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Rice Basketball Roundup: Owls sweep three-game home slate

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It was a good weekend for Rice basketball, who swept their three-game slate over five days to stay undefeated at Tudor Fieldhouse.

  • Thursday | Rice 92 – North American 54
  • Saturday | Rice 110 – Northwestern State 73
  • Monday | Rice 100 – Jarvis Christian 64

Frankly, Rice basketball took care of business this weekend against teams they should have beaten soundly. To some extent, that’s par for the course, but it was encouraging to see just how quickly they dispatched these three, particularly their Saturday win over Northwestern State.

The Demons entered that game 8-2 with a road win over No. 15 TCU and over the Owls’ former C-USA foe Southern Miss under their belts. Yet Rice romped easily at home.

Quincy Olivari was unstoppable, topping 17 points in all three contests, and he would have had many more had he come close to his normal complement of minutes. Max Fiedler had a double-double against Jarvis Christian and a season-high 22 points against Northwestern State. Travis Evee even got back on track, going 4-for-6 from three on Monday evening, scoring 14 points.

The Owls opened the benches in all three games, getting valuable minutes for younger players who — if past seasons are any indication — might very well be called upon for expanded minutes down the stretch.

Up Next | Full Schedule

Then next time Rice basketball takes the court they’ll be in the thick of Conference USA play. The Owls have already played one conference game, a strange mid-November road tilt against Middle Tennessee, which they lost. Up next after Christmas are road against at Western Kentucky (Thr, Dec. 29) and at UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Football overrun by Frank Gore, Southern Miss in Lending Tree Bowl

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Frank Gore Jr. proved too much to handle for Rice Football, who were unable to overcome his record-setting game at the Lending Tree Bowl.

A slow start, a furious rally and a Frank Gore-filled fourth quarter sent Rice football home from Mobile, Alabama without a win. Rice took a 24-17 lead in the third quarter of the Lending Tree Bowl before being outscored 21-0 for the remainder of the contest. Here are a few immediate reactions from the game:

Hang in there

The game did not start out well for the blue and gray. Southern Miss raced down the field for the opening score. Rice punted on their next drive. Then after a defensive stand, Rice had what appeared to be a clear targeting flag against running back Quinton Jackson picked up prior to Rice turning the ball over.

More: Roost Pod — Fourth Annual Roosties Rice Football Awards

As has been the case with so many Rice turnovers this year, the play was absurd and strange. Padgett squeezed a ball in between two defenders into the waiting arms of Jack Bradley who appeared so surprised that the ball reached him that he never went on to complete the catch. Rice wouldn’t challenge, though, and the nation’s leading turnover team added one more to their ledger.

Outside of a series of three consecutive 20-yard plays, the offense wouldn’t do much of note in the first half. The defense was in survival mode and the Owls can’t have been too upset to enter the break down trailing by just two scores.

Boom and bust

The Rice defense was back and forth all night, seemingly oscillating between big plays for either side. They held Southern Miss to 3.3 yards per carry on their first 11 carries of the night… then the twelfth happened, a 64-yard touchdown run by Frank Gore Jr.

That’s kind of how the early portions of the evening went for the Owls. The pass rush was, for the most part, particularly effective. Ikenna Enechukwu got the ball back himself once, but even when they didn’t get home, they forced Southern Miss quarterback Trey Lowe to force throws, often ending in the dirt. The front four plugged gaps and made running lanes hard to reach.

Not long after near the end of the second quarter a 55-yard completion set the Golden Eagles up inside the 10. Pass interference gave them a fresh set of downs inside the two. They had to settle for a field goal. Had it not been for the few big plays sprinkled in, this would have read like a strong defensive performance.

Rice did not have a single tackle for a loss against North Texas. They had seven against Southern Miss, two sacks and knocked the ball away from Trey Lowe twice. They forced a crucial fourth quarter fumble from Gore. They were disruptive and impacted the game in a big way.

But the busts were real. Gore made Rice pay dearly for their inability to tackle late and every misstep in their front. He exploded for an NCAA bowl-record 329 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, tacking on a passing touchdown for good measure. Whether Rice ran out of gas or not, they couldn’t handle Gore when it counted down the stretch.

