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The hype has been there for months. Now, the results are coming in, and it looks like the immense promise that comes with the conference's top recruiting class is starting to pay off. The men's basketball team came racing out of the gate last weekend, and their stellar play resulted in a sweep of the inaugural Rice Basketball Challenge and a 3-0 start for the first time in five years.
With five much-heralded recruits, Ben Braun hopes to see his squad continue the improvements found last year.When the men's basketball team suits up for its first game next Friday, the perception will be that it is a team on the rise. Despite years of ineptitude, years of malaise and years of drudgery all burying the program under a pile of losses and defectors, the perception of resurgence exists.
Last Thursday's 73-51 second-round defeat against the University of Tulsa in the Conference USA tournament capped the men's basketball team's first season under Head Coach Ben Braun. Though full of ups and downs, buzzer beaters and blowouts, it was a season that saw marked improvement on last year's disappointing finish and raises the expectations for Rice men's basketball in years to come. Though Rice has shown improvement in many areas, a 21-0 run by Tulsa three minutes into the first half showed just how far this team has to go. Playing their second game in as many days, the Owls were unable to keep pace with the Golden Hurricane, who came into the game with the second best record in C-USA. The Owls struggled offensively, as freshman guard Connor Frizzelle was the only Owl in double figures with 10 points. Senior guard Rodney Foster, Rice's third leading scorer with 10 points per game, was held to just eight points on 1-5 shooting.
It is never too late to save the best for last. The 10th-seeded men's basketball team played the part of Cinderella at the Conference USA tournament on Wednesday, upsetting fifth-seeded Marshall University 60-59 just one week after losing by 14 to the Thundering Herd (15-17, 7-9 C-USA) in Huntington, W.V. The victory means the Owls (10-21, 4-12 C-USA) will face Tulsa University on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the C-USA tournament, which is held in Memphis, Tenn. Tulsa (10-9, 12-4 C-USA), the second seed, had a first round bye after finishing second in the conference to the University of Memphis.
For all the back-and-forth of a basketball game, it is ironic that most contests come down to a single possession. The men's basketball team was feeling the irony last Saturday, overcoming a 16-point deficit only to come up short in the final seconds, losing 69-66 to Southern Methodist University last Saturday in Dallas. While the Owls (8-18, 3-9 Conference USA) have certainly stepped up their play in the past three weeks, it is hard to decipher that improvement from their record, which finds them as winning only two of their last seven games.
The Owls captured their first Minute Maid College Classic Sunday afternoon with an 8-3 victory over #6 Baylor. Led by a strong performance from freshman starting pitcher Taylor Wall, the Owls capitalized on a number of errors and mental miscues made by the Bears.
A 15-2 run by the Cougars over the final five minutes gave them the 54-51 victory over the Owls at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Owls were up 49-41 with 5:20 to play, but struggled without senior guard Rodney Foster who had to watch from the bench due to foul trouble. Foster, the team's leading scorer, picked up his fourth foul with over 13 minutes to play in the game and was on the court for only one minute before fouling out with 3:49 left. He finished with 5 points and six assists in 24 minutes.
For the second time this season, the men's basketball team lost on a game-winning shot in the final seconds. This time it was not a layup, however, but a three-pointer in overtime from several feet beyond the arc that doomed Rice's hopes for its first Conference USA road victory. The Owls (8-16, 3-7 C-USA) have struggled mightily on the road this season in conference play, losing by an average of 22.5 points per game, with the team accumulating the majority of that deficit in the first half. Last Saturday's 91-88 road loss at the hands of East Carolina University was a different story, but, unfortunately, that makes no difference in the loss column.
After seven lead changes and eight ties, the University of Texas-El Paso's basketball team pulled away in the final minutes for the 67-58 victory over Riceª at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Miners used a stifling full-court press to slow down the improving Owls offense, which came into Wednesday night's game averaging over 75 points in their last four contests.
