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Rice Basketball drops first-ever AAC tilt to Tulane

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The shooting woes continued for Rice basketball who dropped its American Conference opener on the road against Tulane on Wednesday night.

Playing in their first-ever AAC game, Rice basketball looked every bit the part in the opening minutes against the Tulane Green Wave. The Owls got to the line, made their free throw shots, knocked down a big three and otherwise went toe-to-toe with a Tulane squad that had won seven of eight on their home court so far this season. Then things went sideways.

The three ball faded away quickly. The foul trips stopped. But Tulane just kept scoring. A five-point game with a little under 13 minutes to play in the first half ballooned into a double-digit deficit in the blink of an eye. Then Rice was down by 14. Then 18. Rice was held to 25 percent shooting from the floor in the first half as the deficit continued to grow.

When Rice did manage to string a few baskets together, things got interesting, albeit in brief flashes. Rice got the game back within seven points early in the seven half. Tulane lengthened their advantage only for Rice to sneak back within nine points via a 7-0 run midway through the half. The Owls wouldn’t have much more of a resistance after that, though.

Following Rice’s last push to get within nine, Tulane outscored Rice 20-2 in the next six minutes of action. Down by 27 with zero points from Max Fiedler and only one Rice player above 12 points on the night, there wasn’t much more the Owls could do, falling on the road to begin AAC play 0-1.

Final Box | Tulane 84 – Rice 59

Key takeaway | Yellow Light U?

Green Light U has been the Owls’ tagline over the last several seasons, meant to reflect the “green light” head coach Scott Pera gives his shooters in what is meant to be a fast-paced, three-point-heavy offense. There’s just one problem so far this season: the shots aren’t falling. This was covered in further detail in our midseason Rice Basketball State of the Program and it doesn’t appear to have corrected itself in a significant way during the holiday break. Rice isn’t hitting threes.

Rice shot 25 percent from three against Tulane. Conservatively, that’s at least 10 percentage points behind what they’d call a mediocre day and 15 points behind a great day from deep. This team was built to have great days from long range. It can win with okay days. To continually fail to find any sort of production from three is going to render this offense sluggish, at best.

Travis Evee was 3-for-9 (33 percent) from three on Wednesday night. The rest of the team was 5-for-23 (22 percent). Simply put: the shooting wasn’t there and Rice basketball lost by double a landslide.

Up Next: vs UTSA (Saturday, Jan. 6)

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Rice Women’s Basketball tops Wichita State in AAC opener

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Forced to play away from home in their American Conference opener, Rice Women’s Basketball prevailed nonetheless, topping Wichita State at the Fertitta Center across town.

Rice women’s basketball did not open American Conference play under ideal circumstances. The Owls were forced to play their “home opener” just down the road at the Fertitta Center because of water damage to Tudor Fieldhouse over the holidays.

Makeshift visitors in their inaugural game in a new league, Rice took some time to get settled into their red-clad benches. The Owls and the true visitors, Wichita State, traded baskets and free throws throughout the first quarter. It wasn’t until the midpoint of the second frame that the Owls started to find their groove, opening an 11-point lead, only for the Shockers to whittle it back within one score at halftime.

Wichita State scored the first five points in the second half, but it was all Rice from that point onward. The Owls outscored the Shockers 20-8 through the rest of the third quarter, taking a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter. Dominque Ennis led the charge, scoring 11 of her 17 points after the break. She left the game with a minute remaining in regulation with an injury, souring an otherwise very encouraging night for the Owls.

Staked to a 10-point advantage entering the fourth, the margin waivered below 10 points on two brief occasions, but the Owls delivered clutch free throws and kept things from getting too interesting down the stretch. Despite some early jitters, Rice found a way to close out the “home” win away from Tudor Fieldhouse and move to 1-0 in AAC play.

Final Box | Rice 76 – Wichita State 64

Key takeaway | Making the right adjustments

Early on, Wichita State was able to hang around in this game because of their ability to capitalize on extra opportunities. They outrebounded Rice 24-20 and edged Rice 10-5 in second-chance points, netting 33 percent of their first half scoring after their first shot failed. That’s an exorbitant amount of extra chances and something the Owls simply could not let continue if they were going to win this game.

Not only did Rice do a better job on the boards in the second half, 17-14 in their favor, but they stonewalled Wichita State in those second half opportunities. The Shockers had zero second-chance points in the second half, allowing that double-digit point differential that was bypassed in the first half to flow in earnest after the halftime buzzer. Without the extra opportunities, the Shockers couldn’t keep pace with the Owls.

