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Linebacker Myron Morrison commits to Owls

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The 2019 Rice football recruiting class picked up its first addition after the early signing period with the commitment of linebacker Myron Morrison.

Rice signed 17 players in the early signing period in mid-December, leaving room for a handful of additional players slated to sign on National Signing Day. The coaching staff has been hard at work, hosting several key targets as soon as the dead period ended on January 11. Linebacker Myron Morrison, one of those targets who was on campus this weekend. He received an offer on Sunday and has committed to Rice.

The 6-foot-2, 193-pound outside linebacker won’t travel far from home to play for the Owls next season. The soon-to-be graduate of Atascocita High School is staying local, passing over offers from Colorado State and Air Force as well as fellow Houston-based schools Texas Southern and HBU.

Morrison will fit in nicely between safety Hunter Henry and defensive tackle Izeya Floyd, two of his future teammates who were with him on campus this weekend.

Building the family atmosphere and showcasing the culture of the Rice program continues to be a mainstay in the Rice recruiting process. Just about every official weekend features a mix of current commits, current players and heavy involvement by the staff. The results so far have been extremely promising.

Morrison joins Garrett Braden as the only linebackers in the 2019 class. Barring the emergence of a must-have type of player, the Owls will most likely stand pat with these two at the position this go around. They’ve got reason to be content. Braden is a winner and Morrison can deliver a hefty blow. Bringing in players who play with physicality has been a focal point of this offseason. Morrison certainly fits the bill.

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WBB: Owls own only perfect record in CUSA West

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Everything is going the right way for Rice women’s basketball in 2019 as the Owls enter the heart of their Conference USA schedule.

Rice women’s basketball dropped their first two games of the season. They’ve since won 13 of their next 14 games, thoroughly outclassing their Conference USA opponents. Rice sits at 13-3 with a perfect 4-0 record in conference play, 16 games into their 28 game regular season schedule.

It’s been a team effort the whole way. As good as Rice has been with the ball in their hands, their defense has been even better. Rice ranks second in scoring defense allowing a meager 48.2 points per game in their conference games to date. They allow the second-fewest rebounds per game and own the third-best assist to turnover ratio. The Owls’ opponents aren’t getting good shots and when they miss they’re not getting many extra chances.

Scoring leader Erica Ogwumike continues to be the consistent spark who moves the offense along, but she’s had plenty of help. Nancy Mulkey is converting on 61.7 percent of her field goals and Jasmine Smith is fourth in CUSA with 20 assists in conference play.

Meanwhile, Nicole Iademarco has secured her space in the Rice record books. Iademarco broke the Rice women’s basketball three-point scoring record against UTSA, passing former teammate Maya Hawkins. The senior tacked on a few more long balls against UTEP on Saturday. She’s now drained 170 three-point shots with plenty of time to add to her own record before the season is through.

Last 4

  • W, 58-47 at Southern Miss
  • W, 61-51 at Louisiana Tech
  • W, 85-54 vs UTSA
  • W, 76-42 vs UTEP

Up Next

The end of January sets up to be extremely important for Rice. The Owls stand atop the Conference USA standings but will play three of the next four (North Texas, Middle Tennessee, UAB) before the end of the month. Wins in those games, plus another against Western Kentucky in mid-February could cement this team as clear front-runners going into the conference tournament.

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MBB: Buzzer beater sends UTEP over Owls

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After making a big shot of their own, Rice basketball lost a heartbreaker on a buzzer-beating three point shot, falling to UTEP on the road.

Trey Murphy hit a three-point shot in the final second of the game and the Don Haskins Center let out a noticeable gasp. The Owls had led for the vast majority of the 39 minutes and 59 seconds, but UTEP had stormed back from a 17-point hole to retake the lead as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

Murphy’s shot gave Rice a 64-63 advantage — the game clock read 0.6 seconds. After consulting the monitor the officials put 1.5 seconds on the clock and handed the ball back for UTEP. No problem, Quentin Millora-Brown deflected the in bounds pass and the buzzer rang.

Not so fast. 0.5 seconds was put back on the clock this time. Not enough to do much, but apparently just enough time for Jordan Lathon to knock down a shot, sending UTEP over Rice at the buzzer, 65-64.

The loss is tough to swallow for Rice, who fall to 2-3 in conference play after winning two straight games to start out the New Year. Ako Adams missed a good portion of the game with an injury. Having him on the court down the stretch would have been huge. Instead, UTEP picks up their first conference win of the season.

The Box

PLAYER FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
J. Williams 6-13 3-6 0-2 3 8 11 1 0 2 2 4 15
Q. Millora-Brown 1-2 0-0 0-1 3 1 4 3 1 0 2 2 2
D. Peterson 2-5 2-3 0-0 1 2 3 0 0 0 1 1 6
C. Mullins 4-13 1-4 1-1 0 1 1 3 2 0 2 1 10
A. Adams 2-8 2-7 2-4 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 3 8
R. Martin 4-8 2-4 4-5 3 9 12 1 1 0 3 2 14
J. Parrish 0-4 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 0 0 0 2 4 0
T. Murphy 3-7 3-6 0-0 1 3 4 0 2 1 0 2 9

Player of the game – Robert Martin

Rice has used three different starting lineups this season; none have included freshman forward Robert Martin. That hasn’t stopped Martin from becoming a tremendous asset for the Owls off the bench. He picked up his second double-double of the season against UTEP, snagging 12 boards and scoring a team-high 14 points. He also added a steal and an assist.

