The source for Rice sports news

Rice Basketball escapes UTSA, advances in CUSA Tournament

By

Rice basketball is moving on in the Conference USA Tournament, surviving a waved-off buzzer-beater to advance past UTSA.

Slow starts had been the painfully recurring theme for Rice basketball in their recent cold spell, but that streak did not continue into the first round of the Conference USA Tournament. Rice opened up their game against UTSA on an 8-0 run, pushing the pace and taking control of the matchup with the league’s bottom seed early.

Rice continued to shoot well throughout the game, but it was the Owls’ defense that helped the hold their early advantage. A block at the halftime buzzer sent them into the break with a nine-point advantage, which would not prove to be as safe as it felt at the time. UTSA rallied in the second half, tying the game at 46-46. The fight was on.

Although Rice never trailed, the margins felt razor-thin right up until the literal final second. With 7.0 seconds on the clock and a one-point lead, guard Quincy Olivari walked to the free-throw line to shoot a one-and-one. He missed. The rebound went to UTSA and the Owls watched guard Japhet Medor drive the length of the court and put up the would-be game-winning shot at the buzzer.

“Live, I thought it was late. But when they took all that time I got really nervous,” head coach Scott Pera said.

UTSA celebrated. The referees went to the monitor. After conferring for what felt like forever, it was determined the shot was not released in time. The basket was no good. Rice had won.

“This is March Madness, right?” Pera mused. “That was some madness.”

Final Box | Rice 72 – UTSA 71

Key takeaway | Hope is not a strategy

At the end of the day, Pera and his team just had to wait. The officials and the monitors had the fate of the Owls’ season in their hands. One signal, and it could have all been over. “You have no control over it,” Pera admitted. “It’s just did it get off his fingers or not, and it’s a very strange feeling.”

UTSA took Rice down to the wire twice in the regular season. They got as close as could have been imagined this time around. The 10-23 Roadrunners had the Owls’ season on the brink..

“Kid made a heck of a play, a very tough shot. It just happened to be, I don’t know, a quarter second too late,” Pera admitted. “We were the beneficiaries of that. We’re appreciative to get the win and we’re happy to still be playing.”

Rice moves on to play UAB, who two weeks ago routed Rice in Birmingham. The rematch will be played in Frisco, but it’s going to require a lot more than hope for Rice to keep their season alive against the Blazers.

Against UTSA, Rice had a fast start. They shot the ball well. They had a great contribution off the bench from Andrew Akuchie. And it still went down to the wire. The Owls will have their work cut out for them against the Blazers. They’re going to need to bring their A-game. Hope won’t be enough to get by this time.

Up Next: vs No. 3 UAB, Thursday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball falls Texas A&M for second time this week

By

Rice Baseball had another chance to take down Texas A&M, but the offense never materialized, resulting in the Owls’ first midweek defeat.

Despite never truly connecting with a hard-hit ball, Texas A&M loaded the bases in the second inning. Then, on a collection of singles, the Aggies broke through. Texas A&M put up a four-spot in the inning and didn’t really threaten again. Rice starter JD McCracken and reliever Justin Long kept them at bay for a while, but the damage had been done.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball vanquishes Vaqueros in midweek win

Rice would scratch its only run across in the seventh. Texas A&M added two more with a two-out, two-RBI double in the following half inning and that was that. For the second time this week, Rice fell to Texas A&M.

What it means | Mind the Gap

Nearly a month of Rice baseball is in the books, representing roughly a quarter of the 2023 season. That’s enough data points to start building a realistic picture of what this team will be this year. They’ve handled the Sam Houstons and UTRGVs of the world with relative ease. They’ve had their moments against some of the sports’ better teams, defeating Texas Tech and coming close against Stanford. But how good are they really?

Names to Know: Under the radar Rice Baseball players for the 2023 season

This isn’t a Top 10 team. It’s probably not a Top 25 team. But they should firmly cement themselves, at a minimum, as better than lower tiers if they can get a series win over Houston Christian this weekend. That still leaves a fairly wide spectrum and Rice is somewhere in between. With Parker Smith on the mound, they’re dangerous. When he’s not, Texas A&M hands Rice their second defeat in as many matchups.

ON DECK | vs HCU (Fri-Sun)

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball vanquishes UTRGV in midweek win

By

Rice Baseball vanquished Vaqueros, exploding past UTRGV to earn a midweek during one of their busiest stretches of the season.

A wild pitch in the first inning gave Rice baseball an early lead in their midweek battle with UT Rio Grande Valley. With Mauricio Rodriguez on the mound, the Owls’ pitching staff put up a couple of early zeroes and then the bats took off.

Rice sent 14 players to the plate in the bottom of the second inning, which began with a leadoff home run from Connor Walsh. The whole host of Owls would rally behind him, driving in nine runs, four of which came by way of bases-loaded walks. Had it not been for a few strikeouts, the crooked number might have been even more significant, but the nine they did score would prove to be more than sufficient.

Last Time Out: Rice Baseball upsets Tech, falls to A&M/TCU at Shriner’s

Staked to a 10-0 lead, Rice was able to empty the bullpen and get work for several of their lesser-utilized arms to this point. Tyler Hamilton worked 2.1 innings and earned the win. Jack Ben-Shoshan, who made his Rice debut as an outfielder in 2022, made his first pitching performance, twirling a scoreless frame. Ryland Urbanczyk and Mark Perkins saw action too. Altogether, the staff allowed three runs, which is more than excusable when your own team puts up 14.