The teams that strive to compete well into March can make those sorts of adjustments. Wednesday’s win was another step in the right direction for a Rice women’s basketball team that hopes to do just that.

Up Next: at SMU (Sunday, Jan. 7)

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The Roost’s 2023 Rice Football Season Superlatives

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The Roost’s 2023 Rice Football Season Superlatives exist to honor exceptional Owls who made a difference on the field this season. Here’s the complete list.

There were many individual performances worth recognizing in the 2023 Rice Football season. In addition to the more traditional awards below, make sure to check out The Roosties, our fifth annual award show from The Roost Podcast, which features a different angle of honors. From our favorite plays to the players that surprised us the most, we cover some of the more creative superlatives on the show. This list comprises the more traditional recognitions.

Iron Man — OL Clay Servin | Full Story

Excerpt: “Four of those five players transferred before their senior season. The fifth, offensive lineman Clay Servin, stuck with the program for the long haul, sticking with Rice football from that point onward through the next six seasons. In the era of the Transfer Portal which has made player movement more possible than ever before, Servin has been the rock Rice football has built on for more than half a decade.”

Offensive Newcomer of the Year — TE Boden Groen | Full Story

Excerpt: “When the games arrived, expectations were mounting. Groen responded by leading the team in receptions in the season opener against Texas. He built on that with at least one reception, usually more, in every game of the season. The only other Rice player to achieve that in 2023? Star wide receiver Luke McCaffrey.”

Defensive Newcomer of the Year — DE Coleman Coco | Full Story

Excerpt: “Always the first to credit his coaches for his growth and his teammates for an assist that set up a big play, Coco’s energy was contagious. It seemed impossible to be morose or downtrodden when he was next to you and his mentality permeated the locker room. No matter the score or the situation, Coco was convinced Rice would come out on top. And he hasn’t stopped preaching that message.”

Rising Star — RB Dean Connors | Full Story

Excerpt: “With the Owls’ backs against the wall, in need of two wins in two weeks to clinch bowl eligibility, Connors delivered a combined 33 carries for 259 yards, the best two-game stretch of his entire career. Rice won both games and made it to the postseason, thanks in large part to Connors’ efforts.”

Special Teams Player of the Year — Peyton Stevenson | Full Story

Excerpt: “The blocked punt score was the first for the Owls since Sam McGuffie in 2012. It was Stevenson’s second blocked kick of any kind, a first for any Rice player since Christian Covington blocked a pair of kicks in 2013. Already in rarified air amongst Rice history, Stevenson was one of just four players in the country this season to have blocked both a punt and a place kick.”

Defensive Player of the Year — Sean Fresch | Full Story

Excerpt: “Fresch began the season strong, tallying three pass breakups in the Owls’ upset win over the Houston Cougars and leading a secondary that would go on to finish second in the AAC in yards per game allowed through the air. Fresch started every game and provided a spark on special teams with his dynamic punt return abilities. Opposing defenses didn’t key in on him anymore. In fact, they started going the other way.”

Offensive Player of the Year — Luke McCaffrey | Full Story

Excerpt: “Three years ago, McCaffrey committed to Rice football with aspirations to play quarterback. He leaves South Main as one of the most productive wide receivers the school has ever seen. McCaffrey was a team captain and a leader, someone his teammates and the entire coaching staff leaned on in big moments. Time and time again, he delivered.”

Team MVP — JT Daniels| Full Story

Excerpt: “Daniels led a run-first team, with an explosive back in Dean Connors, to the top of the AAC leaderboard in passing. He took a team that hadn’t beaten crosstown rival Houston in 12 years to a thrilling overtime victory, the only Power 5 win by an AAC program in the regular season. Lastly, with Daniels leading the charge, Rice football reached six wins and a bowl game, their second-consecutive postseason trip.”

Check out the 2022 Rice Football Season Superlatives here.
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Rice Football 2023 Iron Man: Clay Servin

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One of the first signees of Mike Bloomgren’s tenure, left tackle Clay Servin has been a mainstay for the Owls and an easy pick for our 2023 Rice Football Iron Man.

Mike Bloomgren was hired as Rice football head coach on December 5, 2017. Two weeks later, the first-ever Early Signing Period opened and programs across the nation were permitted to sign high school players for the upcoming season in December rather than in February. As a first-year head coach taking over a one-win program, the Owls’ first class was small, with just five players announced on the opening day.

Four of those five players transferred before their senior season. The fifth, offensive lineman Clay Servin, stuck with the program for the long haul, sticking with Rice football from that point onward through the next six seasons. In the era of the Transfer Portal which has made player movement more possible than ever before, Servin has been the rock Rice football has built on for more than half a decade.

