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Rice Basketball 2020: Transfers plunge promising offseason into uncertainty

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Rice basketball finds itself in a challenging position after losing three players to the Transfer Portal in the span of one week.

The sports news cycle hasn’t slowed down. Even though it’s been more than two weeks since sports of any kind were played, the news has continued to rise to the surface. Not all of it has been positive for Rice basketball.

On Friday, senior Josh Parrish announced he was transferring from the program. Sophomore Trey Murphy followed on Saturday. The dam broke Tuesday when fellow sophomore Drew Peterson also put his name into the Transfer Portal. In the span of less than a week, a promising offseason turned into a painfully bleak new reality.

Rice was already set to lose Ako Adams and Robert Martin to graduation this offseason. Now they’ll have to replace their top-five leading scorers. Absent those five, guard Chris Mullins is the only remaining player on the roster who started more than seven games last season. He averaged 7.3 points.

Murphy said “it was just time for a different opportunity”. Multiple sources have confirmed his suitor list will be vast. The talented shooter has been contacted by Arkansas, Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, DePaul, Iowa State, Stanford, Texas, Wichita State, and Xavier. The allure of playing at the Power 5 level is clear.

More: Erica Ogwumike talks end of season, Rice career on The Roost Podcast

Peterson’s decision was not made in a vacuum. He called his choice to enter the transfer portal “in part, reactionary to [Murphy’s decision]. He added that he loved coach Pera, but it was “time for a new chapter” and that it was a “really hard decision.” Interest in services is heating up quickly. In the days since his announcement, he’s been contacted by Virginia Tech, Stanford, Minnesota, Cincinnati and Creighton, among others.

Roughly two weeks ago I spoke with Owls’ head coach Scott Pera. We had a great conversation, leading to a series of articles on the team and the future he’s trying to build at South Main. “It’s a process, it’s a growth, it’s a vision that now is really, really exciting. We enter Year 4 with this group coming back,” Pera said then. A lot has changed since and that core could be back to square one by the fall.

Pera issued this statement following the transfers:

I’m sorry to see the guys leave. I wish them the best. I’m going to continue to try to find the right guys for Rice, this program and this University as long as I am the head coach.

These losses will hamstring a program that had improved in the win column in every season under Pera. There’s hope for the future, anchored in two successive promising recruiting classes, but the near term just got unequivocally harder.

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Rice Basketball: Owls ready for next step in 2020 and beyond

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Rice basketball is headed in the right direction and Scott Pera has been tasked with turning that momentum into meaningful results in 2020 and beyond.

Seven. Thirteen. Fifteen. The gradual improvement of the Rice basketball team under head coach Scott Pera can be measured in a somewhat linear fashion. On the most rudimentary metric, wins, Pera’s squad has shown tangible improvement following his first year at Rice in 2017.

Rice finished 15-17 this past season, one win away from a .500 record. “I’m excited about where we’re going with this,” Pera said with passion, knowingly declaring a truth he believes runs much deeper than the win column could ever dictate. That’s because Pera came to Rice with the long game in mind.

Refusing to cut corners and committed to building things “the right way”, Pera has stuck to his guns this far. He’s endeavored to build a program rooted in players who love the challenge Rice affords, who know how to win and who are committed to working each and every day to get better. It sounds a bit like coach-speak, but there’s rich truth behind those ideals.

“Character counts in this business,” Pera declared, stressing culture and process over instant gratification. He believes that gratification isn’t far off.

“We’re close,” he said detailing the next few hurdles he sees in front of his team. For Pera, he views those next steps as establishing the program as a top-five finisher in the conference, one that always makes the Conference USA Tournament and routinely wins a few games in Frisco. Yes, a championship is the end goal, but Pera is committing to charting the course to get there, and then get back again, and again.

To get there takes building blocks that go beyond the box score. The maturity of the roster as a whole is something Pera routinely evaluates. He’s not afraid to step aside and let the leaders in the locker room lead. The Owls have reached a point in their development that Pera has full confidence they know the kind of self-talk they need to motivate themselves, even midgame.

More: Erica Ogwumike talks end of season, Rice career on The Roost Podcast

That resolve was put on display frequently. Erratic defensive performances put the Owls in double-digit holes throughout the season but Rice lost just four conference games by 10 or more points. They won five by double-digit margins. In nonconference play, they overcame a 22-point deficit to beat UC Santa Barbara on the road.

On the bad shooting days, Rice struggled to keep pace with their better opponents. Nevertheless, it was rare for the Owls to enter the final quarter of play without a fighting chance to win. The worse results came on the road with Rice losing only one game at home (vs Sam Houston State) by more than eight points. More often than not Rice was competitive and that energy has staying power.

The Owls were inconsistent, but they never lacked effort. At times, they were undisciplined but they never quit. Those are makings of a team with the right mental makeup to take another developmental step.

There’s no doubt seniors Ako Adams and Robert Martin made a tremendous impact. But the poise and influence of sophomores like Drew Peterson, Trey Murphy and Chris Mullins project a mentality Pera believes he can build on. Peterson emerged as a bonafide leader this season, one of several faces to turn to in times of struggle.

“It’s a process, it’s a growth, it’s a vision that now is really, really exciting. We enter Year 4 with this group coming back,” Pera said. “I’m looking forward to seeing these guys make the next step.”

By his own standard, Pera’s team should be a contender in Conference USA next season. Whether or not they reach that mantel will be determined by their effort and focus from now until November. Pera will put in the work. If he can get his team to maintain his level of focus, the future of Rice basketball could be as bright as he believes it to be. Only time will tell.

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Rice Basketball: Owls drop another heartbreaker, this time to UTSA

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Rice basketball made plenty of big shots, but missed their last attempt. That lead to a crushing last-second UTSA layup and the Owls’ fifth straight loss.

