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Rice Football: Behind enemy lines with a Memphis Insider

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Memphis is next up on the 2024 Rice football schedule so we’re going behind enemy lines with Tigers’ insider John Maddox from Rivals’ Tiger Sports Report.

Tigers’ insider John Maddox was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions about the upcoming matchup between Rice Football and Memphis. The answers below should shed some light on the Owls’ upcoming opponent.

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Rice Football 2024: Memphis Game Week Practice Report

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Rice football returned to the field with one focus: beating Memphis. Here’s what we learned from the Owls at practice this week.

Once again, it was hard to find space around the Rice football facility this week that didn’t have a “Beat Memphis” sign on full display. The Owls implemented a similar tactic against Navy last week and found success. Work has been put in the field, too. Here’s where the team stands prior to the Memphis game this weekend.

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For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

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Rice Basketball rides strong defensive start over FIU in season opener

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Rice Basketball head coach Rob Lanier is 1-0. The Owls’ stingy defense and clutch shooting powered them past FIU in their home opener.

Shortly after winning the opening tip, Caden Powell knocked down the first basket of the Rob Lanier era for Rice basketball. The 6-foot-10 transfer from Wyoming had five straight points to kickstart the Owls’ scoring which would come from a host of different players, still coalescing into the team they hope to be.

Reaching that point will require growth that can only be attained through court time against others who are not sporting blue and gray. No sooner had the Owls taken the lead did they see it slip away, victims of an 8-0 FIU run that offered the team their first true test which they passed quickly, rallying back with a 10-0 spurt of their own soon after to retake the lead. The game was on.

Tied at 21, the Owls leaned on a dominant defensive effort to create some separation. Rice outscored FIU 17-6 in the final seven minutes of the first half, holding their opponents to just 29 percent shooting in the first frame.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

While the defense held the line, the offense started to heat up. An 11-point halftime lead for the Owls grew to as many as 17 in the second stanza, providing plenty of breathing room when FIU hit threes on the ensuing three possessions. The margin stayed tight from that point onward.

Powell, who registered a double-double with a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds, made his presence felt again down the stretch, scoring each of the Owls’ last three field goals before both teams gave way to foul shots.

“Just get one kill, gotta get three stops in a row. Gotta seal the deal, just take care of the ball,” he said of the team’s focus in those final minutes. “Once we get those stops just take care of the ball and we’ll be good.”

Powell finished off his double-double and gave way to free throw attempts for his teammates. Rice shot 38 free throws, the most attempts at the stripe for the program since Nov. 22, 2019, against Milwaukee. Had the team been more efficient from the line — they made just 23 of those shots (61 percent) — this one could have been a blowout.

“We really couldn’t find an offensive rhythm. We weren’t moving the ball. We weren’t doing what we practice, offensively. We look scattered and a little hot potato there. Just stagnant,” head coach Rob Lanier summarized afterward. “Which is a good sign that we still scored 77 points and we played terrible on offense, from an execution standpoint and we missed a lot of free throws. So the pace wasn’t bad, but the efficiency wasn’t what we aspired to.”

Final Box | Rice 77, FIU 70

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Real, genuine defense, for a half

Playing great defense was something Lanier banged the table for all offseason. He guaranteed his teams would play with an intensity on that side of the ball that would be noticed. Early on, those proclamations seemed like premonitions. Rice held FIU to 28 percent shooting in the first half, suffocating their offense.

FIU shot 36.5 percent for the game, but it was a second-half split which included 50 percent from three that proved the most vexing.

“It’s a process,” Lanier said. “They’re a well-coached team. They’re going to make some shots, whatever. But the resistance wasn’t as great, the feeling, determination on defense to continuously get stops. We allowed the scoreboard to dictate our intensity. That’s part of our growth.”

Lanier noted there were some first-game jitters, calling parts of the operation “choppy”, but when asked if there was one thing about this game he’d like to replicate moving forward, his answer came with a grin: “the outcome”.

Up Next: Florida State (Sat)

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Rice Football 2024: Memphis presser quotes and depth chart

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Next up for Rice football: Memphis. Here’s what interim head coach Pete Alamar had to say about the matchup and a few depth chart notes.

Interim head coach Pete Alamar and a set of players met with the media for their customary weekly availability. They recapped the Navy game and then looked ahead at their upcoming matchup with Memphis.

