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Rice Basketball Survives “Test of Our Mettle” vs Texas State

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Rice Basketball earned a big lead and lost it, rallying late and holding on to secure a home win over Texas State.

Physicality was on full display when Rice basketball hosted Texas State on Wednesday evening. A tight contest in the early goings was turned into a sturdy halftime lead in favor of the Owls’ behind one of the more dominant rebounding efforts the program has seen in some time.

Texas State committed just five turnovers in the first half and shot a respectable 42 percent from the floor. And yet, they trailed by 12 points in large part because the Owls outrebounded the Bobcats 22-10 with a whopping 11 offensive boards leading to 16 second chance points.

MORE: Scott Abell Inks Tremendous 2026 Rice Football Recruiting Class

Then, it was as if the visitors flipped a switch. Texas State exploded out of the gates in the second half, nearly evening the rebounding battle in the next 10 minutes as they rallied to retake the lead in a 23-3 outburst. That Rice opened the half 2-for-9 from the field did them no favors.

Facing a six point deficit, Rice fought back. Trae Broadnax keyed the rally with several heads up defensive plays, putting the Owls back in front on a marvelous fadeaway followed by consecutive made free throws. Rice took a five-point lead into the final minute before Texas State cut it to one. Jalen Smith then made consecutive free throws to extend the edge to three before Nick Anderson iced things with a pair of foul shots of his own with 1.5 seconds remaining.

Rice Basketball improves to 4-6 with the win. The Owls are 3-2 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Rice 77, Texas State 72

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Learning on the Go

Following a week of consecutive gut punches, Rice basketball found a way to finish on Wednesday in a game that felt much more meaningful than just a singular win. But of course, it wouldn’t come easily.

That Rice saw a double-digit advantage wither in minutes in the second half and still found a way to rally spoke volumes about how far this team has come.

“I think those are the moments that kind of define teams a little bit,” guard Trae Broadnax said. “It was like a test of our mettle and our toughness.”

“I think coming off the week that we had last week where we went 1-2 but we felt like we took a step forward. We tried to put our best foot forward today in some spurts, for sure.”

ESPN win probability gave Rice more than a 90 percent chance of winning in this game on three separate occasions. Between them, Texas State mounted their rally. Afterward, Rice saw the late game lead dwindle to one point. The next step will be finding ways to maintain that consistent advantage and render the need for a furious comeback moot

“I feel like these experiences we’ve had over the last 10 games have not been lost on the guys,” Lanier said. “They’ve learned from it and I think tonight was an example of learning from previous games.”

Up Next: vs Arkansas State (Sat, Dec. 13 at 2:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball Tops Oral Roberts to Close Out Coconut Hoops

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Less than 48 hours removed from heartbreaking overtime losses, Rice Basketball bounced back and posted a big win over Oral Roberts at Coconut Hoops.

A grueling week at Coconut Hoops got off to a familiar start on Wednesday with Rice Basketball taking an early lead, this time against Oral Roberts. The Owls scored first and traded baskets with the Golden Eagles for much of the first half before Trade Broadnax earned the team some separation with successive possessions with a three and a jumper that put Rice in front by ten.

Ahead by a decent margin with four minutes to play, Rice was able to keep the margin there with even play from both sides of the court, answering the two field goals Oral Roberts was able to make in the final five minutes of the half, entering intermission with a 12 point advantage.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

Rice really seized control in earnest right out of the break. Jimmy Oladokun kicked off a 12-4 run that put the Owls ahead by 20. A steady barrage of threes and hard earned free throws ensured the advantage was never again distilled to single digits.

Rice Basketball held on to win, improving to 3-6 with the win. The Owls are 1-4 away from Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Rice 81, Oral Roberts 62

What They’re Saying

“That was a good week. It was a great way to cap off what I though was a week of tremendous growth for our team. We played together. We played tough, hard-nosed defense. We didn’t close out the first two games, but I thought we did a great job finishing this game. Our defense really stepped up in the second half.” – Rice Basketball head coach Rob Lanier

Key takeaway | Bringing the Heat from Deep

Rice basketball shot better than 50 percent from the floor on Wednesday, a welcomed offensive boost from a team that hadn’t quite found its shooting stroke in earnest this season. When combined with a strong defensive effort that kept Oral Roberts in check to the tune of 38 percent from the field, Rice was in a good place. The three-pointers sealed the deal.

Rice tied a season-high with 12 three-pointers getting three each from Broadnax and Jalen Smith and four from Nick Anderson. If Rice can get near that level of production from that trio — and build on early promise from freshman Cam Carroll who scored 10 on 2-for-3 from deep — Rice has the potential to be feisty down the stretch. Good defense with some deep shots will give teams fits. The next step is finding a way to produce that level of play more consistently.

Up Next: vs Texas State (Wed, Dec. 3 at 8:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball Ambushed by FGCU in OT

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Rice Basketball never trailed in regulation, but found themselves in a double-digit deficit, losing to FGCU in overtime at the Coconut Hoops Tournament.

Points were at a premium in the early goings of the second Rice basketball contest at Coconut Hoops. Jimmy Oladokun opened the scoring against Florida Gulf Coast with a layup more than two minutes into the contest as the Owls slowly began to accumulate a modest advantage.

Rice opened up a 9-2 edge, eventually growing the lead to 13 points on a big three-pointer from Jalen Smith. Florida Gulf Coast would close the half strong, though, knocking down consecutive three pointers to cut the gap to seven at intermission.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

That late push would prove to be the spark Florida Gulf Coast needed from deep. Riding hot three-point shooting from Jordan Ellerbee, the local team would trim the Owls’ advantage to one point midway through the second half. Rice never trailed in regulation, but a missed jumper from Trae Broadnax at the buzzer left the door open for overtime. Florida Gulf Coast capitilized.

