Longhorns down Owls

By Yan Digilov     12/3/09 6:00pm

After opening the season with perfection, the men's basketball team has encountered its first taste of defeat in recent weeks. But the Owls' latest struggles, which came at the hands of formidable opponents, have shown the team what works and what needs improvement to help them win consistently. One area where Rice (4-3) has excelled is around the basket. Known for at times being timid underneath the basket, junior center Trey Stanton turned many heads in the team's 77-65 win against Furman University (4-1) Nov. 24, putting up a career high 23 points with nine rebounds.

Though the team will not be relying on this kind of production from him day-in and day-out to win games, the performance was indicative of a shift in the Owls' focus in the paint. That focus was desperately needed last Sunday, when perhaps the biggest post challenge the team will face all year rolled into town.

Although Texas' center Dexter Pittman contributed 21 points to the Longhorns' 77-59 defeat of the Owls, Rice worked hard to play in front of the 6'10", 290-lb. big man and utilized as many fouls as possible after Texas (5-0) made it clear that the center was its first option down the court.

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Stanton shared duties with sophomore forward Emerson Herndon and junior forward Suleiman Braimoh, slowing Pittman and keeping the Owls within striking distance. The frontcourt's efforts against one of the top centers in the country showed they have vastly improved their post play from last year. Although the game's waning minutes saw the Longhorns put in 11 unanswered points, the fact that the Owls weren't drowning in double-digit deficits speaks volumes about just how far the program has come in a short time.

Braimoh led the Owls against Texas with 12 points and has placed himself squarely in the early running for most improved on the team this season. Head Coach Ben Braun consistently turned to Braimoh to energize the ballgame last year with his heart and determination, but it often came at the cost of turnovers and wild play.

"[Braimoh] had a good game," Braun said. "He has really worked hard on his body and his game over the summer. Braimoh, Trey and Emerson have really improved."

Herndon was also relegated to a supporting role last season due to his frequent turnovers and tumultuous play. Against Texas, however, he showed that he is capable of contributing both in the post and with his mid-range jump shots, which played a vital role in pushing the Owls to within five points of the national powerhouse Longhorns late in the game. Then, in the best performance of his career, he contributed 13 points in a losing effort at Harvard University on Wednesday.

Of course, a discussion of the Owls' emergent post play would not be complete without mentioning one of the team's most promising new stars: freshman forward Arsalan Kazemi, the first Iranian-born player to receive a Division I basketball scholarship. Though most Rice fans began the year unable to pronounce his last name, Kazemi is quickly becoming a fan favorite. After bringing Tudor Fieldhouse to its feet with several electrifying dunks against Texas, physical play under the basket late in the game forced him off the court and summoned cheers of "Arsalan! Arsalan!" from the fans.

But it wasn't just Texas that got the brunt of Kazemi's efforts - a week earlier, Kazemi contributed a team-leading 13 points in Rice's losing road effort against the University of Arizona.

Braun says that Kazemi's play has taken the load off the upperclassmen under the basket.

"Our big guys have been improving and working harder for position," Braun said. "It has allowed us to take [sophomore forward] Lucas [Kuipers] and give him a chance to play away from the basket, which is important since [senior guard] Cory [Pflieger] is out for the season."

While the low posts have shown that the team has a solid foundation from which to play, providing a top scorer in each of their last five games, the guards have shown that the outcome of the game will likely be determined by their ability to score away from the basket.

Rice began the first half against Arizona (3-2) shooting only 19 percent from the field and finished the game making a meager 28 percent. Kuipers went 2-12 from the field, and the team's scoring leader, sophomore guard Connor Frizzelle, made three out of 12 shots and only one of five from behind the arc.

Frizzelle has exhibited perhaps the most impressive jump after his freshman year, earning Most Valuable Player honors from the season-opening Rice Invitational Tournament last month and exhibiting a maturing sharpness on the court that comes from an extra year's worth of experience.

But Rice will need him to prove that he is a pure scorer to make their inside-outside game complete, especially since he was held to goose eggs against Texas, a team that prides itself on energetic man-to-man defense, making perimeter play very difficult. Frizzelle finished 0-10 from the field on the day.

Overall, the squad has begun the season by fulfilling the promise that Braun made when he first arrived at Rice - getting better every game. Right now, the team looks the part of a squad in its second year under one of the top coaches in the nation, but it still has a need to fill certain areas with strong bodies.

"I think we are starting to build on some things," Braun said. "It is still early but we are working hard. Defensively we have made some improvements. We are rebounding, and that is an area we want to improve."

The need for defensive improvements was highlighted in the match against Harvard (6-1) when a lack of production from the guards was coupled with a poor defensive effort in the field.

While the coming weeks are a chance for Rice students to go home and relax, the Owls will need to focus on these improvements to be ready to kick off conference play with a much-anticipated contest against the University of Houston (3-2) Jan. 6 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The team will have to show that it can take care of business at home against teams like the University of North Texas (4-2), which they play tomorrow at 2 p.m., and Santa Clara University (4-3), which they play Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. A match-up against an always-tough Louisiana State University (4-2) comes on Dec. 19 and should be one of the final chances Braun has to iron out any inconsistencies that may arise before conference play begins.

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