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Rice Basketball suffers last-second loss to UAB

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Rice Basketball traded blows with UAB for 40 minutes but came up one point short in the final seconds resulting in yet another painful defeat.

There was barely time to exhale at media timeouts given the breakneck speed with which Rice basketball traded blows with UAB at Tudor Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening. The visiting Blazers couldn’t miss in the opening segments of the first half, shooting 69 percent from the floor through the first eight minutes of action. The Owls weren’t far behind, starting 4-of-7 from three to keep pace with the Blazers’ blitz.

The largest lead in the first half was seven points, held by UAB with nine minutes to play. The advantage disappeared almost as quickly as the visitors had amassed it. A quick 7-0 run brought the game back to level before UAB would eventually make it to the halftime buzzer in front by just three points.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Jacob Dar would tie the game on his first shot out of the break, contributing to his second consecutive game north of 20 points and his game-leading 24 point outing that put the Owls in the driver’s seat to snap their losing skid.

With 5.7 seconds to play and Rice leading by three, Dar was on the wrong end of a foul that sent UAB to the line to shoot three. The Blazers missed the first, but another whistle on under the basket awarded additional free throws to the Blazers, who snuck ahead by one. Rice would get back to the line with less than two seconds to play, but two missed free throws sent Rice to another crushing defeat.

Final Box | UAB 90, Rice 89

Key takeaway | Unbreakable

After the three at the buzzer at Tulane, it felt as if this Rice basketball team had lost in every single heartbreaking way possible. Add one more to the list. A questionable foul call under the basket and two missed free throws to tie the game in the final seconds is about as aggravating of a gut punch as one could imagine.

But they haven’t given up. Not yet. Wednesday’s down-to-the-wire battle against the Blazers proved as much. Dar, who had every reason to despair along with his teammates, offered this rebuttal post game.

“This loss is tough for sure, but it’s not going to break us at all. We’ve been through this. Last game we went through this and we bounced back,” he said. “Nobody on our team is going to ever give up. We’re always going to give 100 percent. Every game we’re going to come out and compete. Every game we’re going to come out to win. That’s our mindset and it’s never going to drop.”

This squad is out of time to scream up the standings, but they’ve proven there isn’t anyone in this league they can’t go toe-to-toe with on the court. They’ll be the team nobody wants to play in the conference tournament in March. Before they get there, though, it would be nice to win a few basketball games.

Up Next: vs Tulsa (Sat, Feb. 22)

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Buzzer beater dooms Rice basketball at Tulane

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Rice Basketball suffered another last-minute loss in conference play, this time falling to Tulane on a buzzer-beating three.

An early onslaught of three-pointers from Jacob Dar announced Rice basketball’s arrival in New Orleans for a Saturday afternoon battle. Dar’s three consecutive triples gave Rice a seven-point edge and kept the visiting Owls in the driver’s seat of this game until the Green Wave finally got going with an 11-0 run to close the half and take their first lead of the contest.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Following a Rice-dominated start, Tulane the next chunk of game time but just like the Owls before them, struggled to build meaningful separation between the two teams. Rice would finally break through with six minutes to go on an 8-0 run driven almost entirely by Dar and Caden Powell.

After one lead change in the first 34 minutes, the leading team swapped six times down the stretch. Tied at 78, Rice looked to have the final shot only to have it knocked away with less than three seconds to play. Tulane collected the ball, rifled it up the court and hit a long three at the buzzer to snatch the win, handing the Owls a heartbreaking loss in the final seconds.

Final Box | Tulane 81, Rice 78

Key takeaway | The emergence of Jacob Dar

The continued emergence of Jacob Dar as Rice basketball progresses through conference play has been a sight to behold. The transfer forward registered his first double-digit game in January against North Texas. He’s scored in double-digits seven times in his next 10 games, including a season-best 21 points against Tulane which led all Owls in scoring.