The Eagles, who had yet to lead at any point in the first 40 minutes, scored the first 13 points in the extra period, putting the game out of reach before the Owls were able to get their feet underneath them. For a second game in a row, the Owls were bystanders in extra time.

Rice Basketball falls to 2-6 with the loss. The Owls are 0-4 away from Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | FGCU 78, Rice 63

Key takeaway | Deja Vu All Over Again

For those who might have missed this game, the script mirrored the first Rice Basketball contest at Coconut Hoops. Just like they did Tuesday against Florida Gulf Coast, Rice led Kennesaw State for the bulk of regulation but couldn’t find a way to close the door in regulation.

Trae Broadnax fouled out. Kennesaw State outscored Rice 6-1 in overtime.

One day later, Trae Broadnax fouled out against Florida Gulf Coast, who outscored Rice 19-4 in overtime.

Two very winnable games. And Rice basketball had ample opportunities to win in the first 40 minutes but couldn’t close either out. Either would have bee gut-wrenching another, but for these games to occur in succession was particularly cruel. If this team can survive this, it should all be uphill from here, because it’s hard to imagine a more painful way to lose two basketball games in a two day span.

Up Next: GEICO Coconut Hoops vs Oral Roberts (Wed, Nov. 26 at 3:30 pm)

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Rice Basketball Falls in OT to Kennesaw State

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Rice Basketball and Kennesaw State needed more than 40 minutes to resolve their opening matchup at the Coconut Hoops Tournament, with Kennesaw State winning in OT.

Rice Basketball played a nerve-racking opening game to the Coconut Hoops Tournament that was tight throughout. Kennesaw State opened the scoring before Rice quickly answered to produce one of seven first half ties. Kennesaw State led by as many as nine, but it was Rice that took a one point lead into halftime.

A strong start to the second frame by Trae Broadnax looked like it would give Rice some breathing room. It was two successive baskets from Stephen Giwa and another jumper from Broadnax that gave Rice an 11-point edge, the largest by either team in the game to that point. Yet Kennesaw State would not go away.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

Kennesaw quickly whittled the Rice lead from 11 to none, going ahead by a point with 6:33 remaining in the contest and daring Rice to answer. They would, retaking the lead for a brief period before a Kennesaw State jumper with six seconds left forced overtime. Kennesaw outscored Rice 6-1 in the extra period to secure the in.

Rice Basketball falls to 2-5 with the loss. The Owls are 0-3 away from Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Kennesaw State 89, Rice 84

Key takeaway | Learning Resiliency

This was a 45-minute grind that took a lot of effort to get to the finish line. When Rice went up by 11, it looked for a moment like they’d done just enough to put the game out of reach. Instead, that advantage went up in smoke more quickly than it took for Rice to create the lead in the first place.

Less tough teams might have thrown in the proverbial towel at that point. Rice has certainly had some less than resilient showings so far this season. So for the Owls to weather the storm, absorb the rally, and still find a way to regroup and finish was notable. But when Broadnax left the court for overtime, baskets seemed to stop falling.

The first few weeks of the season have shown us this team is going to have its hot and cold stretches. Effort and willpower are controllable things that can steal wins on days when everything isn’t going according to plan or their opponent is making some shots of their own. A win like this would have gone a long way, but the way the loss transpired is further evidence this team has more work to do.

Up Next: GEICO Coconut Hoops vs Florida Gulf Coast (Tues, Nov. 25 at 6:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball Falters Late Against Tarleton State

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Rice Basketball led at the break but couldn’t hold off Tarleton State in the second half as the visitors ran away with the game in the second half.

Tarleton State opened the game with the first points, but Rice basketball quickly fired back with a three-pointer from Jalen Smith to jumpstart a back-and-forth contest in the early goings on Thursday night. Tarleton was able to amass a handful of meager leads, but it was Rice who controlled a good portion of the first half, at least until Tarleton guard Dior Johnson started to heat up.

Johnson scored 15 of his 29 points in the first half, nearly erasing a seven-point Rice lead on his own and bringing the game back within one point at halftime. Rice offered up some protest at the beginning of the second frame, only to see Tarleton turn to guard Cam McDowell who picked up the scoring baton from Johnson and kept going.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

McDowell finished with 19 points, all of which came in the second half as the visitors a 21-4 run which turned a slim Rice lead into a massive deficit which would prove to be too much to overcome. Tarleton defeated Rice for the first time in program history.

Rice Basketball falls to 2-4 with the loss. The Owls are 2-2 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Tarleton 90, Rice 74

Key takeaway | Compounding Defensive Woes

Oh how quickly early season losses can quench an off-season’s worth of hope. And while the results have been disappointing for Rice basketball, it’s their defensive stumbles that have to be the most concerning.

It’s more understandable that this team would struggle to shoot well as the new pieces were integrated into the offensive system, but the defense was supposed to be what this team could hang it’s hat on. That hasn’t been the case in the early portions of this non-conference slate.

Tarleton shot 59 percent from the floor in this game, marking the fourth straight opponent to shoot better than 49 percent so far this season. The Owls have played six games. That rate has to come down in a hurry if Rice is going to have the sort of season they were expecting.

Up Next: GEICO Coconut Hoops vs Kennesaw State (Mon, Nov. 24 at 3:30 pm)

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