Can’t call it a comeback: MBB continues to lose close games
Junior forward Andrew Akuchie shields the ball from a University of North Texas player during the Feb. 11 loss to UNT.
Cayden Chen / Thresher
Rice men’s basketball lost another conference matchup Saturday, falling 81-78 to Tulane University on the road. The Owls won their first two conference games after AAC competition began Jan. 1, but they’re 1-10 in the 11 games since then.
Rice has consistently been unable to win close games. Whether they kept the score close for all 40 minutes or sparked hope by shrinking their deficit in the second half, the Owls have repeatedly found themselves on the losing side of competitive contests.
To their credit, when Rice does clinch an occasional conference victory, they do it with ease, taking down Tulsa University by six points, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte by 13 and East Carolina University by 13. Their conference victories come by an average margin of 10.7 points.
Rice’s margin of victory is not far off from the University of Memphis. The Tigers, ranked 22nd in the country and first in the conference, have an average AAC margin of victory of 11.1 points. Plus, that number is skewed by a pair of 20-plus-point wins.
However, victories have been few and far between for the Owls under first-year head coach Rob Lanier, and the losses continue to pile up – often in close, nail-biting fashion.
Eight of Rice’s 10 conference losses this season have been by six points or less – and five have been by just three points or less. On average, the Owls lose conference matchups by just 5.7 points.
In their three conference wins totaling 120 minutes of regulation, Rice has led the opponent for 91 minutes and 38 seconds, or 76.4% of the time. They’ve trailed for only 20 minutes and 17 seconds, or 16.9%.
In their 10 conference losses totaling 400 minutes, Rice has still managed to lead for 122 minutes and 57 seconds, or 30.7%. They’ve trailed for 256 minutes and 18 seconds, or 64.1%.
Furthermore, Rice is 2-4 in games when they led at halftime and 1-6 in games when they trailed at halftime.
For most of their conference schedule, the Owls have displayed a pattern of leading in losses at a much larger rate than trailing in wins, and vice versa.
Inflating these numbers most was Rice’s Jan. 19 loss to Florida Atlantic University, 75-73. In this battle of the Owls, Rice led for 35 minutes and 44 seconds.
However, FAU tied the game with a late two-pointer, then pulled ahead by making a pair of free throws with two seconds left. Despite leading for just 34 seconds, FAU pulled off the win and gave Rice yet another close conference loss.
In total this season, the Owls have trailed 53.2% of the time, led for 41.3%, and tied for the remaining 5.5%. For a team that is just 3-10 and ranks second-to-last in its conference, these aren’t astonishingly poor numbers. So why has Rice struggled to come out on top?
A common theme for Rice this season has been a failure to capitalize on opportunities at the foul line.
The Owls have attempted the second-most free throws in the AAC, but they’ve converted these shots at 69.5 % clip, which is the conference’s third-lowest mark.
As time winds down in regulation and teams get on the bonus, Rice hasn’t been able to capitalize on late-game scoring chances from the foul line.
After a Feb. 11 loss to the University of North Texas, head coach Rob Lanier said, “I can’t make the free throws go in for them. We’ve got to make those.”
Rice has endured similar struggles on two-point shots, converting these just 47 percent of the time, which ranks third-to-last in the AAC. Meanwhile, they’re committing the third-most fouls per game while taking the second-fewest fouls per game.
Struggling to score from inside the arc, failing to capitalize during trips to the free-throw line and giving other teams plentiful opportunities to sink their foul shots has created a perfect storm that keeps the Owls competitive for most of the game, only to lose in the final minutes.
Nevertheless, Lanier has repeatedly emphasized confidence in the Owls to remain an aggressive, unified team that could improve its record with better late-game performances down the stretch.
“If we continue to play the way we’re playing, it’s just about learning how to finish the games and come out on top,” Lanier said after the UNT loss. “There is a trajectory there that is pleasing.”
Junior guard Jacob Dar agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“We’ve just got to learn how to finish games,” Dar said. “Like, we’re in the game, we play hard the whole time. We’ve just got to come together at the end and execute.”
Correcting these issues won’t be easy, though. Rice’s next opponent is the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers, who lead the conference in two-pointers made, rank third in percentage of free throws made and have held opponents to a modest 51.5% two-point field goal rate.
After that, Rice will get a chance to turn things around against Tulsa University. The Golden Hurricane has handed out the conference’s third-most personal fouls, fifth-most two-pointers made and the highest free-throw rate.
The Owls close out the month of February against No. 22 Memphis before finishing the regular season against a pair of sub-0.500 teams, Wichita State University and the University of Texas at San Antonio.
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