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Brody Rollins

NEWS 11/19/09 6:00pm

Basketball undefeated through first weekend

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 11/5/09 6:00pm

Men's Basketball Preview 2009: On the Rebound

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 3/19/09 7:00pm

Final grades signify improvement for men's basketball

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 2/26/09 6:00pm

Saturday's Sports Update: Rice basketball falls short against UH

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 2/26/09 6:00pm

Men's basketball better than weak record suggests

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 2/19/09 6:00pm

Men's basketball drops pair of close contests

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 2/12/09 6:00pm

Men's basketbll focuses on ECU

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 2/12/09 6:00pm

Wednesday Sports Update: Miners clip men at Tudor with late break

By Brody Rollins

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.

NEWS 2/5/09 6:00pm

An Owl's jazz education

By Brody Rollins

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.

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