Up next – At North Texas

The lone conference game Rice played before the New Year came on Dec. 29 against North Texas. The 12-1 Mean Green had compiled the best non-conference record among CUSA squads. They were able to take down the Owls 103-87, but the game was closer than the final score indicates. Rice held an 11-point lead midway through the first half before a cold shooting streak opened the doors for North Texas to pull away.

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Breaking down the 2019 football schedule

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The 2019 Rice Football schedule has been finalized and published. Here are three takeaways from the Owls’ upcoming slate.

Date Opponent Location
Fri, Aug 30, @ Army West Point, NY
Sat, Sep 7, Wake Forest Rice Stadium
Sat, Sep 14, Texas NRG Stadium
Sat, Sep 21, Baylor Rice Stadium
Sat, Sep 28, Louisiana Tech Rice Stadium
Sat, Oct 5, @ UAB Birmingham, AL
Sat, Oct 19, @ UTSA San Antonio, TX
Sat, Oct 26, Southern Miss Rice Stadium
Sat, Nov 2, Marshall Rice Stadium
Sat, Nov 16, @ Middle Tennessee Murfreesboro, TN
Sat, Nov 23, North Texas Rice Stadium
Sat, Nov 30, @ UTEP El Paso, TX

1. Two bye weeks

You’re not reading that incorrectly, Rice has two off weeks (Oct. 12 and Nov. 9). That’s true of every team in college football this year. The calendar falls a bit differently with a later Thanksgiving. To make sure everything is accounted for the season is stretching just a bit. There will be the same amount of games, but it will be spread over one more weekend. College football fans will be just fine with that arrangement.

2. Home cooking

Rice starts 2019 on the road against Army, but returns for a four-game homestand. That’s two games longer than the Owls’ longest stretch of home games in 2018 and the longest stretch of home games since 1986 — Rice hosted Lamar, SMU, Southwest Texas and Texas.

3. Tough sledding

Army finished No. 19 in the final AP Top 25 poll of 2018. Texas finished No. 9. Nine of the Owls’ 12 opponents went to a bowl game last season. Rice plays both UAB and Middle Tennessee, the two championship game representatives from Conference USA. Outside of a large chunk of games at home, you couldn’t draw up a road which was that much more challenging.

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MBB: Owls drop first CUSA road tilt to UTSA

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Rice basketball saw their conference winning streak come to an end, falling on the road to UTSA by a final score of 95-79.

The assignment coming into this game for Rice was relatively straightforward. Guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace came in averaging nearly 40 points per game. They were going to score — the Owls just needed to make sure the other pieces of the Roadrunner offense were limited. Things did not go according to plan on that front.

Jackson and Wallace scored 40-flat, but Giovanni De Nicolao notched 19 points and Nick Allen put up 20 points, both season highs. Those four scored 86 of the Roadrunners 75 points, more than enough to cover a respectable shooting night from Rice,

The Owls shot 44.4 percent from the field, but only 25 percent from three. Nine different players both scored and registered at least one rebound. Outside of an off night from Jack Williams, who was coming off back-to-back double-doubles, the rest of the offense played well enough. It was defense, once again, that cost them against the Roadrunners.

UTSA topped 90 points in two other contests this season, wins over Mid-American Christian and Bethany College. Their previous scoring high in Conference USA was 75.

The Box

Player FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
J. Williams 2-9 1-3 2-2 1 6 7 0 1 2 1 3 7
Q. Millora-Brown 7-9 0-0 0-0 4 4 8 0 0 1 1 1 14
D. Peterson 1-5 0-2 2-4 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4
C. Mullins 6-12 0-5 2-5 2 1 3 4 0 1 5 1 14
A. Adams 3-6 2-5 2-2 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 4 10
R. Martin 2-6 0-4 5-6 0 4 4 3 2 0 2 3 9
T. Harrison 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
J. Parrish 2-5 0-0 3-4 1 3 4 2 0 1 3 2 7
P. Moore 2-5 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 4
T. Murphy III 3-5 3-4 1-1 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 10

Player of the game – Trey Murphy

It wasn’t a great team shooting performance for the Owls, but freshman Trey Murphy found the net several times. He tied a career-best with three three-point shots made. His development from behind the arc is important for this offense — the more nights like this he has, the better.

Up next – UTEP

One road game down, two to go. Rice will continue their longest CUSA road trip of the season on Saturday, heading west to El Paso to take on UTEP. The Miners are 0-3 in CUSA play so far and 5-9 on the season.

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