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Rice Basketball topped at FAU

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Rice Basketball couldn’t hang on to a 16-point second-half lead, succumbing to Florida Atlantic on the road.

It was an evenly matched game in the early goings of Rice basketball’s road tilt at Florida Atlantic on Sunday. Everything was close until the visiting Owls started to get going offensively, cranking up their effectiveness from three. Five different Owls made a triple in the half as a modest lead began to form.

Jacob Dar led the way, making the most of his first start of the season with a team-high 19 points, including a pair of threes to start the second half which helped Rice establish a double-digit lead and maintain it for the better part of the second half until FAU began to chip away in earnest around the 10 minute mark.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

Dar would contribute a couple of threes down the stretch to help fend off the FAU rally, but the Rice shooting began to slump, collectively. FAU would close the game on a 17-5 run, holding Rice to two field goals in the final five minutes of play to pull out the come-from-behind win.

Final Box | FAU 75, Rice 73

Key takeaway | Clutch moments

After starting AAC play 2-0, Rice basketball has lost their last four conference games. Winning out was never a realistic expectation, but given how well this team had played in recent weeks, a prolonged losing streak didn’t seem likely to be in the cards either. A bludgeoning at the hands of a talented North Texas team aside, Rice could have very easily won the rest of these games.

The Owls were in one-possession games late against Temple, UTSA and FAU but weren’t able to close out any of them. It’s clear this team has another step to take when it comes to making plays in the final few minutes that prove differential in winning basketball games. Close games are going to happen in conference play and tend to become hallmarks of which teams are remembered in March.

This team has been remarkably ahead of expectations for much of this season and they’ve managed to play competitive basketball almost every time they’ve taken the court. This is their next test. Can they learn to win on the fly when the schedule starts to get tougher? Because the road doesn’t get easier from here.

Up Next: vs Tulane (Sat, Jan. 25)

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Rice Basketball defeated in Denton

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Rice Basketball came up short in one of their most challenging road tests of the season, becoming one of many teams to fall to North Texas in Denton.

North Texas started the scoring on Wednesday night and never really let up. Early three-pointers from Alem Huseinovic and Jacob Dar helped erase an early eight point deficit to give Rice a one-point lead halfway through the first half. It wouldn’t last long. Consecutive triples from the Mean Green’s Atin Wright quickly thrust the Owls into comeback mode.

Both teams were fairly evenly matched in rebounds, assists and turnovers. North Texas just found the bucket more often than not, shooting an unmatchable 55 percent from the floor. That superb shooting stroke turned a close game into a 14-point edge for the home team at halftime.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program

The game was never back within reach from that point onward. Caden Powell put up 10 points in the second half. Denver Anglin scored eight. North Texas kept up its torrid pace, finishing the game with 11 three-pointers and a near-perfect 16-for-17 outing from the free throw line.

Final Box | North Texas 81, Rice 59

Key takeaway | Moving On

Rice basketball avenged some history earlier this season when they beat Tulsa for the first time since 2005, snapping a streak of 17 consecutive defeats. It hadn’t been quite that long since the Owls had beaten the Mean Green, but winning in Denton was still a rarity. In face, Rice had won twice in Denton all-time against North Texas.

North Texas was undefeated at home so far this season (8-0 entering this game) and is one of the better teams in the AAC. Rice basketball has come a long way from their lowly preseason expectations, but a road loss at the Super Pit to one a good team isn’t the end of the world. Nights like this are going to happen as this team continues to grow. Best to put it in the rear view mirror and keep moving forward.

Up Next: vs Temple (Sat, Jan. 11)

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Rice Basketball snaps streak, tops Tulsa

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Rice basketball opened AAC play with a win, snapping a longstanding program losing streak to Tulsa in the process.

