Rice Basketball battled for 40 minutes, but came up short, dropping a back-and-forth home contest to UTSA.
No lead was safe and nor long-lasting when Rice basketball played host to UTSA on Tuesday night. The Roadrunners scored first before the Owls rattled off a 12-2 run to take an early eight-point advantage in the first half. The score was level four minutes later. Then UTSA opened up a lead of their own, rocketing in front by as many as 17 points and putting Rice under the gun.
Alem Huseinovic scored seven straight to close the half and get the Owls back within 10. Rice would chip away at that margin throughout the second half, bringing the game even again with 10:00 minutes to go in regulation.
More: Rice Basketball 2024-2025 Midseason State of the Program
From there the ball bounced back in favor of the visitors, who answered the Rice rally with an 11-2 spurt to go back in front down the stretch. Rice would cut the deficit back to as few as four points, but never got closer than that, dropping the game and falling to 2-3 in AAC play.
Final Box | UTSA 90, Rice 84
FINAL | UTSA 90, @RiceMBB 84 pic.twitter.com/MeSQfMUQb1
— The Roost (@AtTheRoost) January 15, 2025
Key takeaway | The little things
The wild swings aside, this winnable basketball game got away from the Owls late. Rice shot 53 percent from the floor, won the rebounding battle and had more assists and blocks than UTSA. Turnovers and near-misses rendered so many of those good things void.
Rice turned the ball over 16 times, tied for the third most turnovers in a game this season. That’s a big number, but it was exacerbated by a clean game from UTSA (six turnovers) and too many shooters to give extra possessions. Three different Roadrunners crossed the 20-point mark, a byproduct of extra opportunities handed them by the Owls. That trio also went 17-for-18 from the free throw line. Rice was 22-30.
It wasn’t a bad night from Rice, but it wasn’t their best night either. When you’re playing teams that can shoot like UTSA, it’s going to come back to bite you sooner or later. Rice has the talent and experience to win games like this. They just have to find ways to be more consistent.
Up Next: at Florida Atlantic (Sat, Jan. 19)
