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Rice Basketball accepts invitation to 2022 CBI Tournament

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Rice basketball has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2022 College Basketball Invitation Tournament, to take place from March 19 to 23.

The season isn’t over quite yet for Rice basketball. After falling to North Texas in the third round of the Conference USA Tournament, the Owls have accepted a bid to the College Basketball Invitation Tournament (CBI). The Tournament will take place from March 19 to 23 with all games at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, FL.

This is the Owls’ second appearance in the CBI. Rice previously made an appearance in 2017 where they defeated San Francisco in the opening round before falling to Utah Valley in the quarterfinals. At that time, the champion of the CBI was determined by a best-of-three series between semifinalists. This year’s tournament reverts to the more traditional single-elimination format throughout all rounds.

Opening round games will be played on Mar. 19 and Mar. 20 with the remaining rounds taking place over the next three days. Should a team play on the second day of opening round games and advance to the finals, they would play four games in four days.

Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera released this statement regarding the news:

“Being invited to the CBI is another positive step for our program. We have improved our win total again this year. Our team has battled all year long and achieved some big wins including Conference USA Tournament wins in back-to-back years for the first time since 2004-05. We have built a sustainable, winning program and to be invited to play in a postseason tournament is another great step as we continue our goal towards playing in March Madness.”

The entire field will be announced exclusively on Twitter on Sunday, March 13 following the announcements of the NCAA Tournament and NIT fields. Like Rice, other programs have already announced their intention to participate. At this time, those additional participants include Troy, VMI, Boston and Asheville.

Update: The 2022 field has been announced. Rice is the No. 14 Seed and will take on Ohio in the first round on Saturday.

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Rice Basketball bounced by North Texas in CUSA Tournament

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In a game that never felt close, Rice basketball saw its Conference USA Tournament run come to a close in a blowout loss to favorite North Texas.

“Playing with house money” is the phrase Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera used when previewing Thursday night’s game against North Texas when he met with his team following the Owls’ opening win of the Conference USA Tournament over Charlotte. He knew the odds were stacked against his team against the league’s No. 1 squad. He was right.

North Texas hit Rice hard from the jump, converting their first nine two-point shots. Whether it was Max Fiedler or Myljael Poteat inside, Rice had no answer in the paint. At the same time, Rice struggled to get into any sort of offensive rhythm against Conference USA’s best defensive squad.

“We didn’t bring our A-game and that’s what happens,” Pera said, summing up a rough two hours of basketball in one quaint refrain.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball pounds the paint, tops Charlotte in CUSA Tourney

Trailing 14-9 in the first half, the Owls sputter became a slump.  A 14-0 North Texas run spanned part of a 10 minute, 34-second streak in which Rice didn’t hit a single field goal. They missed all eight of their shots during that time. By the time Max Fiedler finally got the Owls a bucket, the North Texas lead had ballooned to 20 points. Rice would go into halftime down by 18.

Rice wouldn’t find any relief after the break. Beat up and, as Pera put it without “a ton of juice”, things spiraled. North Texas’ first three field goals of the second half were three-pointers, giving them six triples to the Owls’ singular made three.

With the edge on the boards, in the paint and from distance, there wasn’t much Rice was able to do to fight back. North Texas would sprint through the half, closing out their third win of the season over Rice in convincing fashion.

Player Spotlight | Mylyjael Poteat

Poteat subbed in quickly once it became clear North Texas would have its way on the interior of both sides of the court. He struggled at times against the Mean Green, too, but finished with a team-high 10 points and four rebounds, missing time with an apparent injury suffered on his way to the basket. On a night filled with misses, Poteat made 4-of-5 and remains a bright spot for the future.

Stat Corner | Two

There were a myriad of stats that went against the Owls in a game that got away from them rather quickly. Perhaps the most fitting was the Owls’ hallmark measure: three-point shots. Rice made just two three-point shots, a season-low. They’d been held to three or fewer triples by just one other opponent this season, fittingly, North Texas who had held them to three apiece in each of their previous meetings.

Final Box | North Texas 58 – Rice 50

Up Next |

The Conference USA Tournament loss marks the end of all currently scheduled games for Rice basketball. As things currently stand, they’ll be in the mix for postseason action. Details of if the Owls make any field and who/when they’ll play next will be made available in the coming days.