More: Game Preview: Rice Football vs Memphis

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

“It makes the next week a lot more fun I know that. It was great to celeberate as a team in the locker room afterward and to see the smiles on everyone’s faces, mine included. You want to take that momentum and you want it to propel you into the next week and go play, and play hard. I think anytime you play well there’s a sense of belief in your ability to go do it again. I think that’s obviously what you’d hope the reaction is. To be rewarded for your hard work is always a great thing. They were rewarded for their hard work. We’ll take that into this week and see if we can’t do it again.” – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on the impacy of the Navy win

“You’ve got a guy that’s been there for four years, okay… He’s the only FBS starter that’s stayed at the same school [for four years]. Everybody else, the longterm starters in FBS, have all bounced around. This guy stayed right there. The leadership, the confidence he has in running the offense, being able to keep the play alive while still focusing his eyes down field… His ability to keep the play alive and still scan the field downfield and find receivers is a great trait.” – Interim head coach Pete Alamar on Memphis quarterback Seth Henningan

“Fast. Physical. Want to play on your side of the line of scrimmage. They’ll feed off their energy up front. I think their front creates a lot of big plays for them, creates energy. And then you’ve got secondary that can run with anybody. No matter how you line them up, if they can do that then that creates a challenge for you.”– Interim head coach Pete Alamar on the Memphis defense

“I think we did well. There’s also some things left out there, too, a couple missed tackles, a couple of plays where we lacked some eye discipline. I still think we have a lot on the table. Our coaches hold us accontable every week. We know our goal is to be the best defense in the country and I think we’re making steps towards their goal but we haven’t had that perfect game yet and that’s the scariest part. I think we have so much more we can do as a defense.” – Safety Peyton Stevenson of the play of the defense 

“It doesn’t really change, who our opponent is. Our opponent is Memphis this week, so we’re focused on them and picking those guys apart however we can. I know that our coaches are going to come up with a good plan and EJ [Warner] is going to have something for us to do. Obviously we go into every game feeling confident. That’s what it’s about.” – Wide receiver Thai Bowman on the team’s approach against Memphis

Depth Chart

Rice Football

Depth Chart Notes

There were no official depth chart changes this week, which is understandable given the short week and the changes the program has gone through in recent weeks. That said, there are a few differences between the two-deep above and the lineup Rice football has trotted out in practice this week as they prepare for Memphis.

If you haven’t yet, subscribe on Patreon to get access to our practice notes later in the week as well as a behind-enemy-lines report from folks who know the Memphis program well.

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Rice Women’s Basketball drops opener to South Dakota State

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Rice Women’s Basketball built an early lead but couldn’t close things out, falling to South Dakota State in their home opener.

The depth of the 2024-2025 Rice women’s basketball roster has been a talking point for months. Even without graduated point guard Destiny Jackson, who was in attendance Monday to participate in the pre-game ring ceremony and AAC Championship banner unveiling, and Malia Fisher, who was held out for health reasons, the Owls seemed unflappable in the early goings.

Dominique Ennis paced the team in scoring, delivering a pair of early three-pointers as Rice fought for an early lead. The first test would come when Sussy Ngulefac picked up an early foul, leaving the game a few minutes later and kicking off that ballyhooed deep rotation.

With Ngulefac on the bench, Victoria Flores and Aniah Alexis made their Rice debuts. Shelby Hayes came through with six first half boards, leading all players. When Ngulefac returned the Owls’ lead had grown to seven.

More: Rice Women’s Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

Ngulefac made her presence felt in earnest at the start of the third quarter, scoring five of the Owls’ first seven points to give Rice its first double-digit lead. A dominant edge on the boards at that point put the home team in position for a resume-boosting win, but when the fourth quarter arrived, so too did a boisterous South Dakota State comeback.

After being held to no more than 15 points in each of the first three frames the Jackrabbits exploded for 26 points in the fourth, erasing a 13-point Rice advantage. South Dakota State took its first lead since the opening quarter with less than two to go in regulation. A hurried last-second shot was off the mark as the Owls saw their first game slip away.

“We didn’t hit shots early on in the fourth quarter and it snowballed into our defensive intensity,” head coach Lindsay Edmonds said. “When we’re hitting shots, we defend really, really, really well. And when we’re not hitting shots, we’re thinking about the shots that we didn’t hit.”

Those shots they didn’t hit cost the Owls a big non-conference win. Shorthanded or not, this a problem Rice women’s basketball has to figure out if they’re going to have the sort of season they’re expecting on South Main.

Final Box | South Dakota State 65 – Rice 63

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | One-two punch

As successful as last season was for Rice Women’s Basketball, it was far from a smooth ride. The Owls had to make their run through the AAC Tournament as a double-digit seed, partly because they were seemingly hardly ever at full strength. Ngulefac missed the early portions of the season with injuries, coming into her own down the stretch when the team needed her most.

Ngulefac’s emergence was essential because it coincided with Hayes’ injury, which ended her season prematurely. Ngulefac played 19 of the Owls’ 34 games. Hayes played 18. Getting both on the court in the same game was a rarity. Those in attendance at Tudor Fieldhouse on Monday night saw how impactful that tandem can be when operating at their respective peaks.

“I feel like Sussy and Shelby showed up in a big way tonight and won that battle,” Edmonds said. “One came in and did their job and the next one came in and did their job. They did a really good job together being a one-two punch. That was good to see.”

Hayes and Ngulefac each reached double figures, combining for 23 points and 12 rebounds.

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