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Rice Basketball falls to Charlotte in AAC Tournament

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No. 12 Seed Rice Basketball took an early lead but couldn’t hang on, falling to No. 13 Seed Charlotte in the AAC Tournament.

The opening game of the AAC Tournament started out at a modest pace with Rice Basketball and Charlotte trading baskets in the early minutes of the first half. The 49ers held a modest lead before the Owls started scoring in earnest. Trailing by one midway just past the midpoint of the half, Rice would go on a 15-3 run jumping out to a big lead. They’d hold an 11 point advantage at the break and looked to be in control, but Charlotte wasn’t done just yet.

The 49ers came out of the break with furious intensity, getting the game back within three with a 10-2 burst to open the second half. Rice would hold the edge for some time past that, but the margin would never reach double digits again. Instead, Charlotte drew level, tying the game at 52 with 4:41 to play.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Once again, Rice basketball found itself with the game on the line in the final moments. Free throws were exchanged and Rice had the ball down by one with 13.3 remaining. A jumper from Trae Broadnax bounced off the rim, Charlotte grabbed the board and just like that the Owls’ season was effectively over.

Rice ends its season with a finale record of 13-19.

Final Box | Charlotte 64, Rice 61

Highlights

What They’re Saying | Press Conference

Key takeaway | Learning to close

This marks the 13th straight defeat for Rice basketball in games decided by six points or fewer. Bad luck plays into any such streak that disastrous in nature, but the clear inability to close out games is unmistakable. Credit is due to coach Rob Lanier, who addressed his team’s most glaring flaw head on.

“It’s kind of been the same story for us throughout the year. We’ve been in a lot of these close games and haven’t found a way to win it, Lanier said. “I told them that I’ll take responsibility for my part in that, and going forward the guys who come back, they have to share in that responsibility so we can grow and we can change the face of what this program is all about.”

Even though this kind of result isn’t new, the emotions post game were still very real.

“No, there’s no less pain,” Lanier said.

Likewise, guard Trae Broadnax opened up about the growing weight of the team’s struggles in those clutch situations this season. “I think when they don’t go the right way, I think there’s a lot of anxiety that rises up just because we haven’t got over the hump in so many of those close games down the stretch,” he said “You can turn the entire thing around in terms of results so that you can get that monkey off your back, but we never got to the point where we could do that.”

Broadnax has an additional year of eligibility remaining and indicated he’s looking forward to joining Lanier in rectifying the Owls’ biggest flaw. The 2024-2025 season is in the books. That work can start right now.

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2025 AAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Preview

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The 2025 AAC Men’s Basketball Tournament is slated to tip off in DFW this week. Here’s a preview of the action.

The Favorite: Memphis

At 16-2 in league play and 26-5 overall, Memphis is the front runner to cut down the nets this season, entering the conference tournament as the No. 2 scoring team in the league, thanks to PJ Haggerty and company with strong defensive metrics to go alongside it. The only AAC team in the top 50 of KenPom as of Monday, anything less that a tournament championship would be disappointing for this program.

The Contenders: North Texas, UAB

There are at least two squads capable of thwarting the Tigers’ aspirations. UAB is the only team in the league that averages more points per game than Memphis while North Texas allows nearly 13 points fewer per game than the Tigers. Neither has been as consistent as Memphis has been this season, but both boast NCAA Tournament history and enough talent to beat the Tigers head-to-head. The Mean Green came closest to doing that in the regular season, losing by four in Memphis.

The Dark Horse: FAU

Florida Atlantic is as battle tested as they come and despite an uninspiring 17-14 record. The Owls looked to be contenders for an top four seed at times this year, but a three game losing streak in late February, including losses to Memphis and North Texas, buffeted them down to the five spot. FAU can shoot it and has moments on defense to stay afloat on that side of the court.

The Wild Card: Temple

When in doubt, bet on the three ball to cause chaos in March. Temple is second in the conference behind Memphis in three point field goal percentage and is one of the teams most capable of getting hot behind the arc and knocking off someone they shouldn’t. Once that happens, it’s anyone’s guess how the rest of the tournament might play out.

The Bracket

The opening play-in game will take place on Wednesday, March 12, with first full day of action set for Thursday, March 13. Here is the slate for the first two days. The full schedule is available on the conference website. All early-round games can be streamed on ESPN+, with the championship on ESPNU.

First Round | Wednesday, March 12 (Super Pit in Denton, TX)

Game 1: No. 13 Charlotte vs. No. 1 Rice – 12 p.m. CT

Second Round | Thursday, March 13 (Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, TX)

Game 2: No. 9 South Florida vs. No. 8 Wichita State – 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 3: Game 1 winner vs. No. 5 FAU – 1:30 p.m. CT
Game 4: No. 10 Tulsa vs. No. 7 Temple – 6 p.m. CT
Game 5: No. 11 UTSA vs. No. 6 ECU – 8 p.m. CT

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Rice Basketball loses to Wichita State on Senior Day

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As has been the case for much of the season, Rice Basketball took another team down to the wire, this time falling to Wichita State.

A swarming Rice basketball defense set the tone for what would become a grind of a game at Tudor Fieldhouse on Senior Night. The Owls forced three Wichita State turnovers in the first two minutes, jumping out quickly to an 8-2 advantage. They’d hold a small lead for the better portion of the first half before things began to unravel.

