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Rice basketball drops ECU for first AAC home win

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Winners of several big road games, Rice basketball finally made history at home on Saturday, beating ECU for the program’s first AAC home win.

With the month of March looming, Rice basketball seems to have found another gear. Days removed from a statement win in Birmingham over a red-hot UAB squad, the Owls notched a program first — their debut home win in the American Athletic Conference — taking down East Carolina at Tudor Fieldhouse by a final score of 70-52.

The game ended in a blowout, but it took a struggle to get there. Rice never led by more than four points in the first half and didn’t hold a double-digit lead until less than 10 minutes to go in the contest. Those narrow margins were due in large part to an even shooting performance from both sides.

Both ECU and Rice made 11-of-27 shots from the field in the first half. Each side had one double-digit scorer, RJ Felton from ECU and Travis Evee for Rice. Evee’s 11 first half points would prove to be an omen of even bigger things to come. He finished with a game-high 34 points, leading all scorers and turning the close game into a blowout in the later portions of regulation.

Evee delivered 16 points in the final seven minutes of the game, turning an 11-point edge into a 20-point beatdown. ECU hit one final three-pointer before the final buzzer, but the message was clear. Saturday was Rice’s day. And for the first time, an AAC win on their home court.

Final Box | Rice 70 – ECU 52

Key takeaway | Exceptional Evee

Head coach Scott Pera has reiterated on multiple occasions this team goes as its leaders go, chief among them, Travis Evee. After battling through an up-and-down season, Evee exploded on Saturday to the tune of seven made three-point shots and 34 total points. The seven threes is one three shy of the program record, currently held by Evee himself, and two others.

The eruption was no surprise to Evee. “As a shooter, I’ve got to have confidence. Whether I’ve missed two, made two in a row. I stay even-keeled,” he said. “I just trust the work I put in. Nothing really changes.”

While the process might not have changed, the results certainly did for Evee in this game. Winners of two straight, with Evee a central figure in both wins, Rice has some momentum heading into the final games of the regular season. If Evee can play like this, Rice might be dangerous after all.

“I think we’re a good team. We’ve been a good team,” Evee said after the win. “We just haven’t been able to close out these games. Haven’t been able to complete runs. I just feel like we’re putting it together right now. I feel like we’re getting hot.”

Up Next: vs Temple (Wednesday, Feb. 28)

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Rice Basketball bullies UAB on the road

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Rice basketball made itself at home in Bartow Arena, blasting the hosting UAB Blazers in an onslaught that seemed out of reach by halftime.

UAB had won nine games in a row at home before Rice basketball arrived in Birmingham on Wednesday night. That streak has officially been reset, falling emphatically behind a comprehensive beatdown by a team letting out what felt like weeks of frustration on an opponent that wasn’t ready for the tidal wave that was heading their way.

Nothing seemed amiss early. UAB jumped out to a 10-3 lead behind a strong start from Efrem Johnson. Once that initial surge subsided, though, it was all Owls.

Rice would go on a 27-3 run over the span of the next eight minutes, evaporating the Blazers lead behind one of the most complete performances this team has assembled all season long. They held UAB to 24 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, pairing a stout defensive showing with big days from Mekhi Mason and Andrew Akuchie with double-digit performances from Sam Alajiki and Keanu Dawes off the bench.

“Tonight we played the best we could play in a really tough environment against a really good team, our guys were just outstanding,” head coach Scott Pera said after the big win, clearly elated.

Ahead by 25 at the break, UAB never got closer than a 16-point deficit in the second half, erased promptly by a 10-3 Rice run. Everyone got in on the scoring with Pera emptying the benches as the team neared the 100-point mark. Ifeanyi Ufochukwu would provide the final basket off the bench. On this night, 94 points would have to do.

“I just wanted us to play our best every night. That’s all I ever ask of these guys. Through all the struggles they’ve been so much fun to be around and coach,” Pera beamed. “They deserve this tonight. We’re going to enjoy it.”

Final Box | Rice 94 – UAB 71

Key takeaway | Home away from home?

In one of the most bizarre statistical phenomenons of the season, Rice basketball continues to play its best away from home. Rice has wins over Memphis, UAB, Temple and UTSA, all on the road. As the calendar nears March, they have yet to win an AAC home game.

Perhaps Rice fans need to show up wearing purple instead of blue when the Owls return home to face ECU. Maybe the team can check into a nice hotel and reenact the bus ride to the arena next time out. All jokes aside, whatever is working for Rice away from home needs to be replicated in Houston.

With only a few games left, Rice can still clinch a first round bye in the AAC Tournament. All they need to do is finish 10th in the league standings. They were on that seed line coming into Wednesday, but the win over UAB boosts the Owls’ chances. Rice plays two of their final five regular season games away from home.

Up Next: vs ECU (Saturday, Feb. 24)

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Early turnovers doom Rice Women’s Basketball at Memphis

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Rice Women’s Basketball struggled early and was unable to complete a comeback, falling to Memphis on the road.

The shots were falling early for Rice women’s basketball, but they weren’t coming often enough. Slippery hands led to an astounding 14 turnovers in the first half, forcing the visiting Owls into an uphill battle against a Memphis squad that did not return the favor.

Midway through the second quarter, the Rice offense started to slow down and Memphis began to widen the gap. The Tigers led by as many as 10 points before a well-timed three from Kennedy Clifton cut the Owls’ deficit to eight heading into halftime. Despite their struggles, they had a chance to make it a ballgame in the second half.

