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Rice Basketball Comes Up Short at Tennessee

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Rice basketball kept things competitive in the early goings before faltering in the second half, falling to the No. Tennessee Volunteers on the road.

Tennessee scored first and never trailed in what proved to be a rather comfortable win for the home team. Rice Basketball head coach Rob Lanier, who spent eight seasons as an assistant to Rick Barnes in Knoxville was correct to be warry of returning to town to play against the Vols.

“I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today if it weren’t for him. I’m so indebted. It’s a place that I look forward to going back to,” Lanier said in the days leading up to the game. “I don’t really want to coach against Rick, but I’m excited to get back there. It’s a great place.”

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

Thompson-Boling Arena was indeed rocking on Monday evening, slowed only briefly when Rice cut their deficit to five points near the end of the first half on a three-pointer from Nick Anderson. The Vols answered with a 5-0 run to get back in front by double-digits,

Tennessee would take a 13-point lead into halftime and maintain at least a 10-point advantage through the second half. Rice remained competitive for the first couple of media timeouts before Tennessee began to pull away in the later moments, stretching their advantage to as many as 26 points before closing things out with a 25-point margin of victory.

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

Final Box | Tennessee 91, Rice 66

Key takeaway | Cam Carroll hangs tough

That Nick Anderson led the team in scoring with 19 points on 3-of-7 from deep and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. He’s been one of the most consistent scorers the Owls have had this season and will be expected to maintain that level of production if Rice is going to get where they want to go.

It’s that next man up that’s the focal point of the Owls’ early stretch of nonconference play and Cam Carroll threw his hat into the ring on Monday. 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting against against a defense as swarming as the Volunteers’ was notable as was the lone turnover in 23 minutes on the court.

Rice basketball has high expectations for the veterans on this roster. Getting a meaningful contribution from Carroll, or others with less proven D1 experience this season, would be massive.

Up Next: vs Tarleton State (Nov. 20 at 7:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball Rallies Past East Texas A&M

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Rice basketball persevered through a slow start, rallying past East Texas A&M with a strong finish to improve to 2-1 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

For the second time in just a few days, Rice basketball found itself playing from behind on its home court. East Texas A&M opened the game by making five of its first 10 field goals as Rice sputtered to a 3-13 start. Trailing 13-7 near the midpoint of the first half, the Owls finally got into some rhythm on the court and began to mount an offensive of their own.

A slim six-point deficit dwindled and became a lead when Nick Anderson drained a triple in the final minutes of the first half. Rice would go into the break up by one, far from being firmly in control, but having braved the worst of the East Texas A&M attack.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

Rice looked more composed with the ball in the second half. Tied up at 37 near the first media timeout, the Owls would go on a 14-4 run with key three pointers from Anderson and Trae Broadnax to reach their first double-digit lead. Both sides would trade baskets down the stretch after that, but the Lions never threatened again.

The Owls improve to 2-2 with the win and are 2-1 at Tudor Fieldhouse this season.

Final Box | Rice 71, East Texas A&M 64

What They’re Saying

“The main adjustment really was just we had to play harder. We had to turn it up as a group. We felt as though we weren’t playing up to the standard that we set for each other. In the second half we came out and we’re like, we’re really going to put our foot on these guys necks.” – Rice basketball guard Dallas Hobbs on the adjustments the team made at halftime

Key takeaway | Scoring Helps

Rice Basketball is coming off a 2024-2025 season in which the Owls finished last in the American Conference in field goal percentage, knocking down a paltry 42.1 percent of their attempts. The rebuilt roster with the additions of Jalen Smith, Nick Anderson and Dallas Hobbes was expected to help remedy that significantly, but there were never any illusions this team was going to be knocking down every shot.

However, some shots would help.

After shooting worse than 36 percent in their last two games, Rice opened this one with a dreary 35 percent mark in the first half. Leading by one point, the Owls looked to be in for another slog before waking up in the second half and shooting a scalding 64 percent from the floor.

