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MBB: UTEP game preview

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Rice basketball is 2-1 in the New Year and looking to stay above .500 with a win over UTEP on Saturday. Can the Owls get it done?

After a two-straight conference wins over Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech, Rice fell on the road to UTSA on Thursday. The setback puts them at 2-2 in conference play with two more games remaining on the Owls’ longest conference road trip of the season.

UTEP has had more struggles than Rice this season. The Miners haven’t beaten a team all season who currently holds a winning record. The closest they’ve come was a seven-point victory over Eastern New Mexico, a DII squad.

The game is not scheduled for TV broadcast but will be available on CUSA TV. Radio is available via the Stretch Internet Portal.

UTEP 5-9 (0-3), Last 5 (1-4)

  • L, 58-51 vs North Texas
  • L, 67-63 vs UTSA
  • L, 75-60 @ UTSA
  • W, 76-65 vs Wyoming
  • L, 75-62 vs Norfolk State

Rice 7-10 (2-2), Last 5 – (2-3)

  • L, 95-79 @ UTSA
  • W, 78-66 vs Louisiana Tech
  • W, 73-65 vs Southern Miss
  • L, 103-87 vs North Texas
  • L, 83-66 vs Omaha

UTEP players to watch

Freshman forward Ege Odigie has been the driving force for all the Miners’ successes on both ends of the court. He leads the team with 10.1 rebounds per game, 7.6 on the defensive glass. He’s also second in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game despite being fifth on the team in average minutes played per game.

Sophomore guard Evan Gilyard leads UTEP in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game, but freshman Jordan Lathon might be the most dangerous player on the court. Foul trouble has limited his upside this season, but he’s averaging 15 points per game over his last five games in which he hasn’t fouled out. He leads the team in assists (3.1 per game) and steals (1.3 per game).

Rice keys to victory

Despite having several players with scoring potential, the ceiling of the UTEP offense is extremely limited. Shot for shot, they don’t match up on a consistent basis with players like Chris Mullins and Jack Williams.

Rice has to come to play and find ways to neutralize UTEP’s interior presence. Getting UTEP to the line isn’t the goal, rather Rice needs to force the Miners to take bad shots and be there to capitalize on the rebound.

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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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Owls set for big recruiting weekend

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With a few weeks remaining before National Signing Day, Rice football is working to finish off their 2019 recruiting class.

National Signing Day, February 6, is fast approaching. Rice signed 17 players during the early signing period —  a three day stretch in December which seems like so long ago. Now, though, the holidays are over and coaches and players trickling back to South Main.

Soon the final push for the 2019 Rice Football class will begin in earnest. That starts with an extremely important official visit weekend kicking off on Friday. Rice is tentatively scheduled to host nine players including a few signees. Here are five priority targets the Owls are after this weekend:

Brian Chaffin – Center from Stanford (Grad Transfer)

Graduations, injury losses and transfers have left a leadership void on this team. Bringing in the right veterans who understand the culture Bloomgren is trying to create at Rice would be a big catalyst to this program. Chaffin is one such player. An Under Armor All-American out of high school, Chaffin was a top-10 center in the nation. Recruiting by Bloomgren while he was at Stanford, he played in 28 games over the last three seasons along an impressive offensive line.

Reagan Williams – Fullback from Stanford (Grad Transfer)

Williams is another Stanford product with meaningful collegiate experience. The fullback played in 32 games over the past three seasons and could be the second Pac-12 fullback transfer in two years for Bloomgren. Rice added Gio Gentosi last year, who capped off the season with his first career touchdown. Needless to say, the fullback is an important piece in this offense.

Cooper Laake – Defensive Tackle from Austin, Tx

A former Texas Tech commit, Laake’s recruitment opened up when Kliff Kingsbury was replaced in Lubbock by Matt Wells. Laake has offers from Colorado State, Oregon, and Purdue among others. He’s a gamechanger up front. The 6-foot-3, 270-pound defensive tackle would be an even bigger addition in light of recent transfer news at the position.

Jovoni Johnson – Dual Threat QB from Conway, AR

Losing a commitment at the 11th hour wasn’t part of the plan at quarterback, but Rice could rebound nicely with the addition of Jovoni Johnson. Standing 6-foot-5 with some nice wheels, Johnson has intriguing raw talent. He threw for 1,339 yards and ran or 853 yards during his senior season, tallying 30 combined touchdowns. He’s being targeting by Arkansas for a walk-on spot but Rice would prefer he heads south to Texas.

Tom Stewart – Pro Style QB from Harvard (Grad Transfer)

Given the health concerns at quarterback last season it would be prudent for Rice to invest in another veteran arm who’ll be ready to come in and play immediately if needed. Stewart saw action in five games in his first two years at Harvard before appearing in nine contests last fall. He threw for 1,974 yards and 15 touchdowns with five interceptions. His teammate, wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley, is also high on the Owls’ priority list.

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MBB: UTSA game preview

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Rice basketball is riding a two-game winning streak in Conference play. Can the Owls make it three in a row with a win over UTSA on Thursday?

Rice is playing their best basketball of the season at an opportune time. After a slow winter on the court, the Owls have won two in a row. If they want to extend that streak to three they’ll have to win on the road, something that’s been a challenge for head coach Scott Pera’s younger squad.

The Owls have one road win in six chances, downing Rio Grande Valley 75-67 on Dec. 18. Outside of that game, Rice has dropped all their other away games by double-digits. A win against UTSA would give Rice a two-game road winning streak and a third win in conference play.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Radio is available via the Stretch Internet Portal.

UTSA 8-7 (2-0), Last 5 (5-0)

  • W, 67-63 @ UTEP
  • W, 75-60 vs UTEP
  • W, 70-67 vs Southeastern Oklahoma St
  • W, 64-50 @ Texas A&M CC
  • W, 101-77 vs Bethany College

Rice 7-9 (2-1), Last 5 – (3-2)

  • W, 78-66 vs Louisiana Tech
  • W, 73-65 vs Southern Miss
  • L, 103-87 vs North Texas
  • L, 83-66 vs Omaha
  • W, 75-67 @ Rio Grande Valley

UTSA players to watch

It’s been a two-man show for UTSA this season. Sophomore guards Jhivvan Jackson and Keaton Wallace lead the way, averaging 20.5 and 18.4 points per game, respectively. There have been two games of single-digit scoring between them this season. It doesn’t matter who’s matched up against them, both Jackson and Wallace have torched even the better defensive teams they’ve faced in non-conference play.

The problem for UTSA comes with the next man up. After Jackson and Wallace get their 40 points the Roadrunners have struggled to find anyone else who can be relied upon consistently.

Senior forward Nick Allen has had spurts of strong play, but foul trouble and poor shooting nights have been concerns. Junior forward Byron Frohnen leads the team in rebounding, averaging 7.8 boards per game.

Rice keys to victory

The Rice defense has been the linchpin to the Owls’ recent success. After allowing three of their previous four opponents to top 80 points, Rice held both Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech in the 60’s — both of those offenses average in the mid-70’s.

Against UTSA the secret might just be limiting the Roadrunners secondary players. Jackson and Wallace have combined for 40+ points, but they’ve yet to score 70 together against any D1 programs. They’re going to need help. If Rice can limit those secondary pieces and keep the two stars from going too ballistic, things should work out well.

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