Were it not for University of Houston guard Aubrey Coleman, who played perhaps the finest twenty minutes of basketball the men's basketball team has seen all year, Rice's execution and patience on the offensive end would in all likelihood have ended the team's two-year losing streak against its crosstown rival. The Owls (8-15, 3-6 Conference USA) and the Cougars (15-7, 6-3 C-USA battled back and forth Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, but after the seventh lead change with just 3:21 to go in the game, Houston pulled away for the 72-65 victory.
When the men's basketball team plays the University of Houston Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, freshman guard Connor Frizzelle will most likely make the 11th start of his young career. Not bad considering he was planning on attending prep school until mid-July.
The men's basketball team was unable to avenge the women's loss in the second game of the evening doubleheader at Hofheinz Pavilion, losing 72-65 in front of a season-high crowd of 5,533.UH guard Aubrey Coleman recovered from a slow start and scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in the second half.
Unaccustomed to proper locker room etiquette, I stood somewhere near the middle of the room and watched as the Utah Jazz dressed for their game against the Houston Rockets. Grinning like a fool and feeling more and more uncomfortable, I fidgeted with my belt and unbuttoned the top two buttons on my shirt. As I waited, Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan paced back and forth between his office and the tunnel, his head down. A couple players asked for drinks, with iced tea and water the most popular requests. I overheard an attendant with the Jazz asking his coworker if the tea he made was better than in Dallas, and they both agreed it was.
The men's basketball team made history Wednesday night at Tudor Fieldhouse in their 88-72 win over the University of Southern Mississippi. With five minutes left to play in the contest, junior guard Cory Pflieger made the 15th three-pointer of the game, breaking the previous Owl record of 14 set against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 1999 and matched against Paul Quinn College in 2006. Rice finished with 16 three-pointers in the game off only 24 attempts.
Editor's Note: check ricethresher.org throughout the week for sports updates. We'll post them at the top of the home page.Tulane guard Kevin Sims's last-second layup capped an improbable, come-from-behind, 61-59 victory over the men's basketball team Wednesday evening at Autry Court
Last Saturday's 78-40 loss against the University of Alabama-Birmingham marked the team's third straight defeat by at least 25 points, and was the second straight game in which a slow start dimmed the Owls' hopes by halftime. During the first seven minutes of play against the Blazers (13-8, 3-3 Conference USA), the Owls (6-14, 1-6 C-USA) were outscored 19-2 en route to a 37-15 halftime deficit.
After picking up their first win in Conference USA play in over a season last week against Southern Methodist University, the Owls took a step backward Saturday, losing 77-52 to The University of Central Florida. The loss drops the Owls to 6-11 overall, and 1-2 in conference play.
The men's basketball team's conference drought stretched a span of nearly two years, but as of last Wednesday, the Owls' Conference USA woes are no more. Although they lost the C-USA opener against Tulane University, Rice (6-10. 1-1 C-USA) rocked Southern Methodist University at home on Wednesday to heave the season's biggest remaining monkey off their back. The Owls will attempt to continue their mastery of home play in tomorrow afternoon's match-up against the University of Central Florida at Tudor Fieldhouse. UCF's (11-6, 0-2 C-USA) biggest threat is preseason all C-USA guard Jermaine Taylor. Taylor is averaging a league-leading 23.7 points per game and has been instrumental in the Knights' hot start, which includes a close loss to the University of Memphis in their C-USA opener.
After visiting Provo, Utah, and Austin in the past two weeks, the Owls, 2-4 on the year, return home to the renovated Tudor Fieldhouse this weekend before they break for finals. The Owls need just two victories to eclipse their win total from last year after picking up wins against North Florida University and Cal Polytechnic Institute at the Basketball Travelers Invitational hosted by Brigham Young University two weekends ago.
From the opening tip to the waning seconds, the basketball team battled back and forth but ultimately lost to unanimous Big Sky conference preseason favorite Portland State University. The match-up was the first ever men's game played in the renovated Tudor Fieldhouse on Saturday.IN PHOTOS: OPENING WEEKEND AT TUDOR FIELDHOUSE
