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Rice Basketball edges Southern Miss on Senior Day

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It took overtime to get it done, but Rice Basketball sent off its seniors on a high note, topping Southern Miss on Senior Day at Tudor Fieldhouse.

It had been a back-and-forth game from the start with no obvious moments of separation. Rice basketball traded runs with Southern Miss but both teams stayed neck and neck through regulation and beyond. It was always close. Right up until the moment Chris Mullins let a three-point shot fly with just under 90 seconds remaining in overtime.

The three-point shot would dive through the hoop and give Rice a 5-point advantage with time ticking off the clock quickly. From that point, forward Rice made their foul shots and played out the string, but it was Mullins’ triple that afforded the pivotal moment.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball furious rally not enough vs LA Tech

“Fitting. Appropriate. Whatever word you want to use. A four-year warrior. He’ll never forget that shot as long as he lives. I probably won’t either,” head coach Scott Pera said of Mullins’ dagger three, reflecting on a Senior Fight victory. Ten of the Owls’ 13 points in overtime were scored by seniors, snapping a season-long losing streak and rejuvenating the entire roster.

“We needed a win,” Pera admitted.

That win didn’t come easily. Before Rice got to overtime they overcome an eight-point first-half deficit. Every time they came close, Southern Miss found a way to push their advantage up another few points. It wasn’t until a set of three three-pointers by Travis Evee at the midpoint of the second half that Rice would take their first lead in what felt like forever.

Southern Miss would answer. Then Rice volleyed back. The battle was fierce. Rice had the chance to end it in regulation but couldn’t get one more three-ball to fall as the clock expired. That would eventually set up Mullins’ deep bomb, a memorable way for the seniors’ last home game to end.

Player Spotlight | Chris Mullins

A four-year starter, Mullins is the most tenured player on the roster. He was shut out in his last game against Louisiana Tech, going 0-for-4 from the field with no rebounds. On Saturday against Southern Miss he scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and played 40 minutes, the second-most court time he’s gotten in a game all season, behind only a 3OT outing against Evansville in November.

“I can still remember my first game here,” Mullins said as he attempted to take in the emotions of the final home game of his career. “It’s just come full circle. I started off with a win and I ended with a win here. I’m going to have so many memories here. It’s a great feeling.”

Stat Corner | Get to the line

Rice basketball shot 29 free throws. Southern Miss shot eight. One of the major differences in this game was how often Rice was able to get to the charity stripe. Even though they only converted 20 of those chances, good for a modest 69 percent, they still vastly outdid their opponents at the line and made one of their opposing players foul out.

Final Box | Rice 77 – Southern Miss 72

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball will finish out their regular season schedule on the road. Next up is UTEP, who they’ll visit on Mar. 3 for an 8:00 p.m. tilt. Then Rice will finish in San Antonio against UTSA on Mar. 5. at 2:00 p.m. After that, it’s onto the conference tournament which tips off on Mar. 8.

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Rice Basketball rally falls one shot short against LA Tech

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Rice Basketball did all the right things to engineer a comeback, but the Owls couldn’t muster enough juice to upend Louisiana Tech.

“I guess the head coach of the losing team doesn’t usually say this, but man, that was a heck of a college basketball game,” Rice basketball head coach Scott Pera said following the finale. He lamented the result, but praised the effort of both teams. “We didn’t lose that game. They won it. And there’s a difference.”

It took Rice basketball some time to get going against Louisiana Tech. Carl Pierre delivered an opening three, but over the span of the next eight minutes Rice would manage just one field goal, a layup from Travis Evee. Despite those initial struggles from the field, the Owls were able to hang tough with the Bulldogs.

Louisiana Tech would stretch their lead to seven points. Rice answered with a series of threes, one each from Evee and Pierre. Again, the visitors would surge. That seven points represented the Owls’ halftime deficit which would grow to a game-high 10 point advantage for Louisiana Tech on the opening possession. Rice was officially in catch up mode.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball late rally falls short vs FIU

From that point on, Rice basketball seemed to find its rhythm. Rice shot 59.4 percent from the field in the second half, knocking down 13-of-18 shots from inside the arc plus six threes. Challenged to find success inside, Max Fiedler and Myljyael Poteat were critical pieces in the Rice rally.