There’s ample room for growth when it comes to consistency, but it’s nice to see at least some of the shots start to fall. Rice can’t expect to finish the game 8-for-12 from three after intermission, but Friday’s showing should be proof they’re capable. They just need to find a way to do it more regularly as the quality of competition continues to increase.

Up Next: vs Tennessee (Nov. 17 at 7:30 pm)

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Rice Basketball Can’t Keep Up with Sharpshooting SFA

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Rice basketball dropped its first home game of the season, falling at home to Stephen F. Austin who took an early and never looked back.

Not far removed from a stout defensive showing against Oregon, Rice basketball found themselves on their heels rather quickly on Tuesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse. Owls’ guard Trae Broadnax scored the first points of the night before SFA took control, racing out to a double-digit first half lead. The Jacks controlled the pace of the game in the early going, keeping the home team off balance.

Trailing by five at the break, the situation worsened when SFA reeled off a 9-0 run in the early minutes of the second half as their red-hot shooting performance refused to slow down. The visitors were still shooting better than 50 percent from the field — they’d finish at 49.1 percent — making it hard for the Owls’ to narrow the deficit even when their shots started to fall later in the half.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

There was less than four minutes on the clock when Rice got deficit back within single digits again. Broadnax did his part, leading the way with 21 points, 17 of which came in the second half. It wouldn’t be enough to overcome the sizable hole as Rice fell at home for the first time this season. The Owls are 1-2 overall.

Final Box | SFA 81, Rice 69

Key takeaway | Out of Sync

At the beginning of the season, Rice basketball head coach Rob Lanier explained that the mantra for the team this season would be being undefeated. No matter what the final box score showed, Lanier wanted this to be a team that was relentless in their effort and never allowed any one game to take steal their focus from the next assignment.

Rice won the rebounding battle 39-36, but did not defend well. Only three times last season did Rice allow its opponents to shoot better than 49 percent from the floor, making this kind of defensive performance among the most disappointing from a Lanier-led squad.

Whether it was the hangover from the near-miss against Oregon or something else, the Owls just didn’t look fully like themselves tonight. Were they defeated? Maybe not, but they weren’t the best version of themselves and SFA took full advantage of that and won the game. All this team can do now is refocus and find a way to get back in the win column on Friday.

Up Next: vs East Texas A&M (Nov. 14 at 7:00 pm)

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Oregon narrowly survives Rice Basketball upset bid

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Rice basketball kept Oregon off balance from the start, frustrating the Ducks from the floor before foul trouble and a late shooting slump ended their upset bid.

Oregon scored first, but it was Rice basketball that opened the game on the offensive on Friday night. The Owls knocked down three quick three-pointers before a Nick Anderson jumper put the visiting underdogs in front by seven before the first media timeout.

From there, the Rice defense set the tone, holding Oregon to just 27 percent from the floor in the first half. The aggressive press gave the Ducks fits. Had it not been an early edge in offensive boards — Oregon had 10 in the first half — Rice might have been able to lengthen its early lead. Instead, the Owls had to be content with a five-point advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

Oregon’s physicality started to show in earnest after the break. The Ducks got nine straight points from Nate Bittle inside, including four free throws, to erase the deficit and take a one-point lead before Trae Broadnax leveled the game at 38 apiece with a free throw of his own. Stephen Giwa hit a jumper then Oregon went on another big run.

Rice would miss 12 consecutive field goals during that time and 15 of 16 shots over an eight minute period that saw an 8-point Rice lead evaporate and be transformed into a 9-point hole.

The Owls wouldn’t go away, though. Jalen Smith hit a couple of big threes and Trae Broadnax calmly maneuvered the offense, getting the underdogs back within four points at the final media timeout.

Foul trouble would do the Owls in. Broadnax, Giwa and Dallas Hobbs all fouled out while Anderson was limited to 22 minutes. He would hit a last-gasp three before Oregon’s 38th foul shot put the game out of reach for good.