“I think coach Bloomgren and the staff in 2018 here at Rice kind of took a chance on me and I’m extremely grateful for that,” Servin said, whose only offer during the recruiting process came from Rice.

Servin made his collegiate debut midway through his freshman season against UAB and his first start the following weekend against FIU. Six years later he started his final game in the First Responders Bowl against Texas State, his 56h career appearance in a Rice uniform, a program record.

“I don’t know if I can put in any quantitative terms, the value of a guy like Clay Servin being here in year six,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said of the veteran offensive lineman.

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Servin surpasses former teammate Shea Baker, who tied the previous record (55 appearances) last season in the Lending Tree Bowl. He is also one of three Owls, alongside running back Juma Otoviano and running back Ari Broussard, who came into Rice with that original 2018 class and played into their sixth season of college football.

That track record gives Servin a unique perspective. Whereas quarterback AJ Padgett has now started back-to-back bowl games in his first two seasons on campus, Servin remembers how things were when we arrived and, of equal importance, why he stayed.

“I wanted to be a part of a program that took nothing into something,” Servin said. “I wanted to be a part of a program that built a legacy, especially as we transition into the American.”

That growth took buy in from Servin, who talked about his internal conflict and decision to recommit himself mentally following a challenging 2020 COVID season, drawing inspiration from teammates like Baker and center Isaac Klarkowski.

He coordinated meetings with the offensive line during the summers, taking younger players under his wing and teaching them the ins and outs of the position and the program before they were allowed to spend time with coaches directly. His voice and his imprint on the program were unmistakable.

“It was really about leaving a legacy with Rice football and showing these young guys in the program, regardless of how hard the academics here are, regardless of the names and other conferences that we are a good football team,” Servin said. “We put our pads on the same way as those five-star guys in the SEC and the Big XII. We are a good football team that can compete.”

In his final season, Servin’s squad reached its highest win in the past decade of Rice football. An offensive lineman at heart, Bloomgren summed up Servin’s impact well. “He’s seen so many things change throughout this program and he’s been a big part of that change, and part of us winning,” he said.

When the 2024 season kicks off, Rice football will have to break in a non-Clay Servin left tackle for the first time in six years. Perhaps that truth conveys his importance to this program better than anything else.

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Rice Football 2023: NFL Owls Week 17 Roundup

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Rice Football is well represented on 2023 NFL rosters. Here’s the latest from the NFL Owls in action in Week 17.

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) This Week Result Next Week
Denver Broncos Elijah Garcia (DL) vs Chargers W, 16-9 at Raiders
Detroit Lions Jack Fox (P) at Cowboys (Sat) L, 20-19 vs Vikings
Indianapolis Colts Kylen Granson (TE) vs Raiders L, 23-20 vs Texans (Sat)
Los Angeles Rams Austin Trammell (WR) at Giants W, 26-25 at 49ers
New England Patriots Calvin Anderson (OL) at Bills L, 27-21 vs Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers Chris Boswell (PK) at Seahawks W, 30-23 at Ravens (Sat)
Seattle Seahawks Myles Adams (DL) vs Steelers L, 30-23 vs Cardinals
Tampa Bay Bucs Nick Leverett (OL) vs Saints L, 23-13 at Panthers

Offense

Calvin Anderson – OT, Patriots

Anderson was active but did not play in the Patriots’ Week 17 game against the Bills.

Kylen Granson – TE, Colts

Granson hauled in just one reception on three targets this weekend, cooling off a bit from a career five-catch game in Week 16.

Nick Leverett – OT, Buccaneers

Leverett was active but did not play in the Bucs’ Week 17 game against the Saints.

Austin Trammell – WR, Rams

Trammell handled all his customary special teams duties on returns for the Rams in Week 17, but did not register any yardage on those snaps. He got on the field with the offense for just one play.

Defense

Myles Adams – DL, Seahawks

Adams saw action with the Seahawks’ defense for the first time since late October, getting on the field for seven plays. He did not record any official tackles.

Elijah Garcia – DL, Broncos

Garcia was inactive for the Broncos’ Week 17 game against the Chargers.

Special Teams

Jack Fox – P, Lions

Fox did his job on Saturday night. He blasted a 70-yard punt, pushing his average for the night up to a crisp 48.8 yards per punt. He put two balls inside the 20-yard line.

Chris Boswell – K, Steelers

Boswell did not miss, once again. He handled six kicks, three field goals and three extra points, and put all of them straight through the pipes in the Steelers’ Week 17 win over the Seahawks.

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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