The double-digit lead for Louisiana Tech slowly dwindled. By the time the clock reached the one-minute mark it was a seven-point game and Rice was in foul mode. The Owls hit multiple threes in that stretch and converted a traditional three-point play, but Louisiana Tech made their foul shots and was able to escape with a four-point win.

Player Spotlight | Terrance McBride

As the Rice basketball lineup has continued to churn, Terrance McBride has emerged as a viable answer in the backcourt. He finished with seven points and tied for the team lead with six assists while delivering two of the most crucial layups of the entire game in the final 20 seconds of the second half, cutting to the basket and drawing an extra free throw, which he hit, to make it a one=possession game.

Stat Corner | Six

Pera was quick to point out one stat in the postgame presser in defense of his team’s quality play: turnovers. “I bet no team that they played in 27 games turned the ball over six times,” Pera said. “I would check that one.” So we did.

The Owls’ six giveaways tied the fewest turnovers forced by Louisiana Tech this season. NC State committed just six turnovers in a Nov. 27 game. The Wolfpack won. Rice was one shot away. Interestingly enough, Louisiana Tech forced less than 10 turnovers on just one other occasion this year: Jan. 27, their game against Rice in Ruston, LA.

Final Box | LA Tech 83 – Rice 79

Up Next | Full Schedule

The last home game of the season for Rice basketball is slated for Saturday, Feb. 26 when they take on Southern Miss. After that, the Owls finish up with road games at UTEP on Mar. 3 and UTSA on Mar. 5. prior to the start of the conference tournament on Mar. 8.

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Rice Basketball: Owls’ late rally comes up short at FIU

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Rice Basketball rallied late, but came up just short on the road against FIU, dropping their third straight Conference USA game.

Cameron Sheffield entered the starting lineup and quickly got things started for Rice basketball against FIU on Saturday. His three-pointer opened the scoring, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Owls from falling behind quickly on the road.

A swift 9-0 run put the Panthers in front by six. That advantage would strengthen to 10 points around the midpoint of the first half and reach as many as 17 points before Rice was able to begin to chip away early in the second half.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball knocked out by UAB on the road

The Owls’ second half surge was sparked by Travis Evee and Carl Pierre, both of which contributed multiple three-pointers to trim the large gap to a 61-61 ballgame with just under eight minutes to play. Trailing by three points in the final minute, Rice turned to fouls but was unable to get the margin closer than two points even with a last-second three from Chris Mullins as the clock expired.

The loss is the Owls’ third consecutive conference loss since they lost guard Quincy Olivari to injury. It ties their longest losing streak of the season, a three-game drought from Nov. 23 to Nov. 30 including losses to Oakland, Fordham and Texas State.

Player Spotlight | Travis Evee

Evee bounced back from a slower-shooting night from three on Thursday, splashing six triples on 14 attempts, including several in the second half to spark the initial Rice rally. He and Carl Pierre (3-for-8 from three) are going to have to be the sparkplugs in this offense and both contributed meaningful buckets to the cause against FIU.

Stat Corner | Out-glassed

Rebounding was a crucial differentiator in this game. Not only did FIU outrebound Rice 42-28, the Panthers had 12 offensive rebounds to the Owls six. That led to more opportunities and more second-chance points. Shedding size in favor of shooting comes with a risk. Rice found themselves on the wrong side of that margin on Saturday.

Final Box | FIU 80 – Rice 78

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball will have a few days to regroup. They host Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 24 and Southern Miss on Saturday, Feb. 26 in their final homestand before finishing the regular season on the road prior to the start of the conference tournament in March.

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Rice Basketball blown out on the road by red-hot UAB Blazers

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Rice Basketball never got things going against UAB on the road and paid for their slow start with a blowout loss to the Blazers.