When the final buzzer sounded, Rice basketball clinched its first win over Tulsa since 2006, snapping a losing streak that had stretched to 17 games against the Golden Hurricane. These two teams had only met twice since the Owls joined the American a season prior, but even when the two shared Conference USA a decade ago, this program had historically gotten the better of Rice more often than not.

That previous meeting between these two teams last February had been decided in overtime. Wednesday’s New Year’s Day affair didn’t get to extra minutes, but the narrow margin throughout the contest certainly suggested that was in the realm of outcomes.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

A 10-0 Rice run put the Owls in front by seven right off the bat, but Tulsa retook the lead going into the break before the teams traded small advances through the midpoint of the second half. It wasn’t until back-to-back buckets from Denver Anglin put Rice up by five with roughly eight minutes to play that the Owls had a lead that felt substantive again.

Tulsa would push back, cutting their deficit to one, but the final rally was delivered by the the visiting Owls. Caden Powell kicked off a decisive 7-0 spurt in the final two minutes with Jacob Dar delivered a pair of clutch free throws to give Rice an eight-point cushion with 26 seconds to go, securing the victory.

Final Box | Rice 70, Tulsa 64

What They’re Saying

“We said that the game was going to be close throughout. At some point, there was going to be a breaking point for the tougher team. We felt like there was going to come a point in the latter part of the second half when the tougher team was going to distinguish themselves. We expected it to be a close, hard-fought game. There was a point where we got a little bit of separation. We made some poor decisions, which gave (Tulsa) some confidence and momentum. But, all-in-all, we showed some grit when it mattered.” – Rice basketball head coach Rob Lanier

Key takeaway | More than a win

The victory was just the seventh win for Rice basketball over Tulsa in program history, a history that includes 37 meetings. Tulsa might not be Memphis or Houston, but the Golden Hurricane have more or less always been better than Rice on the hardwood outside of a 3-0 stretch in the series by Rice during the 2004-2005 seasons. Outside of that, Rice had one other win against Tulsa in this millennium.

That’s important not to denigrate Rice basketball past, but to underscore the progress being made by Ron Lanier and this roster in his first season on South Main. It’s been bumpy and imperfect, but this team is making strides, starting by beating a team they’ve historically rarely beaten.

Up Next: vs Charlotte (Sat, Jan. 4)

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Rice Basketball upset by UNT-Dallas

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Rice basketball missed the tying free throw in the final seconds of regulation, falling to North Texas-Dallas at home.

In hindsight, a sluggish start from Rice basketball probably should have served as a sign of trouble ahead. The Owls traded baskets with their opponents in the early goings on Thursday, trailing a large portion of the first half before a 10-0 run in the middle of the period put Rice in front by more than a basket for the first time.

A few well-timed three pointers from Jacob Dar and Denver Anglin helped thwart some runs from the Owls’ foes, but the margin hung around 10-points or through the end of the half. That inability to lengthen the lead proved consequential for Rice who watched UNT-Dallas start chipping away in the second half.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

A 15-point Rice advantage was whittled down to seven by an 8-0 UNT-Dallas run before any advantage evaporated entirely and the game was tied at 61 apiece with 3:43 on the clock.

Free throws would prove to be the decider. UNT-Dallas’ Vernon Johnson knocked down all three of his attempts under 10 seconds to give his team a one-point lead. For Rice, Kellen Amos had two free throws near the two-second mark. He missed both and Rice lost.

As is often the case, a loss like this is due to more than poor free-throw shooting. Eight steals by UNT-Dallas highlighted Rice’s lackluster showing in their first home loss of the season.

Final Box | UNTD 69, Rice 68

Key takeaway | The Honeymoon is over

UNT-Dallas doesn’t have a logo on ESPN. The NAIA school launched it’s basketball program in 2014. For perspective, the kids in the stands watching on Thursday were around the same age as the Owls’ opponents program.

There were always going to be growing pains in the first year under a new head coach, but even in their previously ugly game against Alcorn State, they found a way to win. Even still, growing pains were going to come, it was just hard to imagine them striking in such a severe fashion as this.

