Basketball splits weekend conference matchups

By Kevin Mohanram 1/28/15 7:35am

The Rice University men’s basketball team (6-12, 3-4 C-USA) went 1-1 last week against the University of Southern Mississippi and Louisiana Tech University.

The Owls came back to defeat Southern Miss 58-56 after being down by as many as 10 points. Sophomore guard Marcus Jackson scored the winning free throws after he was fouled when the game was tied with fewer than six seconds left. Jackson led the team with 19 points and senior forward Seth Gearhart added 16.

Head Coach Mike Rhoades said he was pleased with how the team was able to come back in the game.

“I was really proud of our guys,” Rhoades said. “We got down 10 there, and we could have bagged it. We’ve had a lot of games this season where we were in the position and came back but couldn’t get over the hump, but we [did].”

Rice jumped out to an early lead against Louisiana Tech, who is currently second in Conference USA with a record of 15-5. The Owls never recovered after the 28-24 halftime deficit and ultimately lost 45-58. Gearhart scored 16 points for the second consecutive game, making it 12 straight games that he has scored double-digit points. Jackson contributed 12 points in the game.

According to Rhoades, Louisiana Tech’s defense played tough and did not allow Rice many scoring opportunities.

“It was a hard game to score in today,” Rhoades said. “It wasn’t lack of effort. I thought our guys did a great job of being composed and continuing to fight. We did not shoot the ball well, and their athleticism had something to do with that.”

Gearhart is one of the 30 seniors in the country nominated for the national Senior CLASS Award. The award honors student athletes who excel in community, classroom, character and competition.

The Owls will begin a four-game road trip on Wednesday, Jan. 28, against the University of Houston, their final non-conference game. The next home game is Thursday, Feb. 12 against Middle Tennessee State University.