Pera said he believes there might still be a postseason spot for this team. “Any time we can late in March in this program, that’s the goal. That’s what we’re striving to do,” he said of any potential postseason bid. “We’ll be exciting as heck to get that opportunity.”

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Rice Basketball attacks the paint, moves past Charlotte in C-USA Tournament

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On a night when the threes weren’t falling, Rice Basketball slammed the paint and overwhelmed Charlotte to advance in the Conference USA Tournament.

It became apparent very quickly the second-round game between Rice basketball and Charlotte wouldn’t be following the Owls’ conventional script. Rice started 0-for-6 from three but adjusted with quick feeds to Max Fiedler and attacking drives from their guards. Rice scored their first 12 points from the paint or the free throw line, rigorously working outside in and finding success.

Rather than steer away from what was working, Rice leaned into it. The Owls would make 3-of-6 threes to end the first half, but the bulk of their attempts came inside. It was Myljael Poteat who led the way in scoring for Rice in the first half, outscoring all of the Owls’ usual outside shooters and Fiedler. Altogether, the Rice interior attack allowed the Owls to control the pace of the game.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball fades down stretch, falls to UTSA

With Travis Evee struggling from the field (0-for-6), Rice kept the ball in the hands of Carl Pierre on drives to the lane (16 points) and their duo of big men, Fiedler and Poteat throughout the second half. Spurts of 5-point, 6-point and 7-point runs were able to outpace the Charlotte offense, which struggled.

“I can’t say it enough,” Pierre said after the game. “I’m really proud of our execution. We came out, we played hard and got the dub.”

The Rice defense held Charlotte to 34.8 percent shooting from the field, one of their better showings of the season when they needed it most.

When asked to envision a scenario in which the Owls won a Conference USA Tournament game by double-digits despite one three combined from Pierre, Evee and the (now injured) Quincy Olivari, Pera’s answer was immediate: “You’re crazy.”

But that’s exactly what the Owls were able to accomplish.

Charlotte’s final push came at the 8-minute mark. The 49ers cut the Owls’ lead to eight, but that’s the last time the game would be within double-digits. A three from Riley Abercrombie and subsequent baskets from Terrance McBridge extended the Rice lead to 15, allowing the Owls to coast to the victory.

“We rely on those guys so much. Obviously, and they’ve been so good for us all year long,” Pera said of Pierre, Evee and Olivari. “But you’ve got to learn to win in other ways, especially in March.” They certainly did that in this one.

Player Spotlight | Max Fiedler

Sometimes lost in the shuffle of the Owls’ three-point barrage, Fiedler was the glue for Rice on both ends of the court tonight. He tied for the team lead with eight rebounds and had 12 points, converting on 5-of-7 shots from the field. As if that wasn’t enough, he also had a team-high six assists. “That’s when he’s at his best,” Pera remarked, “really making those great passes.”

In many ways, Fiedler displayed the kind of veteran moxie teams need to make runs in March. Without him, Rice doesn’t win this game.

Stat Corner | Twos count too

Rice basketball went 4-of-18 from three on Wednesday night, normally a line that would have doomed this team to an early exit from the conference tournament, especially with Evee and Pierre combining for one successful three following their record-setting season as a three-point duo.

The Owls were able to overcome that because of their proficiency from close range. Rice made 23-of-35 two-point shot attempts (65.7 percent). They were making just about everything from inside and they kept shooting them. When it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

Final Box | Rice 73 – Charlotte 61

Up Next | Full Schedule

Officially moving on, Rice basketball draws North Texas, the No. 1 seed in the West in the next round. The Owls and Mean Green squared off twice in the regular season, the Owls lost both by wide margins. Both games came after shocks to the Rice lineup. The first contest was the first game back from a multi-week COVID-induced break. The next came shortly after Quincy Olivari’s season-ending injury.

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Rice Basketball fades down the stretch, falls to UTSA

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Rice Basketball had their chances to come back against UTSA but the Owls weren’t able to hold onto the ball and fell on the road in their season finale.

The three point shot has been the bread and butter of Rice basketball for as long as Scott Pera has been the Owls’ head coach. It’s only fitting then that Rice wrapped up its regular season with a particularly effective outing from long range.