What it means | Midweek Mojo

It’s no secret the Owls’ early schedule has been absolutely brutal. Louisiana has been their “easiest” opponent so far, and they already own a four-game sweep of BYU and a weekend win over a ranked Campbell squad. Following those Ragin’ Cajuns up with a trip to Stanford and a three-game Texas-styled stretch at the Shriner’s Classic is about as challenging of an opening month as you could design.

Names to Know: Under the radar Rice Baseball players for the 2023 season

For that reason, it has become absolutely essential that Rice baseball wins these midweek games, especially those against unranked foes. A rematch with the Aggies at Reckling Park on Wednesday might be the exception, but the games against smaller programs need to be wins to keep the record headed in the right direction. Rice did that on Tuesday, improving to 5-7.

ON DECK | vs Texas A&M (Wed), vs HCU (Fri-Sun)

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Baseball edges Tech, falls to TCU, A&M at Shriner’s Classic

By

Rice Baseball won one of three games at the Shriner’s Classic, taking down Texas Tech for their first ranked win of the Jose Cruz Jr. era.

FRIDAY | Rice 3 – Texas Tech 2

Parker Smith further solidified his status as a bonafide Friday starter this weekend, tossing a fantastic outing against No. 24 Texas Tech at Minute Maid. Smith struck out a career-high eight batters in six innings, allowing just three hits, one walk and zero runs. His efforts were bolstered by a two-run home run from Connor Walsh in the fourth inning to give Rice the lead.

Matthew Linskey struggled to find his command in relief, allowing Texas Tech to tie the game on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly in the seventh. Jack Riedel answered in the bottom half of the inning with a solo shot of his own which would prove to be the game winner, lifting Rice baseball to its first win over a ranked opponent in the Jose Cruz Jr. era.

SATURDAY | Texas A&M 13 – Rice 1 (7 inn.)

Texas A&M scored three runs in the first. They scored five runs in the second, chasing starting pitcher Mauricio Rodriguez in the process. Ryland Urbanczyk replaced him and was greeted with a rousing Ball-5 chant from the maroon-clad crowd.

The Aggies finished that second inning with an 8-0 lead. Rice stranded the bases loaded in the top half of the third, then watched Texas A&M tack on three more runs in the bottom half of the inning and another two runs in the fourth. After nearly two hours of game time, Texas A&M led 13-0 and the fifth inning hadn’t yet begun. It was that kind of night for Rice baseball.

SUNDAY| TCU 7 – Rice 0

The dwindling offensive numbers hit their bottom in the Sunday finale against TCU hurler Cam Brown, who had the Owls’ number from the start. He struck out eight in seven innings, allowing just three hits and the TCU bats did the rest. The Horned Frogs scored three on a home run in the second inning and another on a solo shot in the third. A sacrifice fly in the fifth and a two-run double in the eighth rounded out the scoring, more than enough to overcome the Owls’ bagel.

Rice was held to four hits for the afternoon. Starting pitcher Tom Vincent was relieved after 2.1 innings. Matthew Linskey was the only Rice pitcher that did not get charged with a run, while Cristian Cienfuegos, JD McCracken and Blake Brogdon were not as fortunate.

THREE FOR THE ROAD

Rice baseball concluded a stretch of seven consecutive games away from Reckling Park with a three-game stint at the Shriner’s College Classic. The Owls picked up one win in the process. Here are a few takeaways from the weekend.

1. Who’s next on the mound?

Subscriber content.<br /> Please login to see the full post or visit our Patreon page.
Sorry! This part of content is hidden behind this box because it requires a higher contribution level ($10) at Patreon. Why not take this chance to increase your contribution?

ON DECK | vs UTRGV (Tues),  vs Texas A&M (Wed), vs Houston Christian (Fri-Sun)

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts

Rice Basketball fades down the stretch, falls to FIU

By

Rice basketball ended the regular season with a thud, losing a halftime lead before falling at home on Senior Day to FIU.

Fans inside the confines of Tudor Fieldhouse were treated to an entertaining back-and-forth contest as Rice basketball and FIU wrapped up their regular seasons with vigor. FIU took a seven-point lead in the first half in the back of a 10-0 run only to see Rice immediately flip the script, countering with a 10-0 run of their own capped off with back-to-back threes from Travis Evee.

That’s how the game seemed to go from start to finish. Both teams shot well (Rice 50.8 percent — FIU 49.2 percent), making it feel like the game would be decided in the final minutes. In a way, it was, but not like many would have expected. With 4:33 remaining in the second half, Evee put Rice up three with a layup. Rice would not score from the field for the remainder of the game.

Two free throws, both from Evee, would interrupt a thunderous finish from FIU, who outscored Rice 12-2 from that point onward. The Owls had their chances, but turnovers and poor rebounding killed opportunities for a late rally.

Final Box | FIU 90 – Rice 83

Key takeaway | Sluggish second half

Rice basketball opened conference play 6-3. They would win just two of their remaining 11 games, falling from a potential first-round bye in the Conference USA Conference Tournament to a play-in game, stacking the deck against themselves in the process. For a team that showed so much promise early in the year, the regular season ends in a rather disappointing fashion.

As things currently stand, Rice looks likely to be the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, pairing them with No. 11 seed UTSA in a potential first round game which would be played on Wednesday, March 8. The winner of that contest would go on to play No. 3 seed UAB.

Up Next: Conference USA Tournament, Round 1

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

Recent Posts