AJ Padgett swagger

In the second half, Rice started to find its rhythm on offense and they found it by keying in on the pattern they discovered on their longest drive of the first half. The Owls utilized their speed from side to side, running reverses and sweeps to bring the defense in and then taking shots down the field. Like this:

The conductor of the offensive explosion was AJ Padgett, who transformed from his first-half self. Padgett started the third quarter with completions on 9-of-10 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns. That, after a first-half mark of 7-of-13 passes for 84 yards and no scores.

It’s hard not to overstate just how incredible Padgett’s explosion really was. He was the scout team quarterback just two weeks ago. He’s the fourth different option the Owls have turned to under center this season and was playing in just his third career game against a pretty good defense that had his number early on.

In the third quarter, Rice scored touchdowns of 26 yards, 32 yards and 18 yards. Only once this season had Rice exceeded two touchdowns in a game from outside the redzone. That came against Charlotte, with the final score coming with the Owls trailing by multiple scores against backups on defense.

Including the touchdown scores, Rice had nine pass plays of 15+ yards and four rushing plays of 10+ yards. Cam Montgomery had the long run, breaking off a 57-yard gain on the ground. The longest pass play came on a leaping 34-yard reception by Quinton Jackson.

Then he lit them up. All the while being beaten up and bruised by a front seven that gave the Rice defensive line fits all night. Padgett was stellar, and that would have been the case if he’d been a veteran starter. Unfortunately, he would be unable to finish the job, leaving the game in the fourth quarter after taking a particularly nasty hit. As the protection wore down, so too did the Rice offense.

5-8

It’s been a tumultuous season, and as the fans trickle out of Hancock Whitney Stadium on a mid-December Saturday evening, there’s a bitter taste that will linger following a loss in the Lending Tree Bowl to Southern Miss.

Although it’s unequivocally true that Rice football has officially accomplished one major goals (reaching a bowl game), a 5-8 record will be tough to swallow, even with a back-and-forth game that went down to the wire.

From training camp until the moment the clock hit triple zeroes, the well-verbalized expectation for this program was to go to a bowl game and to win it. The path was unconventional — Rice made it here via APR score, not the more conventional six-win threshold — and the results show this team still isn’t quite where they’d like to be.

To be quite honest, that sets things up for a pivotal brave new world in 2023 when Rice will move to the American Athletic Conference. But that’s a discussion for the offseason. For now, it’s safe to say progress has been made, but there is more needed to be achieved for Rice football to be where they truly want to be.

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Rice Women’s Basketball pulls away from Sam Houston to stay perfect

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It was a close game at Tudor Fieldhouse until Rice women’s basketball pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure their ninth straight win.

Whether it was the early morning tip time or something else, Rice women’s basketball got off to a sluggish start in the first quarter in their final nonconference game. The Owls shot 28.6 percent from the floor in the opening frame but managed to keep the game close with their defense, trailing 15-10 when the second quarter began.

Sam Houston extended their lead to seven points on the first bucket of the second quarter, then Destiny Jackson took over for the Owls. She scored four consecutive buckets, vaporizing the deficit and turning it into the first Rice lead of the day.

While Rice was able to right the ship and make things interesting, Sam Houston wouldn’t go away. Neither team led by more than three points from the midpoint of Jackson’s second-quarter run (8:30 on the clock) til the 1:32-minute mark of the third quarter, a span of nearly 10 minutes of court time.

When the Owls’ shots started falling, though, they didn’t stop. A close game became a route in a matter of minutes. Rice hit four three-pointers to close out the third quarter, then did most of their fourth quarter damage inside, opening up a 13-point lead after the final media timeout and coasting to their ninth consecutive victory, completing a perfect run through non-conference play.

Spotlight | Katelyn Crosthwait

Crosthwait has become a reliable deep threat for Rice women’s basketball, making at least one three-pointer in eight of nine games and making three or more triples in six games so far. Altogether she’s shooting 41.4 percent from three, the best mark on the team.

It was Crosthwait’s third quarter contributions that helped open the game up and turned a close game into a multi-score advantage headed to the fourth quarter. In addition to her 14 points, which tied a season high, she also added four rebounds and an assist.

