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Rice Basketball falls to UTSA in overtime

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Rice basketball was unable to hold onto a second half lead, falling in overtime to UTSA in their AAC “home” opener.

Away from home for the first time as “hosts” in an American Conference game, Rice basketball was out of sorts from the start against UTSA. The visiting Roadrunners showed no signs of confusion when it came to finding their shot at Jerabeck Activity and Athletic Center, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first 10 minutes of the opening half.

When the Owls needed a spark, Travis Evee took charge. He scored three straight layups to get Rice within four. Soon after his first three of the day got Rice within one score. Noah Shelby took the baton from there, knocking down a three-pointer to give Rice its first lead since the 16-minute mark to begin the game. Trailing by as many as 11 points, Rice had battled back and entered halftime with a three-point lead.

Rice was able to take that advantage and push it to double-digits early in the second half. For a moment, it looked as if the Owls had escaped disaster, but those hopes dissipated rapidly. UTSA immediately fired back and turned it into a back and forth game, which eventually found itself in overtime.

UTSA would go on to outscore Rice 12-5 in overtime, handing the Owls a crushing loss and pushing the Owls to the bottom of the AAC standings.

“We didn’t have the end of the game like we needed to handle it,” head coach Scott Pera said. “They made us pay. They got the shot. Those are hard lessons to learn.”

Final Box | UTSA 89 – Rice 82 (OT)

Key takeaway | Red Alert

UTSA entered this contest dead last in the American in KenPom, No. 290 in the country. How bad have the Roadrunners been this season? For comparison, they’re more than 60 spots behind the next closest AAC team in those rankings. Unfortunately, that next team is Rice. The Owls entered Saturday at No. 224 and they’re going to drop further after this.

If the result wasn’t scary enough, the company Rice has kept this season should raise concern. If Rice basketball can’t put away UTSA, why should they expect to be competitive in a conference that expects to send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament?

The Owls need to circle the wagons and find some answers. The offense, which was meant to be the strength of this team, has yet to click this season. The defense has had spurts of success but isn’t nearly consistent enough to make up for the Owls’ shooting struggles. With conference play looming, Rice is running out of time to make those adjustments. Until proven otherwise, it appears Rice basketball has a long season ahead of them.

Up Next: at USF (Friday, Jan. 12)

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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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Turnovers sink Rice Football in First Responder Bowl vs Texas State

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Rice Football wasted a strong defensive performance, turning the ball over seven times in a loss to Texas State in the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl.

Rice football is going to have to wait at least one more year to check off a bowl win from its to-do list. The Owls started slow but rallied to tie the game midway through the second quarter before self-inflicted wounds soured a second straight bowl appearance and a second straight loss.

“We didn’t perform real well today and that’s always disappointing,” head coach Mike Bloomgren said. “Some of that is certainly because of Texas State and the plays that they made but there’s a lot of plays that we’re very capable of playing that we did not make today.”

Bloomgren was quick to say all the right things about the Bobcats. He credited their playmaking ability and the ways they changed the game on both sides of the ball. But he brought the burden back upon his shoulders and the shoulders of his team. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Luke McCaffrey is special

The Texas State offense got off to a fast start while Rice football struggled to find its rhythm. As the offensive line adjusted, AJ Padgett eased into the game and the runners searched for available yards, Luke McCaffrey applied jolt after jolt to wake his teammates up.

McCaffrey picked up a key third down on a jet sweep to get the Owls inside the redzone. Then he delivered again a few plays later with a tightrope walk down the sideline for the Owls’ opening score.

If this is the last time we see Luke McCaffrey in a Rice uniform, it was a treat. That score was his 13th touchdown reception of the season, tying James Casey (2008) for the fourth most in school history. His 19 career touchdown receptions are third all-time at Rice. In just two years, McCaffrey has firmly affixed himself among the greatest receivers in program history. He will be missed.

One more bright spot on offense: Dean Connors was the first Owl with multiple rushing touchdowns in a bowl game since Dicky Maegle scored three against Alabama in the 1954 Cotton Bowl.

Offense implodes

The driver for the Owls’ offensive issues was a lack of protection up front. Whether it was in the passing game or the running game, Rice was getting punished at the line of scrimmage. AJ Padgett was sacked twice in the first quarter and took several additional hits. He evaded pressure as best he could and stood in the pocket and took some hits, but it was almost impossible to find any sort of rhythm.

“I’m sure there were times when the protection could have been better, but there were times that the first read was there and we just need to get the ball to one of our best players and give him a chance. And we weren’t able to do that,” Bloomgren said. “And things snowballed a little bit today. I don’t know that we were able to go to the next play as well as I wish we could once we got shook.”

It was the same story on the ground. Rice managed four yards on their first 12 carries, including the 12 yards lost on Padgett sacks. Even excluding the sack yardage, 1.6 yards per carry makes for a dismal outing.

All of that would have been bad enough. Then came the turnovers. The Rice offense handed the ball to Texas State five times. AJ Padgett threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Third-stringer Shawqi Itraish (who entered the season fourth string behind JT Daniels, Padgett and Jenkins) threw two more picks.