Final Box | Oregon 67, Rice 63

What They’re Saying

We kept scrapping and I’m proud of that. We’ve got something to build on. Our young guys, I think, come away with a good understanding of what it takes to win at this level and we aspire to do that. We’re going to need those young guys. This was a good experience in a lot of ways to create a standard for ourselves. – Rice Basketball coach Rob Lanier

Key takeaway | Can The Owls Score Just Enough?

The defensive performance Rice basketball authored against a physical Oregon team was incredibly impressive. Holding any team to fewer than 70 points when they take 38 free throws is a good start, but this is an Oregon squad that had been to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and entered the season receiving votes in the AP Poll, two spots shy of being ranked.

The effort was reminiscent of a comment head coach Rob Lanier made about the NCAA Tournament prior to the season. “If we’re the worst defensive team in the league and we’ve gotta outscore everyone to win the [conference] tournament, [that’s] probably not going to be realistic,” he said. “But if we’re defending and rebounding at a very high level, then we’ll have our chance.”

Lanier wouldn’t call that a dominant performance on the boards — Oregon edged Rice 43-36 — but that caliber of defense was enough to make it a one score game with 5:38 to play. And a four point game in the final 30 seconds. That’s a chance.

How effective that chance becomes will depend on how many points the Owls can contribute to the effort. Through two games, the defense looks quite compelling, indeed.

Up Next: vs Stephen F. Austin (Nov. 11 at 7:00 pm)

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Rice Basketball Routs College of Biblical Studies in Opener

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Rice basketball never trailed in its season opener against the College of Biblical Studies, dispatching the non-NCAA program with ease on the Owls’ home court.

Year 2 of the Rob Lanier era got off to an encouraging start with a no-doubt rout of the College of Biblical Studies. Jalen Smith scored the first points of the 2025-2026 Rice Basketball season with a three-pointer on the Owls’ first possession, repeating the favor on the ensuing possession. Rice before Andrew Akuchie scored on back-to-back possessions, too. Trae Broadnax followed with a layup to give Rice a prompt double-digit advantage.

The shot making continued to progress at a high level throughout the course of the game as the team rotated in the vast majority of its heathy roster. When combined with a an energetic defense, Rice was able to produce a staggering 29-0 run which turned a 28-14 game into a blowout in the span of less than seven minutes of game time.

NEWS: Rice Launches The Gateway Project, Rice Stadium Renovation

“We have to worry about ourselves,” Rice basketball center Stephen Giwa said. “Doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, that’s what’s going to carry us over. Getting stops, that’s going to lead to easy baskets. So we just gotta focus on that first as a team.”

By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, Rice had scored a record 65 points in the half and was well on its way to shattering other program bests. Rice would go on to win by a final score of 109-38, the 33rd 100-point game in program history. The 71-point differential represents their second-largest margin of victory in program history, falling just short of the all-time record, a 73-point win in a 97-22 victory over Baylor in 1945.

Final Box | Rice 109, College of Biblical Studies 25

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Defense. Defense. Defense.

When he met with the media before the season, Lanier made his expectations and ambitions for this team crystal clear. “It starts with being a great defensive team,” he said. “Without that, any goals that we might set out to achieve, we’re going to fall short.”

Lanier had hinted that the team had taken steps in that direction a season ago, but still had work to do. They didn’t completely close the gap between those desires and their current state on Tuesday night in Tudor, but they did put forth a strong first step.

When asked for what led to the early separation in the game, Lanier credited that defense.

“It was the defense. I thought the bigs, Stephen and Jimmy, they rebounded the ball really well and we got out and ran,” Lanier said. “To be the team we want to be, we’re going to have to defend at a high level and we’re going to have to run and play with some space and we still haven’t quite gotten that yet.”

The College of Biblical Studies scored just 38 points and was held 27 percent shooting from the field. The Owls’ press was harrowing and confusing for the Ambassadors who never came close to finding any sort of offensive rhythm.

Up Next: at Oregon (Nov. 7 at 9:00 pm)

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