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Conference USA Tournament Day 1 Recap

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The Conference USA Basketball Tournament is underway at the Star in Frisco, Tx. Here’s how the first day of action played out.

Conference USA Men’s Basketball Tournament

Wednesday Scores

8. Louisiana Tech def 9. FAU, 57-56
5. UAB def 12. MTSU, 70-61
10. North Texas def 7. FIU, 71-57
6. Marshall def 11. Rice, 82-65

Wrapping up Day 1

For the most part, chalk held on the first day of the men’s tournament with one notable exception. North Texas put together one of their most complete showings of the season, outpacing a solid FIU team from start to finish — the same FIU team which beat North Texas by 15 points in the final game of the regular season. Umoja Gibson and Zachary Simmons led the way for North Texas, scoring 21 and 19 points, respectively.

Elsewhere, Marshall’s Jon Elmore continued his torrid scoring pace. He tallied 32 points against Rice and probably could have had more if he’d not seen some time on the bench because of foul trouble and a sizable second half lead.

The most impressive play? How about this three-quarter court dime?

Thursday Schedule

8. Louisiana Tech vs 1. Old Dominion – 6 pm on Stadium
5. UAB vs 4. UTSA – 6:30 pm on Facebook
10. North Texas vs 2. Western Kentucky – 8:30 pm on Stadium
6. Marshall vs 3. Southern Miss – 9 pm on Facebook

Conference USA Women’s Basketball Tournament

Wednesday Scores

9. North Texas def 8. Southern Miss, 49-46
5. Old Dominion def 12. FAU, 60-32
7. Charlotte def 10. Louisiana Tech, 55-46
11. UTEP def 6. Marshall, 64-56 (2OT)

Wrapping up Day 1

UTEP was the story hear, stunning 6-seed Marshall in a double overtime thriller. The Miners had nine wins in the regular season, five in conference play. Despite the tough year, UTEP made their shots when it counted most. Three Miners finished with double-digit points and the underdog won the rebound battle 56-39.

The gap between the top teams and the lower seeds in the women’s bracket is expected to be fairly significant. We’ll see if another upset is sprung on Thursday when powers like undefeated Rice begin their tournament action.

Thursday Schedule

9. North Texas vs 1. Rice- 11 am on Stadium
5. Old Dominion vs 4. Western Kentucky – 11:30 am on ESPN+
7. Charlotte vs 2. UAB – 1:30 pm on Stadium
11. UTEP vs 3. MTSU – 2:00 pm on ESPN+

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MBB: Marshall ends Owls’ season with CUSA Tournament rout

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Rice basketball saw their season come to an end at the Conference USA Tournament on Wednesday, falling to Marshall in the first round.

Things couldn’t have gotten off to a much worse start for Rice basketball at the Conference USA Tournament. Despite beating Marshall in their previous meeting during the regular season, the Owls fell behind by as many as 20 points in the first half.

The deficit would grow as the game progress. Marshall’s 20 point advantage stretched to as many as 32 points in the second half. Every time Rice was able to string a few baskets together, Marshall answered.

No matter what sort of defense Rice put out, Conference USA all-time leading scorer Jon Elmore barely missed. He finished with 32 points, six assists and six rebounds, connecting on 6-of-9 shots from three. His great shooting night was contagious.

Marshall was shooting a blistering 60 percent from the floor through the early minutes of the second half before cooling off to finish shooting 53.6 percent from the floor. That’s the third-best mark by a Rice opponentĀ this season.

On the other side of the court, the Rice offense sputtered. Rice was held to 65 points with most of their production coming under a sizable second half deficit. Robert Martin led the team with 16 points. In his final game for the blue and gray, Jack Williams notched another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Owls knew it was going to take one of their better showings to survive and advance. Things just didn’t click on Wednesday, resulting in a season-ending defeat at the star. Marshall would triumph by a final score of 82-65.