Nothing went right for the Rice offense on a night when just a little bit of juice might have gone a long way given how well the defense played.

Defense does its part

While the offense spun its wheels, the defense did all it could to keep Texas State in front of them. The Bobcat offense had seven drives in the first half. They scored two quick touchdowns on a seven-play and an eight-play drive, respectively.

On the other five drives, Texas State had four three-and-outs and one field goal, tallying 68 yards on 27 total plays, 2.5 yards per play. That included a redzone stand inside the 10-yard line to force a field goal as the clock ran down in the second quarter. Several plays of that sequence happened without Josh Pearcy and Coleman Coco on the field as they battled injuries, although Coco returned to finish the series.

Handed a short field following a special teams gaffe to start the third quarter, the defense made Texas State earn every yard of their first possession of the second half. The Bobcats would score on a throwback pass to an offensive lineman following a 10-play, 30-yard drive.

“They were dominant,” Bloomgren said. “It didn’t matter what situation they got put in they really did some really cool things tonight.”

Every point counts, but the defense was only responsible for 31 points — several on short fields —  against a Texas State team that averaged 36 points per game, a top 20 mark in the nation. It was a solid performance that could have been enough for a win had the special teams and offense done their part.

AJ Padgett underwhelms in prime time audition

Rice football signed former Temple quarterback and AAC passing leader EJ Warner during the early signing period. No declarations when Bloomgren met with the media to address the class, but Bloomgren has commented before on his strategy when it comes to adding transfers. It’s merit-based. The best player will play.

Production on the field at Rice is part of that evaluation. Padgett had a golden opportunity against a Texas State defense that has leaked yards and points all season to offer his first audition to the coaching staff and make his claim for the starting job. He failed.

Padgett’s picks were crippling. None of the turnovers were fluke plays with balls bouncing off receivers and landing in the wrong hands. All three were squarely on the decision-making of Padgett who put the ball in places where it ought not have gone.

Bloomgren confirmed after the game both of Padgett’s removals were performance-based decisions. He was benched for Chase Jenkins, returned to the game briefly, and then was lifted for Itraish. On a night when he needed to be at his best, he was benched twice.

“I thought we’d exhaust everything we had,” Bloomgren said when asked about the quarterback moves. “I wanted to make sure this team and especially those seniors on defense knew we were trying everything we could to get this thing going and give them a chance to win this game.”

We’ll probably have a quarterback battle in the spring and given Warner’s resume, he probably should have been the frontrunner to begin with. Padgett didn’t do himself any favors on Tuesday night. Neither did anyone else.

Special Teams goes out on a low note

It’s been a rough year for special teams. The bowl game might have been the lowest point yet. On Tuesday night we saw the special teams unit:

  • Kick a kickoff out of bounds
  • Kick a 16-yard punt
  • Muff a pooch kick and allow Texas State to gain possession
  • Lose possession after a player was hit in the head running down to block for a punt return

Two special teams turnovers don’t come close to the offense’s total (five), but they can’t escape notice after the year this unit has had.

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Rice Basketball falls short against Louisiana

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Rice basketball dropped its final contest of 2023 to Louisiana and will enter AAC play 6-7 overall in the New Year.

Finally back to .500 at 6-6 following a tough start to the season, Rice basketball was hoping to finish off their final game before a lengthy holiday break with a win. Those dreams died rather quickly on Friday night, however, as Louisiana marched into Tudor Fieldhouse and dropped 10 first-half three-pointers on the Owls, knocking down seven of their first nine from distance.

Rice got off to a much slower start, making just 29.6 percent of their shots from the field in the first half. They attempted just nine threes as their normal leading scorer, Travis Evee, was held to just three points before halftime.

Trailing by 14 points at the break, Rice was able to trim the lead on a few separate occasions. The Owls had run of five consecutive baskets and two free throws early in the second half to get within six. They fell behind once more only for Evee and Alem Huseinovic to rain down several threes and get back within single digits. But that was always roughly the margin and never much closer.

Back within eight in the final three minutes, Louisiana would go on a 9-0 run to close it out sending Rice into their Christmas break 6-7.

Final Box | Louisiana 84 – Rice 67

Key takeaway | Time for a reset

It’s been an unforgiving schedule for Rice basketball to start the season. They wanted to be tested and give themselves an opportunity to pick up a marquee win or two. Not only did they not achieve the latter, but they’ll enter their conference slate below .500 on the season.

There’s a lot to unpack and there will be a midseason state of the program coming for our subscribers during the Owls’ long break from the court. The most important thing for this team right now is to exhale, take a deep breath and reset.

Conference play is coming. It’s going to be significantly tougher than it was a season ago in Conference USA. This iteration of Rice basketball has flashed moments of being up to the challenge, but it’s clear they need a break and some time for the coaching staff to make a few additional tweaks. How the season goes from here hangs in the balance.

Up Next: at Tulane – Jan. 3 (Wed.)

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