Trailing 13-5 after barely five minutes of game time had elapsed, Rice basketball was on the verge of another lopsided defeated. Not only did the Owls manage to avoid that pain, they thundered back from the eight-point deficit, outscoring UTSA 14-2 over the next five minutes to take a 19-15 lead. Game on.

The energy and strain Rice exuded in their narrow loss to UTEP on Thursday galvanized this team to keep fighting. They did not execute perfectly, but their will to battle through eight lead changes was noticeably different from where they’d been even a week ago.

It was Rice that jumped out to the double-digit lead in this one. Josh Parrish pushed the lead to 10 midway through the first half. Trey Murphy made it 11 with a three, one of a season-high 18 three-point baskets the Owls made during the contest. Rice hadn’t made that many threes in a game since November 29, 2013, an overtime loss to Rider.

Like the Rider game, the Owls’ hot hand eventually cooled. With the game tied at 88, Rice had the ball and a chance for the go-ahead bucket. Not only did they miss the shot, UTSA corralled the ball and dashed down the court for a layup of their own. A halfcourt heave fell short, dooming Rice to another strenuous defeat. Midway through C-USA play, Rice sits in last place.

Final Stats

Player of the Game – Ako Adams

Ako Adams had 21 points, 18 of which came from six three-pointers. The senior’s final trey pushed his career total to 201, officially the most in school history. His timely shots, three assists and four rebounds continued to will Rice back into the game. Thanks to Adams’ resolve, this was a slugfest that Rice very much could have won.

Up Next

Rice basketball will get a brief respite after playing five games in the last 10 games. They won’t play on Thursday, returning to the court for the next time on Saturday, Feb. 1 at Tudor Fieldhouse against North Texas.

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Rice Basketball: Loss to Southern Miss a gut punch to Owls

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For the first time this season, Southern Miss has won a Conference USA game thanks to an ineffective road showing by Rice Basketball.

Rice basketball began the season with a 50 point drubbing on the road at Arkansas. Then they responded with four straight wins, including a come-from-behind 22-point bounce back on the road against UC Santa Barbara. The strange start left opened the door to an array of questions, first and foremost, what is this team going to be? Almost three months later, we still don’t know.

Unfortunately, the Owls’ most recent outing answer more of those questions than they might have wanted. The 4-win Golden Eagles led the Owls for the vast majority of regulation, eventually ratcheting their advantage into the double digits, a familiar feeling for the Owls in recent weeks. After starting the season 8-4, Rice basketball sits at a gut-wrenching 9-10.

At the onset, this game felt a lot like Rice football’s road game against UTSA. In that contest, the Owls were perceived to be the team with the advantage and were playing a game they felt like they should win — in some ways needed to win. Instead, the downtrodden Owls let the struggling Roadrunners do more or less whatever they wanted, scratching yet another mark in a growing loss column. The basketball team can now relate.

Southern Miss had lost seven consecutive games to teams not named Tougaloo (an NAIA squad that scored 77 on the Golden Eagles just before Christmas). Rice lost 81-68. Nothing went right. Drew Peterson fouled out. Ako Adams had zero points, going 0-for-7 from the floor. Rice shot 25.7 percent from three.

What happens will go a long way toward determining the fate of this season. The football team used the pain of the UTSA loss to rally, ending the season on a high note. Rice basketball hopes to rise from the depths in much the same way.

Final Stats

Player of the game – Trey Murphy

Trey Murphy seems to have found his shooting stroke. After making two or fewer three-pointers in four of five games, Murphy has combined to make 10 from deep in the Owls’ last two contests. He’s had back-to-back 20 point games, adding 6-of-7 free throws, five rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal against Southern Miss. If Rice basketball is going to get back on track, Murphy will be a catalyst.

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Rice Basketball 2020: Comeback falls short against WKU

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Rice Basketball came up short on a furious comeback attempt against Western Kentucky, falling to 0-2 in Conference USA play.

The first five minutes of play at E.A. Diddle Arena couldn’t have gone much worse. Rice basketball missed five shots, turned the ball over four times and fell behind 9-0. Western Kentucky would extend the lead to 13 on a Camron Justice three shortly after. The home crowd was roaring and the Owls seemed lost.

Then the rally began. The double-digit deficit shrunk to six points at halftime and didn’t last much longer. Rice scored nine of the first 12 points after the break to tie the game at 32. The shots that weren’t falling in the first half started to drop and a suddenly reinvigorated defense gave WKU fits. They had to settle for a lot of outside shots in the second half, where their rhythm was noticeably off.

The second half was a game of runs. WKU would take a five or six point lead. Rice would tie it, but they never got past the equalizing point. Rice took six shots that could have given them the lead in the second half but missed all six. In the end, a cold snap did them in. The Owls finished 1-of-9 from the field, dropping the game by a final score of 68-61.

Rice made impeccable defensive adjustments in the second half. Weathering the storm and fighting back has been a frequent occurrence for this team. If they’re ever able to strike first, they’ve shown the ability to push the envelope. It’s just too often after they’ve fallen behind that they get the opportunity to make that push.

Final Stats

Player of the game – Trey Murphy

Five Owls attempted multiple three-pointers on Saturday. Murphy was the only one to knock down more than one. He was 4-for-8 while the rest of the team shot a dismal 4-for-21. He rounded out the strong shooting night with seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. His game continues to develop, but he’s already much more than a complimentary outside shooter.

Up Next

The Owls will play their first C-USA home game of the season on Thursday when they return to Tudor Fieldhouse to take on FAU. That game is scheduled to tip at 7:00 p.m. They’ll then host FIU on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

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