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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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MBB: Owls erase 20-point deficit to knock off UTEP in the desert

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Rice basketball avenged a prior controversial road loss, rallying from a 20-point deficit to knock off UTEP on the road and setting themselves up well in CUSA pod play.

The continuously unpredictable Rice basketball season took another strange turn in the desert on Saturday night. Visiting UTEP for the first time since losing in controversial fashion in the final seconds earlier this season, Rice hoped they’d play to a much different result in the rematch.

Things couldn’t have looked much different. Rice trailed 37-20 at halftime and the hopes of a close finish seemed all but forgotten. The Miners’ lead would climb to 20 in the second half. Ako Adams would leave the game. Jack Williams fouled out. But when things looked bleakest, the Owls fought back.

The 20-point deficit turned into a 1-point Rice lead late in the second half. Trey Murphy missed what would have been the game-winner in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game to overtime. Chris Mullins had a chance to clinch it in overtime, but his shot missed.

In the second overtime, Rice didn’t need one more shot. Trey Murphy made a huge three-point shot to give the Owls the lead and Mullins did the rest, scoring the Owls final five points of the game from the free throw line. The same Rice team which looked exhausted in double overtime against Western Kentucky weeks ago looked as locked in late as they’d been all game.

The result was more than your average comeback. The 20-point difference was tied second-largest margin overcome by any Rice team in school history. And they did it without two of their most important players on the court in the critical moments.

The win puts Rice in the driver’s seat in their portion of pod play. The 11-seed entering the bonus portion of the conference schedule, Rice has games remaining against Middle Tennesee and Charlotte (twice) with a trip to the conference tournament on the line. Rice defeated both schools (in regulation) during the regular season.

Box

PLAYER FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
J. Williams 1-6 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 5 3
Q. Millora-Brown 4-7 0-0 2-3 2 6 8 0 0 0 0 2 10
C. Mullins 4-16 1-3 10-13 2 2 4 6 1 0 4 3 19
J. Parrish 2-5 1-2 1-5 1 8 9 2 2 3 2 2 6
A. Adams 2-5 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 2 0 1 0 5
R. Martin 7-12 2-3 7-10 2 11 13 2 2 1 3 3 23
P. Moore 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
T. Murphy III 4-11 3-7 3-6 1 5 6 1 2 2 0 2 14
D. Peterson 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 1 1 0 0 3 5

 

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MBB: Loss to FAU drops Owls into elimination pod

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Rice basketball dropped their final game to FAU before pod play, setting up a series of elimination games before the conference tournament in Frisco.

An up and down season saw another dip in Florida on Saturday. Rice basketball suffered their second consecutive road loss, falling to FAU 60-41. The loss drops the Owls to 5-9 in conference play this season.

A new wrinkle to the schedule in 2019, the final slate of games will be decided in pod play based on conference record. Teams that finish first through fifth in the conference standings will be in the first pod. Sixth through tenth seeds will be in the second pod. The final four teams, Rice included, will play in the lowest pod.

The uppermost pods are meant to enhance the strength of schedule for the conference’s top teams. No matter how each teams fairs in pod play, they’ll all be guaranteed a spot in the conference tournament. The same isn’t true for the Owls’ pod.

The Conference USA tournament has 12 spots to assign from 14 teams. That means the four teams in the bottom pod are playing for the final two spots in Frisco. Rice will battle it out with Middle Tennessee, Charlotte and UTEP in a series of four games.

Rice has defeated Charlotte and Middle Tennessee already this season. The Owls dropped a road contest to UTEP on a controversial call for which the conference issued an apology.

The team has had some bad outings over the course of the last two months, but the majority of their games have come down to the final minutes. If they play to their potential, Rice can finish in the top two of their pod and qualify for the conference tournament. Another series of games like Saturday, though, and the Owls will see their season end sooner than they’d like.

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MBB: Owls suffer stinging setback against FIU

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Excessive turnovers proved too much to overcome for Rice basketball as they fell on the road to FIU by a final score of 86-65.

It had been more than a month since Rice basketball had lost a game in regulation by more than four points. 3-3 over their last six, it looked like this young team was starting to iron out some of their inconsistencies. The Owls were playing their best basketball of the year as the calendar turned into the spring.

Thursday night’s dud against FIU was far from the standard this team had established for itself over the last month. Rice outrebounded FIU (42-29) and outshot FIU from the floor (44.4 percent – 44.1 percent). But all that good could erase a stunning season-high 33 turnovers, nearly doubling their previous high of 17.

Winning on the road isn’t easy, especially in conference play. But Rice did themselves no favors against a middle-of-the-road FIU squad which had lost four of it’s previous five.

The Box

PLAYER FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS
J. Williams 4-8 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 0 0 5 3 8
Q. Millora-Brown 7-9 0-0 0-0 7 9 16 2 1 2 2 3 14
C. Mullins 2-8 0-2 1-2 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 5
J. Parrish 4-6 0-0 5-8 2 2 4 0 2 0 5 3 13
A. Adams 2-5 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 1 2 0 6 3 5
R. Martin 1-7 0-2 6-6 1 6 7 3 2 1 3 2 8
T. Harrison 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
P. Moore 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 4 0
T. Murphy III 3-6 2-5 0-0 0 1 1 0 1 2 2 0 8
D. Peterson 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 2

Player of the Game – Quentin Millora-Brown

Even in defeat, the Owls’ freshman forward took significant strides in his offensive game. Shooting 7-for-9 from the field on any given night is huge, but adding a game-high seven offensive rebounds to that percentage is almost absurd. For reference, FIU grabbed 10 offensive boards as a team.

Millora-Brown is gaining confidence in his shot. If he can consistently score in the paint, the Rice offense is going to become that much more lethal. His double-double against FIU is a good start.

Up next

Rice closes out their Florida road trip with a Saturday contest against FAU. The others Owls of Conference USA edged North Texas at home on Saturday 57-47 and have won four of their last six games.

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