UTSA came out firing on cylinders, scoring 18 points in the first six minutes of play. Trailing 18-6, Rice was in dire straights early but then Riley Abercrombie and Carl Pierre drained back-to-back triples and cut the deficit in half. All of a sudden the score was 18-12 and Rice was very much back in the mix.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball record-setting night not enough vs UTEP

That’s how much of the game would progress. UTSA would stretch out its lead to within the vicinity of double digits only for Rice to get a chunk or two back with their trademark three ball. Although the Owls trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half on multiple occasions, Rice took a six-point deficit into the break.

Things would stay close through the early portions of the second half. Rice would cut the UTSA lead down to one, but it was UTSA who would begin to heat up from distance and pull away. Rice would get within five points with just under three minutes to play before UTSA would put things out of reach with an 8-2 run to put it away.

Player Spotlight | Carl Pierre

In his final regular season game with Rice basketball, Pierre put together yet another pristine performance. He was 3-of-6 from three and scored 16 points. He also contributed three rebounds, one assist and one steal. The timing of his baskets was crucial, frequently giving the Owls hope. Rice could have used a few more down the stretch, but things wouldn’t have been nearly as close without Pierre on the court.

Stat Corner | Too many turnovers

When Rice basketball plays disciplined, they’ve proven their ability to stand toe-to-toe with even the best teams in Conference USA. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. The Owls turned the ball over 20 times, providing their opponents with an excess of opportunities. USTA made them pay.

Final Box | UTSA 82 – Rice 71

Up Next | Full Schedule

The regular season has come to a close for Rice basketball. Win or lose on Saturday, they had already secured a first-round bye and were locked into the fifth seed in the West. They’ll meet the fourth seed in the East. That game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9.

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Rice Basketball runs out of threes in narrow road loss at UTEP

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Rice Basketball ran out of three-pointers in the final moments, falling to UTEP on the road despite a sizable second-half lead.

Max Fiedler and Chris Mullins got Rice basketball off to as good of a start as could have been asked for in their Thursday night road tilt with the UTEP Miners. The senior duo put up the first five points of the game, staking the visiting Owls to an early 5-0 lead. It wouldn’t last.

No sooner had the Owls exhaled from the quick run than UTEP had the lead, and then some. The Miners reeled off a 13-0 run of their own, quickly turning what had been an auspicious start for Rice into a full-scale battle. UTEP’s lead would grow to as many as 12 points before Rice started to chip away in earnest. Mullins laid one in to start a run, which would balloon to a 13-2 Rice streak resulting in a halftime tie.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball rallies past Southern Miss on Senior Day

Rice leveled the game with a smattering of offensive sets and firm defense. In the second half, their spark came from deep. Carl Pierre seemingly couldn’t miss from long range, pulling Rice along with him as he rained down three after three. He helped the Owls open up an 11-point lead which might have been safe had it not been for a furious assault in the paint from the Miners.

UTEP would pull things back to even, setting up a thrilling final few minutes. Pierre would put Rice in front with a pair of free throws with 58 seconds to play. UTEP crept back in front with three free throw makes in their next two possessions, sending the ball back to Rice for what could have been the game-tying shot, but it would not fall.

Mullins and Pierre each had a chance at the equalizing three, as would Fiedler from half court, but none of them could put it in. On a night of so many threes, Rice fell one three short.

Player Spotlight | Carl Pierre

On paper, the addition of Pierre from the Transfer Portal seemed like a nice win for the Owls. At a minimum, the veteran three-point shooter would give Rice another weapon on the outside. The best-case scenario? Rice basketball might be living it right now.

Pierre set the program record for three-pointers in a season with his outburst against UTEP. He and Travis Evee collectively became the Rice duo with the most total triples between them in a single campaign. Rice was already an offensive centered around good three-point shooting when Pierre arrived. He’s taken it to another level.

Stat Corner | Three-falling

On his way to his record-setting performance, Pierre knocked down six threes. It was the fourth time this season he’s made that many triples in a game. He’s made at least one three-pointer in all but two games this season. His shooting stroke has been crucial to the Owls’ offensive rhythm.

Final Box | UTEP 70 – Rice 67

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball has one final road tilt in the regular season. They finish the regular season on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 2:00 p.m. in San Antonio against UTSA. From there, it’s onto the Conference USA Tournament, the opening rounds of which tip-off on Mar. 8.

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