Rice basketball is 8-4 on the season and 4-1 at Tudor Fieldhouse. The season is far from over, but this particularly game is going to sting for a while, as it should. It must serve as a reminder of where this program is coming from, a near-total reboot. For it to have gone off without a hitch was wishful thinking. Thursday’s events made that fact abundantly clear.

Up Next: vs Prairie View A&M (Sun, Dec. 22)

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Rice Basketball comes up short against Florida State

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Rice Basketball kept things close but couldn’t get enough shots to fall late, picking up their first loss of the season against Florida State.

Florida State came out swinging and immediately put Rice basketball on the defensive at the Toyota Center on Saturday night, shooting a blistering 76 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes and forcing the Owls to match their torrid pace.

A 7-0 run from the Noles was the Owls’ first test. Rather than rely on any one player, Rice saw contributions up and down the lineup to keep the game within reach. On this occasion, it was Jacob Dar and Trey Patterson who came through with the key layups to get back within four. That was the point when both sides seemed to settle down and the Rice defense was able to set its defense and play the style of game they wanted to play.

Florida State saw their shooting percentage drop from the high 70s to the 40s and their fouls tick upward. After hitting 10 of their first 13 field goals, the Noles missed their next eight shots. A simultaneous shooting slump from the Owls squashed any chance of a rally, but the defensive effort kept Rice afloat until Florida State snapped out of their stupor, a moment which unfortunately came before the Rice offense had recharged.

Rice was held to one field goal in the final eight minutes of the first half, allowing Florida State to go on a 9-3 run and extend their lead to 10 points at the break.

More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Season Preview

Alem Huseinovic and Trae Broadnax kicked the team into gear in the second half, knocking down a trio of three-pointers, almost instantaneously evaporating the Florida State lead which shrank to 33-32 in roughly two minutes of play.

Both teams traded baskets and fouls late into the second half, but that crucial spurt of three-point success proved to be the exception, not the rule. Rice would miss 11 of their next 12 three-pointers, slowly watching a close game fade away with each successive clank off the iron. 12 missed free throws didn’t help the cause, either. The box score shows a comfortable Florida State win, but Rice had a real chance to make this one interesting.

“From an overall team connectivity standpoint, we have something good there,” guard Trae Broadnax said postgame. “That’s where we’re close and we just have to lock in on the things that plagued us like the free throws, like the turnovers, like the execution on both ends of the floor so that we can put it together. It’s November. We’ve still got a long ways to go.”

Final Box | FSU 73, Rice 65

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Free Throw Woes

There’s been a lot of good to take from the Rob Lanier era of Rice basketball through two games and a 1-1 start. The defensive effort is improved and the effort has been impressive on both ends of the court. The most glaring deficiency that cost the Owls in both games so far? Free throws.

Rice missed 15 free throws against FIU and missed 12 free throws against Florida State. Shooting 100 percent from the charity stripe is unrealistic and even making every foul shot wouldn’t have saved the Owls on Saturday night, but this game takes on a different feel if they make them at a more realistic clip. That change might not be coming soon.

“Today was my 1,091st game coaching division one [basketball] and I’ve never worked with — and I worked with two hall of fame coaches — or been a great free throw coach. Billy Donovan was not a good free throw coach. Rick Barnes was not a good free throw coach and neither am I,” Lanier admitted.

Lanier’s final SMU squad made just 68.6 percent of their free throws last season. The 2024-2025 Owls are sitting at 60.8 percent through two games. Neither of those numbers is going to be better than the bottom quartile of the country.

Lanier acknowledged the challenge but kept a positive spin on things. “Witchcraft. Pixie dust. Burn some sage in the gym,” he joked. “We’ll try some different stuff.”

Rice basketball might never be an elite free throw shooting team. But getting the Owls back to the middle of the back would go a long way.

Up Next: vs Louisiana Monroe (Tues)



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