Final Box | Rice 68 – SHSU 57

Up Next | Full Schedule

The next time Rice women’s basketball hits the court they’ll be headed for conference play. After wrapping up its nonconference schedule, Rice will next play games against Middle Tennessee (Tues, Dec. 20), Western Kentucky (Thur, Dec. 29), and UTEP (Sat, Dec. 31).

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Rice Basketball rolls past North American

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Rice basketball bounced back from a tough road loss at Texas with a comfortable beatdown of North American at Tudor Fieldhouse.

If there was an emotional hangover from the overtime loss at Texas on Monday, no one on the court for Rice basketball on Wednesday morning showed any signs of it. Days after the near-miss, Rice emptied its bench on it’s home court against a less talented team, coasting to a landslide victory to stay undefeated at Tudor Fieldhouse this year.

North American led just once in the entire game courtesy of a modest six-point run around the first media timeout of the first half. That 10-9 advantage for the visitors lasted for less than a minute. Cam Sheffield knocked down a three to spark a 9-0 Rice run and the Owls had the breathing room they needed to keep their opponents at bay.

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The two sides who trade buckets for a while, then Rice added an 8-0 run in the final minutes before the halftime buzzer. Up by 15 at the break thanks to a layup by Travis Evee, the Owls continued to pour it on.

Rice basketball opened the second half on a staggering 34-12 run. From that point onward, the game was essentially decided. 16 different Owls saw action.

Player Spotlight | Andrew Akuchie

Quincy Olivari went off for 20+ points, again, but it was the 10-point game of freshman Andrew Akuchie that stood out. It was his first double-digit scoring effort of his young Rice career and another reminder the depth on this team is continuing to strengthen, Akuchie might not be a starter just yet, but he’s a capable young player with plenty of upside.

A 10-point, 4-rebound outing just a few games into his Rice career is another positive step in his growth that was extremely encouraging to see.

Final Box | Rice 92 – North American 54

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball has two more games in their current homestand. They’ll play another on Saturday against Northwestern State before taking on Jarvis Christian in their final non-conference game of the season. All three of those games are scheduled to be streamed on CUSAtv.

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Rice Basketball loses upset bid in OT, falls to Texas

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Rice basketball took Texas to the brink but was unable to secure the historic upset, falling to the Longhorns in overtime.

Whether it was good fortune or a willingness to take advantage of what had been a turbulent day for the Texas program, Rice basketball came out ready to play on Monday evening at the Moody Center. Max Fiedler put Rice on the board with a layup to start the scoring, which would casually ping-pong back and forth in the early goings as both teams adjusted to the pace of the game. Then the Owls took off.

Alem Huseinvoic knocked down back-to-back threes with Quincy Olivari following with another, a 9-0 Rice run. Texas would battle back but was never able to get in front. Rice went into the break with a 33-29 lead and a real shot to pull off a monumental upset.

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The Owls, who hadn’t beaten a ranked Texas squad since 1982 and had lost their last 10 meetings with the Longhorns, sensed an opportunity and never quit. Although Texas was able to take the lead in the second half, Rice always seemed to answer.

Both teams exchanged minored leads throughout the remainder of the contest. Texas would lead by as many as six points in regulation but was never able to pull away. Ultimately, Rice would have their shot, a jumper by Huseinovic in a tie game with the buzzer imminent. Instead, the ball hit iron and the Owls would go on to lose in overtime.

The loss will sting, but it’s worth noting this wasn’t just a bad night from Texas that Rice stumbled upon. No, Texas shot 50 percent from the floor and narrowly outrebounded Rice 40-39. This was a full 45-minute dogfight and the Owls acquitted themselves well before ultimately running out of game.

Player Spotlight | Quincy Olivari

Olivari had strung together some impressive games over the month of December, but his performance against Texas might have been his most inspired showing yet. Olivari tied for the lead among all scorers with 28 points, connecting on 4-of-9 from three and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, also grabbing five boards and dishing out four assists.

It felt like he was involved in most of the momentum-shifting plays on Monday night. Had it not been for his effort, the Owls wouldn’t have been in this game.

Final Box | Texas 87 – Rice 81 (OT)

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball heads back home for a three-game homestand which gets started on Thursday night against North American. They’ll play another on Saturday against Northwestern State before taking on Jarvis Christian in their final non-conference game of the season. All three of those games are scheduled to be streamed on CUSAtv.

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