Wichita State went on a thunderous 12-0 run to go in front by seven, taking advantage of six Rice turnovers in that span. Despite an ice-cold stretch in which Rice missed 11-of-12 shots from the field and fell behind by 10, the Owls were able to rally and get back within three points at halftime.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

After a bit of shooting lull to open the second half, Rice finally started to heat up from the field. Four consecutive field goals, two from Andrew Akuchie inside and a pair of threes from Alem Huseinovic brought the game back within one possession. That razor thin margin would linger for the rest of the game.

Emory Lanier his a layup to bring Rice within four with 6:57 to play. Neither side would make a field goal for more than six minutes until Wichita State finally got a jumper to go, snapping a stretch of 12 missed shots in a row. Unfortunately for Rice, their seven consecutive misses prevented them from closing the gap and resulted in yet another deflating, close loss.

Final Box | Wichita State 63, Rice 59

What They’re Saying

Key takeaway | Onto Denton, then Fort Worth?

The final standings won’t be determined until after the weekend, but Rice basketball will be playing at the Super Pit next Wednesday. By virtue of the Owls’ loss on Thursday, they won’t catch Tulsa in the standings and will most likely be playing Charlotte in the play-in game. The seeding, whether Rice will be the No. 12 or No. 13, is yet to be determined.

If Rice can win that game, set to be played at the Super Pit in Denton, then they’ll join the rest of the conference at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth for the rest of the tournament.

Up Next: AAC Tournament

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Rice Basketball runs out of steam at UTSA

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Rice Basketball traded punches with UTSA in the first half but couldn’t keep pace with the Roadrunners’ offense which ran away with the game in the second half.

What began as a defensive slugfest on Sunday night between Rice basketball and UTSA at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, TX was a far cry from the offensive firefight between these same teams that happened at Tudor Fieldhouse in mid-January. Both teams were held below 40 percent in the first half this time around, trading meager leads throughout the opening portion of the contest.

UTSA was the first to amass a two-score lead when Marcus Millender hit the fourth three-pointer of the evening with a little less than three minutes remaining before the halftime buzzer. The Roadrunners snagged the first meaningful a few minutes later, scoring 12 of the final 14 points from the field in the first half to take an eight point advantage into halftime.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Rice would keep things relatively close for the opening portions of the second half until UTSA started to connect from long range. The Roadrunners’ Primo Spears knocked down a trio of consecutive three pointers to get their advantage to double-digits for the first time. Rice, which had only made 1-of-14 threes to that point, found itself in a sizable hole.

The lead only ballooned from there. Shortly thereafter UTSA took charge in earnest with an emphatic 16-3 run, rendering signs of life from three-point range largely moot. Rice basketball has now lost six of its last seven games.

Final Box | UTSA 84, Rice 56

Key takeaway | Scouting the Standings

March is officially here and the conference tournament is right around the corner. With the shrinking calendar and the mounting losses, Rice basketball is running out of time to avoid a potential first round game pitting the bottom two teams in the conference standings.

Rice (4-13) and Charlotte (3-13) hold those positions at this point. The Owls had been just above the line, but this loss to UTSA, which moves the Roadrunners just above them in the standings. Rice has one game remaining against Wichita State, capping the Owls’ conference win total at a maximum of five.

If Rice win that game and Tulsa loses to Temple and Wichita State, Rice would escape the opening round game, but the Owls have reached the point of the season where they need help after failing to help themselves often enough during the year.

Up Next: vs Wichita State (Thr, Mar. 6)

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Rice Basketball falters late at Memphis

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Rice Basketball battled Memphis to the very end but couldn’t make the key plays down the stretch to shift the result, falling to the Tigers on the road.

The first five shots Rice basketball took Wednesday night against a ranked Memphis squad on the road were off the mark. An early deficit would prove to be the fruit of a slow start with the Owls finding themselves down 10 points before they made their first field goal to cut the Tigers’ lead to 13-5 with nearly six minutes of action in the books.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Given time to get their footing and fire back, Rice would mount a counteroffensive midway through the half, ripping off a 12-2 run to get back within two points and force a Memphis timeout. The Tigers would grind out some breathing room before the end of the half, but Rice had managed to turn the would-be rout into a competitive game at the break.

Rice would tie the game up at 46 in the early minutes of the second half and although they would keep the game close from that point onward, any leads proved elusive. The Owls’ final rally tied the game at 70, but free throw woes, turnovers and missed opportunities saw that close game evaporate in a matter of seconds. Memphis closed the game on a 14-2 run to seal the win.

Final Box | Memphis 84, Rice 72

Key takeaway | Make them earn it

Several weeks ago Memphis made 10 three-pointers in a fire fight at Tudor Fieldhouse that ended with Memphis outscoring Rice in a thriller. Memphis has made at least five threes in every game so far this season and averages 8.1 threes per contest. On Wednesday night, Memphis made two.

For the most part, the explosiveness of the Memphis offense was neutralized by a defensive game plan that made the Tigers work for every basket, forcing them to work inside and take contested shots. For 38 minutes, that plan seemed to work. Memphis couldn’t lengthen their lead quickly, allowing the Rice offense to keep pace.

The plan gave the Owls a chance, a one possession game with two minutes left in regulation against a ranked foe on the road is a step forward from where this program has been. But as so many of these close losses leaded up to this, it’s clear there’s more work to be done.

Up Next: at UTSA (Sun, Mar. 2)

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