Final thoughts

In many ways, this was a transition season for the Owls. The flood of transfers following the 2017-2018 campaign gave way to a young core of players with potential, but plenty to learn. On their best days, this team tested some of the best teams in the conference. The future is bright for Rice basketball. 2019 just wasn’t their year.

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Baseball: Owls can’t overcome slow start vs Texas State

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Rice baseball dropped a midweek game to Texas State on Wednesday, losing catcher Justin Collins to injury early in the contest.

For the second time this season Texas State got the better of Rice, shutting out the Owls again, this time at Reckling Park. The Owls were blanked 1-0 by the Bobcats in the Shriner’s College Classic and fell 5-0 on Wednesday night. The two teams will play once more this season in San Marcos on Tuesday, March 26.

With the first conference series of the season looming against FAU over the weekend, here are the most pressing notes from the loss to Texas State.

1. Justin Collins injury

Justin Collins was hit in the glove hand by the backswing from a Texas State hitter during the first inning. The extent of the injury isn’t known to this point, but Collins was removed from the game immediately. Senior backup Daniel Russell played the remainder of the contest in his place.

When healthy, the Rice lineup was already thin. The quartet of Trei Cruz, Bradley Gneiting, Braden Comeaux and Justin Collins has driven the bulk of the offense to this point of the season. Others have contributed with good games and good series here and there, but the four .300+ hitters have been the key cogs in run production this season.

That’s what makes the injury sustained by Collins on Wednesday night even more problematic. If he’s forced to miss any extended amount of time the production at the plate will take a hit.

2. Slow starts becoming a disturbing trend

Scoring first shouldn’t matter all that much in any given baseball game. Each team has nine innings to outscore their opponent, but for Rice, taking an early lead has proven to be of utmost importance. Rice is 8-2 this season when they score the first run. They’re 0-9 when their opponent scores first.

Momentum is a nebulous concept in sports. Some will say it doesn’t exist, but others swear on the tendency of good fortune to build on itself. For better or worse, the Rice offense has yoyoed back and forth, scoring in droves in one game and going O-fer in the next.

The team took a step forward when they rallied from a 5-1 deficit to top Lamar on Tuesday, but it’s going to take more consistency across the board if the Owls are going to flip the script on this startling statistic.

3. The grind is almost over

Rice beat Prairie View 25-5 on Wednesday, Feb. 27. That marked the first game of an exhaustive three week stretch for Rice in which the Owls were scheduled to play 15 games in 21 days. In addition to three weekend sets, Rice played two midweek games last week and this week. They’ll start conference play on Friday against FAU before ending the three-week run with a Tuesday night contest at Texas A&M.

“We haven’t had enough time to make sure we’re going back to fundamentals,” Bragga shared. He wasn’t making excuses, testifying fervently to the efforts of his team and his coaches to improve on the fly. Still, it’s evident this team needs time to practice. If nothing else, they need some rest.

ON DECK | at FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball: Evening the score in mind vs Texas State

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Rice baseball is out for revenge against a Texas State team who shut the Owls out earlier in the season. Can they even the season series at 1-1?

It’s been a long time since March 1 for both of these teams. That date marked the first of three scheduling meeting between Rice and Texas State this season with the Bobcats winning 1-0 at the Shriner’s Classic at Minute Maid Park.

The second edition promises to look much different. For one thing, the Owls seemed to have found their bats, scoring 48 runs in the seven games following their goose egg against Texas State. Second, neither team will have their ace on the mound during this Wednesday affair.

When and Where

Pitching matchups

Kel Bordwine could have been in line to start Wednesday, but the sophomore came in out of the bullpen in Tuesday’s win over Lamar. If Coach Bragga sticks with the status quo, Missouri transfer Drake Greenwood could be next in line. Given how Greenwood and the rest of the pitching depth has performed to this point, a wildcard like Ben Content or someone else could also be in play.