Along the way, Dar tallied a career-best six three-pointers (on 6-for-7 shooting) and six blocks. He’s made eight straight starts and has become more integral to the Owls’ identity on both sides of the court with each passing game. Rice basketball needs gamebreakers to get over the hump and turn some of these close losses into big wins. Dar has that potential.

Up Next: vs UAB (Wed, Feb. 19)

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Comeback comes up short for Rice Basketball against UNT

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Rice Basketball rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to tie the game late against North Texas but came up short in the final minutes.

North Texas jumped out to an early lead at Tudor Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening, this time though, Rice basketball was ready to respond. The Owls overcame the quick early deficit with a pair of threes from Denver Anglin to net the score at seven. Unlike the last time these two met — a North Texas blowout — Rice was poised to trade blows with one of the AAC’s frontrunners.

Despite their rally, Rice found themselves playing from behind, but never by a margin that seemed insurmountable. Incredible effort from Jacob Dar and strong play in the paint from Caden Powell paced the scoring while the defensive effort was a few rebounds away from heroic.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

The North Texas lead would grow to as many as 11 but the Owls’ never let things get out of hand because of that defense. Which responded to that big lead by forcing North Texas to miss 10 of its next 11 shots from the field, opening the door just wide enough for Rice to get back into the game.

Trae Broadnax hit a layup with 1:15 to play, bring the teams level for the first time since the opening moments of the game but that would be the end of the Owls’ points for the evening. The Mean Green closed things out on a 6-0 run, surviving with the win.

Final Box | UNT 67, Rice 61

What They’re Saying

“This was a game that, without question, the engagement and competitive spirit was there throughout the game. If we continue to play the way we’re playing, it’s just about learning how to finish. There is a trajectory there that is pleasing. Now, from there, how do we get better? You can’t take anything for granted, but sometimes, when you’re not getting the outcome, you can still get better, and I do feel that way about this group. I’ve said to these guys that if we were going to break, we would have been broken by now. So, that is off the table. Now, it’s just a matter of finding that breakthrough.” – Rice Basketball head coach Rob Lanier

Key takeaway | In progress

It’s been a long time since Rice basketball faced off with North Texas on the hardwood. That game was a Mean Green onslaught, a 22-point victory that was never really close. That defeat kicked off an extended losing streak that stretched to seven consecutive defeats before Rice finally got back in the win column against East Carolina.

That ECU win put Rice basketball beyond the win total from a season ago, but even in the span of losses that surrounded it, this version of the program couldn’t be more different from the one that struggled through the 2023-2024 season.

The average margin of defeat against conference opponents in the regular season a year ago was 12.5 points. Yes, the average loss was by double-digits. The median mark was 11 points, so it’s not as if a few blowouts were skewing that number.

This year the average margin of defeat in AAC losses is 5.4 points, half last year’s total. The median margin is three points. Nobody likes to lose, but it’s unmistakable these losses are representative of a team making progress. The next step is converting that progress into wins.

Up Next: at Tulane (Sat, Feb. 15)

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Rice Basketball comes up short at Charlotte

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Rice Basketball jumped out to a sizable early lead but couldn’t sustain it, faltering late in a damaging road loss to Charlotte.

Fresh off a much-needed conference win over ECU, Rice basketball came out hot in Saturday’s road tilt against Charlotte. Denver Anglin got the Owls started with consecutive threes then Jacob Dar contributed the next seven points as the Owls raced out to an 11-point lead in the span of five minutes of game time.

The Owls’ breakneck scoring pace would push that advantage to as many as 16 points in the first half before Charlotte started to find their rhythm offensively. The 49ers cut their deficit to six points at the half and engineered a 10-0 run early in the second period and the game was on.

More: Rice Football: 2025 Recruiting Class Analysis — Offense

Charlotte would lead by as many as seven in the second half, but never more as both sides swapped smalls spurts of scoring. Every time the 49ers tried to pull away, Rice had an answer, primarily driven by the aggressive ballhandling and scoring ability of guard Trae Broadnax with timely threes from Alem Huseinovic mixed in.

