Tigers ground Owls' flight

By Yan Digilov     1/21/10 6:00pm

The men's basketball team's Wednesday loss to Southern Methodist University marked the sixth game of a demoralizing losing streak for the Owls (6-12, 0-5 C-USA). It also marked the fourth game in a row Head Coach Ben Braun has made a bold move in an attempt to fix some intractable, glaring deficiencies. For the last four games, Braun has been starting sophomore guard Nate Schwarze, previously relegated to sparse playing time after taking only six shots last year. But Braun has found a niche that Schwarze can fill despite consistently being the smallest player on the floor.

"It is about the defensive energy that Nate brings," Braun said. "We are talking about how important defense is to the team, and Nate has given us a real defensive lift. He is an intelligent defensive player, and a gritty defensive player."

Intelligence and grit have been exhibited in spurts on a team-wide level throughout Rice's recent losing streak, but the Owls have yet to contribute the consistency needed to put together a complete 40-minute effort.

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In particular, the Owls have been unable to exhibit a strong effort early in the past few games. That lack of effort provides the biggest drive for Braun to insert Schwarze into the starting rotation. Facing both the University of Memphis and SMU (7-10, 1-3 C-USA) last week, each game resulting in a loss, the Owls started the games off down by seven points in the opening minutes.

With Memphis (13-5, 3-1 C-USA), those seven points proved to be the deficit they would continually chase but never overcome. Their victory against Rice was their 64th consecutive conference win - a streak that ended Wednesday against the University of Texas-El Paso. But before they fell 72-67 to the Miners, Rice proved that the former basketball mammoth was indeed vulnerable.

The contest stayed close throughout almost the entire game, due in large part to a relentless attack from Rice's forwards.

Junior center Trey Stanton, whose play had been lacking in previous efforts, led the Owls with 18 points and seven rebounds. Freshman forward Arsalan Kazemi also put on a show for the ESPN cameras, which were there to film a piece on him for Outside the Lines, posting 15 points, 11 rebounds and four steals for his fourth double-double.

"Whenever Arsalan is down low, he draws a lot of attention," Stanton said. "He is good down low and it is hard for [opponents] to make up their minds on what they are going to do with us. I feel strongly that if Arsalan has got one guy on him he is going to score, and if he has got two he will pass it to me."

With that confidence, the forwards kept Rice close despite a continued assault from Memphis point guard Elliot Williams, who finished the game with 32 points.

"Memphis kept making run after run after run, and our guys stayed with it," Braun said. "We kept battling back, and that has got to be the way we play all the time."

A large part of the sustained energy after a delicate start was a result of the return of the Autry Army. With an estimated 550 students showing up for the game, an atmosphere that had been missing from Autry Court for some time returned.

"We have many thanks to the fans," Kazemi said. "They really supported us, and it was a really good thing. They helped us a lot."

While a loss to a top program could be forgiven, the toughest pill for the team to swallow was the fact that the same level of play would have certainly resulted in wins against opponents like Tulane University and the University of Central Florida. In an unfortunate twist of fate, however, the Owls would once again face SMU.

But this time, after the defensive switch went on, the Owls gained control of the game midway through the first half. This marked the first time Rice had led a game on their home court in 60 minutes of play, but the unfamiliar situation may have played a role in their eventual defeat.

"I didn't like the urgency and consistency on the defensive end," Braun said of the situation following his team's lead. "We have got to make sure our defense is better than it was. That is our margin for error. [If] we play good defense, I think we can come down and convert."

The defense sputtered throughout the second quarter, which began tied at 34. The team jumped between intervals of energetic play and inexplicable lapses in coverage. Despite a 2-3 zone designed to limit inside presences, the Mustangs gained easy penetration in the first half, and after the Owls switched to man coverage in the second, lazy switching on screens brought about the same results.

SMU finished the game shooting 51 percent because of the easy scoring opportunities that Rice gave up. Despite winning the rebound war - which they have done in all of their last six losses - the Owls' effort failed to come through.

"It comes down to having the mental toughness," sophomore guard Connor Frizzelle, who scored 14 points against SMU, said. "When we start games, we focus on offense instead of focusing on defense. I think it is a mental thing more than physical. Somebody has got to step in and get into people's faces and get onto us on the defensive end."

Rice indeed needs somebody to start working soon, as the team's schedule only gets tougher from here. The Owls travel to the University of Tulsa tomorrow to face the Golden Hurricane (15-3, 4-0 C-USA), a team currently leading the conference standings.

In order to join them on top, the Owls will have much work to do, a task that Braun thinks is feasible.

"It is not going to happen overnight," the coach said. "We are going to have to continue to fight and continue to learn. Improvement sometimes has nothing to do with record. It has to do with how dedicated you are to getting better. It has to do with raising that confidence, but nothing is a given. We have to continue to fight.

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