The tide began to turn in the third quarter. Memphis turned the ball over more than Rice who got the margin back within five points as the fourth quarter arrived. Emily Klaczek gave the Owls their first lead of the second half, but a last second shot wouldn’t fall, sending the game to overtime without the services of Malia Fisher, who fouled out near the end of regulation.

Rice made just one field goal in extra time. Memphis made three, pulling back in front of the Owls to hand them a costly road loss.

Final Box | Memphis 79 – Rice 74

Key takeaway | Protect the basketball

Memphis had nine more shots than Rice on Tuesday night. The Tigers weren’t roughly as efficient as the Owls, shooting 45.5 percent from the floor to the Owls’ 47.4 percent, but what the home team lacked in efficiency they were able to make up for in volume. That’s because Rice gave the ball away way too many times, committing 22 turnovers on the night.

Even when accounting for the seven Memphis steals, the prevailing storyline was mental mistakes and unforced errors. That’s how a team like Rice, which entered the night tied for first in the win column among all AAC teams, found itself in comeback mode against a Memphis team near the bottom of the standings.

Rice is a better team than Memphis. They didn’t show that Tuesday and there are only a handful of games remaining before the wiggle room goes away. There are no mulligans in March.

Up Next: vs Temple (Sunday, Feb. 25)

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Rice Baseball rallies late to beat SHSU

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Deadlocked through seven innings, Rice baseball delivered the finishing blow in the eighth, edging Sam Houston at home by a 7-3 score.

A few days removed from a weekend full of pitching misadventures, Ryland Urbancyzk delivered a scoreless three-inning start for Rice baseball. He then handed the ball off to his relief who, with the exception of defensive miscues behind them, threw strikes and held their own against a potent Sam Houston squad fresh off a series win over Oklahoma State.

Sam Houston snuck across a pair of unearned runs, the first in the fourth inning and the second in the fifth. Sandwiched between the Bearkat tallies was a two-run blast, courtesy of Rice’s Manny Garza. That set up a 2-2 game, a score that prevailed through seven innings despite opportunities for both squads to take the lead.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball swept by Notre Dame

For a moment, it looked as if Rice would squander their best chance, failing two convert two-on, no-out in the seventh only to watch Sam Houston combine back-to-back two-out hits to take the lead in the following half-inning. Their advantage would not last long.

Jack Riedel delivered the go-ahead, three-run blast in the next frame. Ben Dukes tacked on two insurance runs. Davion Hickson got the final six outs, earning the Owls’ first win of the year.

What it means | Find a way to win

Following a winless weekend, Rice baseball just needed to find some way to walk away from Reckling with a win on Tuesday. They did just that. The defense was subpar and the hitting lacked execution early, but the pitching staff kept the Owls in the game, giving them a fighting chance to make the most of a clutch moment or two down the stretch.

Hoping for a Riedel bomb isn’t an optimal strategy, but if Rice can continue to set the table for their better hitters, things like this are going to happen. Tuesday night, it was Riedel. Next time, it might be someone else. All that matters is the result, though. Rice baseball had to find a way to break their losing skid and win. They did. And everyone in the clubhouse can exhale because of it.

ON DECK | at Louisiana (Fri-Sun)

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Rice Baseball swept by Notre Dame on Opening Weekend

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Rice Baseball got several leads, but couldn’t hold any of them, leaving opening weekend without a win in a three-game series with Notre Dame.

FRIDAY | Notre Dame 3 – Rice 1

Seven strikeouts through four-plus innings is typically indicative of an encouraging start, but that wasn’t the case this time for Rice baseball ace Parker Smith on Friday night. The righty struggled with command, dancing through danger in every inning but the third because of two hit batters, four walks and a couple of defensive errors behind him.

More: Parker Smith’s journey to Rice baseball ace

Smith left in the fifth inning, earning the loss after Jack Ben-Shoshan was unable to keep a pair of inherited runners from scoring. Davion Hickson would deliver a sterling, four-inning, hitless performance, but it wasn’t enough. Rice managed just one run, credited to Nathan Becker on an RBI single in the very first inning.

SATURDAY | Notre Dame 9 – Rice 5

Jack Riedel got the scoring going on Saturday, earning the first of two RBI on a solo home run in the first inning. JD McCracken did his part on the mound, holding Notre Dame to three runs (two earned) through 5.1 innings before handing the ball to Tyler Hamilton in relief. The Owls held a 4-3 lead at that point and kept the score there through seven innings before disaster struck.

Hamilton was tagged for two home runs which gave the Irish the lead. It was Garrett Stratton who came on next, but he registered just one out before being forced from the game. And just like that, a 4-3 Rice lead became a 9-4 deficit entering the ninth as the bullpen failed to hold on in the final innings.

SUNDAY | Notre Dame 13 – Rice 10

The ball was flying all over the yard on Sunday, beginning in the opening inning with a two-run shot off the bat from Pierce Gallo to give the Owls a 2-0 lead which miraculously persisted into the third inning despite five walks and a hit batsman from Rice starter Jackson Mayo who lasted just two innings.

Rice looked to have claimed a commanding lead in the sixth on a three-run bomb by Jack Riedel, but the Owls’ bullpen crumbled quickly soon afterward, allowing a five-run inning from the Irish and coughing up the lead. Trailing 8-7 in the eighth, Rice managed to even the score, but Notre Dame responded with a crushing five-run ninth to secure the series sweep.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

Rice baseball leaves opening weekend without a win. A series sweep will always sting, especially when the Owls were within striking distance in each contest. Here are three takeaways from a tough weekend at home.

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1. Free passes and hit batsmen loom large

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ON DECK | vs Sam Houston (Tues), at Louisiana (Fri-Sun)

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