Rice kept the game within two possessions for most of the final few minutes but Charlotte won the battle of free throws late, holding on to win by three and send the Owls’ back to the loss column.

Final Box | Rice 71, ECU 60

Key takeaway | Out-executed

Rice basketball did a lot of things well against Charlotte on Saturday, shooting better than 50 percent from three and outshooting Charlotte from the field. They didn’t turn the ball over very often and largely stayed out of foul trouble. But they lost.

Rice made one three-point shot in the final nine minutes. Charlotte made four.

Rice missed four free throws in the final 21 seconds. Charlotte missed one.

In a single possession game, those small variances make all the difference. Ultimately the Owls’ unraveling at the end of the first quarter essentially eliminated their margin for error. To some degree, that encapsulates the rough last month this team has had. It hasn’t been a slog of completely bad basketball — there’s been a lot of good — but that good hasn’t shown through in those make or break moments.

Charlotte entered Saturday in dead-last in the AAC standings. To only be a game ahead of this team is now a frustrating reality for a Rice basketball squad that will soon have to begin to worry about the possibility of a play-in game in the conference tournament.

Up Next: vs North Texas (Tues, Feb. 11)

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Rice Basketball thunders past ECU

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Rice Basketball snapped their losing streak in emphatic fashion on Wednesday night, posting a convincing victory over East Carolina on the road.

Days removed from a heart breaking loss to Memphis at home, their seventh consecutive conference defeat, Rice basketball came out with that same fire still burning. The Owls opened the game on a 7-0 run, waded through an up-and-down next few minutes before closing the half on a 6-0 run to take an eight point advantage.

Another stout defensive effort had limited ECU to just 25 points in the first half and kept their pair of talented scorers, C.J. Walker and RJ Felton, from dictating the game. That tandem did score — accounting for a combined 37 points throughout the night — but Rice clamped down on the remainder of the roster, a reality that was magnified as the game progressed.

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

After ECU had drawn within six, Rice rattled off a 23-5 run, combining that suffocating defense with powerful work inside from Cade Powell, who scored a career-high 18 points, and timely three-point shooting from Alem Huseinovic and Emory Lanier. Before the Pirates could catch their collective breath they were trailing by 23 points.

All that was left to do at that point was to play out the string. The torrential outburst of Rice points drowned any real chances of an ECU comeback and notched the Owls a much-needed AAC win.

Final Box | Rice 71, ECU 60

Key takeaway | At Last

A somber attitude would have been perfectly reasonable in the midst of an extended losing streak like Rice basketball has endured over the past month. Yet somehow point guard Trae Broadnax made sure to slip a quiet, but powerful edict into his postgame comments following Sunday’s loss to Memphis.

“The ball is going to swing back in our favor eventually, at the right time,” Broadnax declared, as if willing the positives he’d seen in his team over a series of game to coalesce into one, cohesive performance.

Wednesday’s decisive win over East Carolina wasn’t perfect but it was one of the most comprehensively solid performances this team has authored in weeks. Rice won the rebounding battle, didn’t turn the ball over too much and held their own from the free throw line. They played well. And when this team plays well in multiple phases, it should be good enough to win some games. That finally came to fruition on Wednesday.

“Most teams break during that kind of stretch, instead we’ve gotten better,” head coach Rob Lanier told Rice Owls Voice JP Heath after the game. “We’re getting better in the midst of our struggles. That’s a sign of connection, togetherness, and growing toughness. And it was on display tonight. And we can get better.”

It’s a long climb from 3-7 to where this team wants to be — .500 would be a good starter — but the version of Rice basketball that took the court against ECU is certainly one capable of beating a lot of teams in the AAC. They just need to find a way to replicate that effort again.

The silver lining? Even with this tough stretch, Rice surpassed last season’s win total with their victory over ECU.

Up Next: vs Charlotte (Sat, Feb. 8)

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