Rice basketball was flying high the last time they met UAB on the court. On that night the Owls dispatched the Blazers, notching one of the most preeminent victories of Scott Pera’s tenure. This Thursday, UAB got its revenge. Rice missed its first six shots from the field and fell behind by as many as 18 points in the first quarter. Rice played more than 15 minutes of the first half trailing by double-digits.

The insertion of Terrance McBride into the starting lineup could not mask the void left by guard Quincy Olivar, who was lost for the season following a wrist injury suffered two weekends ago against UTEP. McBride scored six points and had four rebounds and five assists, but was otherwise just as quiet as the remainder of the Rice offense which didn’t really wake up until a string of threes from Carl Pierre in the latter portions of the first half.

Last Time Out: Rice Basketball forced to adjust with Olivari done for season

After trailing by as many as 18, Pierre’s threes helped Rice begin to chip away. They were able to get the deficit to 11 before a UAB dunk and subsequent free throw pushed the halftime differential to 14 points in favor of the home team.

Rice would offer feeble resistance in the second half, keep the margin in the teens for a few minutes before UAB pulled even further away. The Blazers would lead by as many as 30, winning by 24 at the final buzzer.

Player Spotlight | Cam Sheffield

Occasionally overlooked by the higher volume shooters, Cam Sheffield has served as the Owls’ sixth man dating back to last season. He’s a reliable shooter and a stout defender. He was as effective on both sides of the court as any other Rice player was on Thursday, knocking down both of his three-point attempts and tying for the team lead with four rebounds despite playing only 22 minutes. Sheffield doesn’t always light up the box score, but he makes his minutes count.

Stat Corner | One

Part of what made the Rice basketball offensive so scary, on paper, was the myriad of ways they could score, particularly from distance. Rice has an arsenal of players that can shoot the three extremely well, at least, that’s usually the case. It wasn’t on Thursday. Rice had one player make at least one three-point shot in the first half. One. By the time the Owls had more help from deep in the second half it was too little, too late.

Defensive breakdowns played just as big of a role in the one-sided affair as the shooting woes, but if the Owls don’t have multiple threats from deep, their offense is going to sputter. Travis Evee can shoot with the best of them, but Rice might need someone else to step up as well with Quincy Olivari sidelined.

Final Box | UAB 92 – Rice 68

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball will conclude this brief road trip on Saturday at FIU in Miami. From there they’ll return home where they’ll host Louisiana Tech on Thursday, Feb. 24 and Southern Miss on Saturday, Feb. 26.

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Rice Basketball: Owls must adjust with Guard Quincy Olivari out for the year

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With guard Quincy Olivari out for the year, Rice basketball must adjust, and it might be a bumpy process as they iron out the kinks.

A season filled with highs and lows for Rice basketball has continued along its bumpy path, finding its latest jarring cobblestone on Saturday at home against North Texas. The Owls fell to the Mean Green 67-44, their second 20+ point drubbing by the conference leaders in the span of a month and a half.

The last time these two teams met in Denton, Rice has just come off a three-week-long hiatus and was overcoming COVID-19 which had made its way through almost the entirety of the roster. “I don’t even count that game,” head coach Scott Pera said of that prior defeat, able to take solace in knowing his team would respond by winning four of their next five games.

This time, the future is less certain, in large part because of a new curveball. Guard Quincy Olivari broke his wrist late in the second half against UTEP as he was fouled going to the basket. Coach Pera confirmed Olivari would miss the remainder of the season.

“Not only does nobody feel sorry for us that Quincy is out,” Pera said, with a frank honesty that was as transparent as it was direct. “People are happy that Quincy is out because now they have a better chance of beating us.”

While Olivari was limited with a wrist injury in the fall, Rice lost four of seven games in a two-week span. They hadn’t lost that many games over any seven-game stretch since, at least that was the case until this loss to North Texas, the fourth defeat in the Owls’ last seven outings.

Rice basketball now sits at 6-6 in conference play with a hole to fix on their roster. They experimented with playing both bigs Myljyael Poteat and Max Fiedler at the same time on Saturday, a strategy they hadn’t utilized up to this point. More experiments are likely to come. Pera summed it up quite well: “We just have to find a way.”

Photo credit Maria Lysaker
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