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MBB: Marshall ends Owls’ season with CUSA Tournament rout

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Rice basketball saw their season come to an end at the Conference USA Tournament on Wednesday, falling to Marshall in the first round.

Things couldn’t have gotten off to a much worse start for Rice basketball at the Conference USA Tournament. Despite beating Marshall in their previous meeting during the regular season, the Owls fell behind by as many as 20 points in the first half.

The deficit would grow as the game progress. Marshall’s 20 point advantage stretched to as many as 32 points in the second half. Every time Rice was able to string a few baskets together, Marshall answered.

No matter what sort of defense Rice put out, Conference USA all-time leading scorer Jon Elmore barely missed. He finished with 32 points, six assists and six rebounds, connecting on 6-of-9 shots from three. His great shooting night was contagious.

Marshall was shooting a blistering 60 percent from the floor through the early minutes of the second half before cooling off to finish shooting 53.6 percent from the floor. That’s the third-best mark by a Rice opponent this season.

On the other side of the court, the Rice offense sputtered. Rice was held to 65 points with most of their production coming under a sizable second half deficit. Robert Martin led the team with 16 points. In his final game for the blue and gray, Jack Williams notched another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Owls knew it was going to take one of their better showings to survive and advance. Things just didn’t click on Wednesday, resulting in a season-ending defeat at the star. Marshall would triumph by a final score of 82-65.

Final thoughts

In many ways, this was a transition season for the Owls. The flood of transfers following the 2017-2018 campaign gave way to a young core of players with potential, but plenty to learn. On their best days, this team tested some of the best teams in the conference. The future is bright for Rice basketball. 2019 just wasn’t their year.

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Conference USA Basketball Tournament: Men’s and Women’s Previews

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Both Rice basketball teams qualified for the Conference USA Basketball Tournament in Frisco, Tx. Here’s a preview of the action.

Men’s Tournament – The Bracket

The Favorite: Old Dominion

After taking down Western Kentucky and UTSA, the Monarchs faded in the final two games of pod play. Their losses to Southern Miss and UAB are certainly a concern, but there was a reason this team was the only CUSA squad to win more than 20 games.

Even after dropping their final two regular season games, Old Dominion still owns a 13-5 conference record. They also beat Southern Miss and UAB earlier in the season. Led by guards B.J. Smith and Ahmad Carver, they’re going to shoot well and score a lot of points.

The Sleeper: Marshall

Marshall was one of the few teams to beat Old Dominion in the regular and could be the hottest squad in the conference in March. The Herd have won five straight, sweeping comfortably through pod play.

Champions over Western Kentucky last season, the core of the Herd lineup remains intact. Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks are once again one and two in scoring. Freshman Taevion Kinsey has come on strong lately with strong shooting performances and double-digit points in all of the Herd’s pod play victories.

The case for Rice

Unlike in other years, there is no dominant force in Conference USA. The 12-seed, Middle Tennessee, and the 1-seed, Old Dominion, are separated by five games in the standings. Four different teams, including Rice, enter Frisco 8-10 in conference play. By and large, the standings are fairly tight outside of Charlotte and UTEP, who failed to make the tournament.

Rice has proven on multiple occasions this year their best is good enough to beat even the upper end teams in CUSA. The Owls own wins over both Marshall and Southern Miss, the highest seeds on their side of the bracket and they fell to 2-seed Western Kentucky in double overtime.

The Owls haven’t been able to string together 40-minutes of top-level basketball with much consistency this year, but they have had their moments. If this team gets it in gear, they’re capable of beating anyone in this tournament.

Women’s Tournament – The Bracket

The Favorite: Rice

They say there’s a reason the games are played on the court and not a computer, but it’s hard to envision any amount of variation knocking the Owls off their perch atop Conference USA. They didn’t slow down in the final weeks of the regular season, and perhaps got even better, posting dominant wins over everyone they’ve met in March to this point.

If the season ended today, there’s a strong argument Rice is deserving of an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. Two wins in Frisco should seal the deal, but these ladies have their eyes set on cutting down the nets for a reason.

The Sleeper: Old Dominion

Old Dominion was neck and neck with Rice early on in conference play before Rice beat them in their lone head to head pairing of the season. Still, it was the Monarchs who gave the Owls their closest scare.

The challenger turned the game into a defensive slugfest, matching the physicality of Rice and holding the home team to 28.3 percent shooting from the field. Rice would go on to win by six points, but failed to score 50 points for the only time this season. To win this tournament you’ll have to go through Rice. Old Dominion has the best shot, albeit a distant one.

The case for Rice

Ranked for the first time in school history, this Rice team is special. In good games and in bad games, they find a way to win. Their defense is extraordinary and tenacious and the offense continually gets the ball in the hands of their most reliable players.

Rice might not have been tested to the same degree as some of their opponents they’ll face in Frisco. Rarely did Rice find themselves in a single-digit game in the fourth quarter, but when they did they came out on top. The chalk pick by most every expert, Rice is the prohibitive favorite to cut down the nets.

