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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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MBB: Owls survive Marshall to earn big home win

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Rice basketball saw a massive lead evaporate but found a way to out-tough Marshall down the stretch, knocking off the Herd at home, 74-69.

This script is getting all-too familiar. No lead seems safe, no matter how impactful or impressive the Owls look in the middle portion of their games. Marshall’s biggest lead on Saturday was five points at the 12:35 mark of the first half. Rice led by 17 with 15:39 to play in the second half.

This isn’t the first, the second or even the third game which felt in hand before spiraling into a slugfest in the final moments. By the time 30 seconds remained in the contest Rice and Marshall were separated by one point, a far cry from the 17 point advantage the Owls had not that long ago.

What was different on Saturday though, was the amount of gas left in the tank. Rather than survive into two overtimes the Owls’ defense held strong in the final minute. Marshall connected one field goal in the final three minutes. This time the Owls’ were able to weather the storm. Maybe next time it might not feel as perilous.

Box

Player PTS FG 3FG FT OR DR REB A PF TO BL ST MIN +/-
PARRISH 7 3-5 1-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 28 11
ADAMS 6 1-5 1-4 3-4 0 3 3 0 4 0 0 1 13 6
MULLINS 12 4-5 1-1 3-7 0 8 8 4 4 6 1 3 32 -10
WILLIAMS 11 5-12 0-3 1-2 2 6 8 0 4 1 1 0 27 0
MILLORA-BROWN 10 5-10 0-0 0-0 1 5 6 4 2 1 0 0 26 7
MOORE 7 0-2 0-1 7-8 0 4 4 3 0 3 1 3 23 1
MURPHY III 11 3-9 3-7 2-3 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 20 9
MARTIN 10 3-11 1-5 3-7 1 6 7 2 4 2 0 0 28 3
PETERSON 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 -2

Player of the game – Quentin Millora-Brown

The young forward appears to be getting more and more confident with each passing game. He’s starting to assert himself in the paint and the team is finding him for high percentage shots. Millora-Brown was one of five Owls who scored in double-digits while adding six rebounds and a team-high four assists.

Up Next

Rice closes the predetermined portion of their conference schedule with a road trip to Florida. Their first game of the two-game road trip will be Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. against FIU before playing FAU on Saturday.

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MBB: Double OT not enough to lift Owls past WKU

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Rice basketball battled with Western Kentucky in a double overtime thriller before running out of gas. The Owls fell 92-85.

There was a full gym on Thursday night at Tudor Fieldhouse for a nationally televised game between visiting Western Kentucky and the Rice Owls. The home team got off to a slow start, falling behind 9-0 before they settled down and focused in on what would become a dogfight from start to finish.

Down early, Rice didn’t get flustered. Instead, they rallied behind one of the hottest shooting streaks of Ako Adams‘ career. The junior point guard began the game 5-for-5 from long range. Every time it looked like WKU might be able to extend the lead, Adams willed his team back into the fight.

Two points were all that separated Rice and WKU at half. Then the Owls turned it on. By way of a 13-0 run midway through the second half Rice flipped the 2-point deficit into a 9-point advantage. They’d extend the lead to as many as 13, but WKU wasn’t done. The Tops had a rally of their own, taking advantage of a five-minute scoring drought from Rice to claw back and take the lead.

Chris Mullins knocked down a foul shot to force overtime. Then Adams drained his seventh three of the contest to send the game to a second extra period. When it came time to finish, they didn’t have the energy to close. Rice fell in two overtimes, 92-85.

“We just not there yet,” admitted Pera after the game. “We all want to win. We all want to take this program up a notch. It’s hard… Nobody feels sorry for us. We gotta do better and the only way you do better is to look in the mirror, take responsibility, hold your teammates and staff accountable and get to work tomorrow. And that’s what we’ll do.”

Box

Player PTS FG 3FG FT OR DR REB A PF TO BL ST MIN +/-
ADAMS 23 8-15 7-14 0-0 0 4 4 0 3 5 0 1 46 -14
PETERSON 2 0-5 0-1 2-2 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 11 -7
MULLINS 13 3-14 1-4 6-8 1 2 3 3 1 3 0 1 36 -23
WILLIAMS 8 3-9 0-2 2-2 2 7 9 4 1 5 1 2 39 -6
MILLORA-BROWN 13 5-13 0-0 3-4 5 6 11 1 1 0 2 0 35 -5
MOORE 3 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 7
PARRISH 9 4-5 0-0 1-1 1 3 4 3 2 3 0 1 19 8
MURPHY III 7 3-9 0-6 1-2 1 4 5 3 3 0 2 1 33 8
MARTIN 7 3-6 1-3 0-0 1 7 8 1 5 0 0 0 26 -3

Player of the game – Ako Adams

Entering Thursday night the record for most three-point baskets made in a single game was eight set by Bobby Crawford against Tulsa in 1997. After a hot start, Adams finished 2-of-9 from deep and 7-of-14 overall, just missing out on a piece of Rice history. Still, seven threes and another layup paved the way for a season-best 23 points.

Adams took little joy in his strong start given the final result. “I definitely gotta do a better job as a better point guard and a better leader,” he declared. “I’m tired of being this close. We just gotta break through.” The Owls had lost their previous three games by five combined points prior to this overtime defeat.

Up Next

Rice will stick around town for a Saturday tilt with Marshall this Saturday. The Herd are the last home opponent on the finalized portion of the Owls’ schedule before pod play begins in the latter half of February.

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