Garrett Herman (1-0) should be the man on the bump for the visiting team. The junior righty has two starts on the season, throwing nine innings and allowing eight hits, four runs and three walks while striking out six. That’s much more manageable for Rice than the seven innings of one-hit ball from Nicholas Fraze they faced earlier in the year.

Names to know from the plate

It’ll be the same suspects at the plate which Rice saw a few weeks ago. Will Hollis, who drove in the only run of the first meeting, has stayed hot at the plate. He’s hitting .364 this season with a team-high five doubles and 12 RBI.

Beyond Hollis, Jaylen Hubbard (.375 average) and Jaxon Williams (.339) continue to be key cogs in the Texas State offense. There has been a fair amount of shuffling at the bottom of the order so far. The Bobcats have five players who have appeared in at least 10 games with a batting average below .160. We could be in for another pitchers dual on Wednesday.

ON DECK | at FAU (Fri-Sun)

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Baseball: Owls rally from early deficit to blow out Lamar

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Rice baseball proved their resiliency on Tuesday night, rallying from a four-run deficit to top Lamar at home.

A 1-0 Rice lead was quickly turned into a 5-1 deficit as freshman starting pitcher Dalton Wood struggled in his first collegiate start. Trailing after three innings, Rice turned to the bullpen and took a deep breath. The same bullpen which had control issues against Oklahoma gave the Rice offense a chance — they took it.

It wasn’t a clean game in the field; both sides committed three errors. It wasn’t a crisp game at the plate; the two teams combined to strand 24 runners on base.

Despite the mishaps, Rice erased a four-run deficit, outscoring Lamar 11-0 through the remainder of the game, winning 12-5. Here are three immediate reactions from the win.

1. Gneiting quietly building impressive season

Trei Cruz has drawn the headlines early this season. All his accolades have been well deserved, but the most productive member of the lineup since opening weekend could very well be Bradley Gneiting. The junior utility man led Conference USA in hits entering Tuesday night, adding a first-inning RBI single to give Rice the early lead.

Gneiting added a 2 RBI double in the eight to secure his 10th multi-hit game of the season. His average now sits at.363 with a .440 average with runners in scoring position. Gneiting is second on the team in runs scored (15) and has stuck out only 12 times in 78 at bats, one of the best marks on the team. If the Rice offense is working, Gneiting always seems to be a part of the action.

2. Blair Lewis has become a bullpen staple

The Rice bullpen struggle heavily in the Owls’ Saturday and Sunday losses to Oklahoma. Kendall Jeffries has been tremendous, as has Addison Moss. Jackson Tyner had a rough weekend, but for the most part, has been reliable. After that, it’s been an erratic adventure.

“[The bullpen] just hasn’t been real consistent,” Bragga said honestly after the Sunday finale. “We need to find a couple more pieces.” It’s hard to imagine omitting Blair Lewis from the arsenal of those reliable options.

Lewis threw three innings against Lamar, allowing three hits, no walks and no runs. To this point, he’s been called upon to eat innings, but he’s become one of the most reliable arms Rice has out of the pen as evidenced by his 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings.

3. No quit

“They don’t give up.” That’s what Matt Bragga had to say about his the growth his team has shown in the first month of the season. That resiliency hasn’t resulted in wins at every opportunity, but the progress has been evident.

Rice left the bases loaded in the first and fifth innings. Entering the sixth inning the Owls trailed 5-3 despite matching Lamar nearly hit for hit. This team had given in to their season-long offensive struggles many times, but Tuesday night would not be a reprisal of those woes.

The Owls broke through with three runs in the sixth, answering Lamar’s 5-0 run with a 5-0 run of their own to retake the lead, 6-5. Given another shot with the bases loaded in the seventh, Rice scored three times, taking advantage of Lamar miscues to extend their lead to 9-5.

This team is going to have its pains at the plate. The bullpen is a work in progress and the fielding remains a concern. Despite the challenges, they don’t quit. That will pay dividends down the road.

ON DECK | vs Texas State (Wed), at FAU (Fri-Sun)

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