. With the shrinking calendar and the mounting losses, Rice basketball is running out of time to avoid a potential first round game pitting the bottom two teams in the conference standings.
Rice (4-13) and Charlotte (3-13) hold those positions at this point. The Owls had been just above the line, but this loss to UTSA, which moves the Roadrunners just above them in the standings. Rice has one game remaining against Wichita State, capping the Owls’ conference win total at a maximum of five.
If Rice win that game and Tulsa loses to Temple and Wichita State, Rice would escape the opening round game, but the Owls have reached the point of the season where they need help after failing to help themselves often enough during the year.
Up Next: vs Wichita State (Thr, Mar. 6)