Schedule – Men / Women

First Round

Rice Men: Wednesday, March 13 at 9 p.m. vs Marshall – ESPN+
Rice Women: Bye

Second Round

Rice Men: TBD
Rice Women: Thursday, March 14 at 11 a.m. – opponent TBD – Watch Stadium

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MBB: Owls fall to Charlotte on Senior Night

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With their Conference USA Tournament berth secure, Rice basketball fell at home to Charlotte in the final game of the regular season.

Head coach Scott Pera had employed six different starting lineups this season, generally keeping to a combination of Ako Adams, Quentin Millora-Brown, Chris Mullins, Jack Williams and either Josh Parrish or Drew Peterson for most of the season. On Senior Night, with a berth in the Conference USA tournament already secure, Pera put seniors Dylan Jones and Oliver Xu into the starting five.

Seldom used reserves, it was a nice gesture by Pera, who watched happily on the side of the court as Jones scored the first back of the night — also his first points of the season. Jones and Xu were soon replaced by the normal contingent as the two teams kept the score close throughout the first 38 minutes of game action.

With 4:15 remaining in regulation, Charlotte took the lead from Rice for good. Three consecutive Charlotte three-pointers quickly extended the lead to double-digits, the largest advantage for either team in the game. The Owls would cut it to seven, but never get any closer, falling by a final score of 78-70.

Robert Martin led the team with 15 points. Jack Williams had another solid showing, posting 11 points and six rebounds in the final home game of his career. The team as a whole shot 41.4 percent from the floor, failing to keep pace with a tremendous night from Charlotte’s Jon Davis who led all scorers with 28 points, adding nine rebounds.

Although the loss ends the regular season on a sour note, Rice has at least one more game to play. Rice’s first game of the conference tournament will be on Wednesday, March 13. The full bracket should be announced soon, but 11-seed Rice is tentatively set to face 6-seed Marshall. The Owls won the regular season matchup with the Herd, 74-69.

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Basketball: Owls top Charlotte for third straight win

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Rice basketball has taken their game up a notch, remaining perfect in pod play with a 79-70 road win over Charlotte on Wednesday.

With a trip to the Conference USA conference tournament already secured, Rice had two bouts with the Charlotte 49ers to make their last adjustments. The first came Wednesday and resulted in the second win in two chances for Rice over Charlotte so far this season.

For the Owls, it was Drew Peterson who led the way on offense. A role play for a large chunk of the season, Peterson has come on strong in the last few weeks, posting 31 points in the Owls’ last two games including a 15 point effort against Charlotte. Right behind in on the stat sheet was Chris Mullins (14 points) and Robert Martin and Ako Adams, each with 12.

Six different players connected on at least four field goals on Wednesday and five different Owls tallied three rebounds or more. As has been the recipe for many wins this season, it was truly a team effort.

Rice held Charlotte to 37.7 percent from the field while connecting on 49.2 percent of their own buckets, including 50 percent from three-point range. Charlotte managed to block seven shots. Although they were able to cut the deficit down to as little as one point in the second half, the home team never led, trailing from the moment Quentin Millora-Brown put in a layup to start the scoring in the first half.

The two squads will end their respective regular seasons with a third game in Houston on Saturday. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Rice holds a one game advantage, including the head-to-head tiebreaker, over Middle Tennessee for the top spot in their pod. Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, Rice will be the No. 11 seed in Frisco.

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MBB: Owls down MTSU to clinch Conference USA Tournament berth

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Rice basketball won their second game in pod play on Saturday, downing Middle Tennessee to clinch a spot in the Conference USA conference tournament.

By the time Rice basketball tipped off on Sunday afternoon against Middle Tennessee, they knew what was at stake. A win over the Blue Raiders would secure a berth in the Conference USA conference tournament. That motivation showed early. Rice came out of the gate guns blazing, staking themselves to a 28-8 lead before Middle Tennessee knew what hit them.

A 13-point half time advantage was tested late in the second half. Middle Tennessee would cut the Rice lead to three with 1:13 to play but Drew Peters0n connected on five of Rice’s 18 second half free throws to seal the game and the Owls’ trip to the Conference USA conference tournament.

Peterson finished two points shy of a career best with 16 points. Ako Adams, Robert Martin and Quinton Millora-Brown all finished in double-digit scoring. Millora-Brown added 10 rebounds to secure his fourth double-double of the year.

Conference USA conference tournament scenarios

12 of the 14 Conference USA teams qualify for the conference tournament. Because of how pod play was structured, the top two groupings will advance automatically, leaving room for two of the four teams in Rice’s group to clinch a spot in Frisco.

The double-overtime win over UTEP followed by Saturday’s victory over Middle Tennessee lifts the Owls’ conference record to 7-9. That’s one game better than Middle Tennesee and three games better than 13th place Charlotte.

Rice has two games in bonus play remaining, both against Charlotte. Regardless of the outcome of those games, Rice will finish no worse than 12 in the final standings. At this point, their final two games will be for positioning. If they stay ahead of MTSU Rice will clinch the 11th. For Rice, the final two regular season games will give them two more opportunities to get in a groove before the tournament. Then it’s win or go home.

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