Rice University Athletics
Men's Basketball: Turnovers Cost Owls in 83-70 Loss to Texas Christian
2/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Horned Frogs stole the ball 12 times from Rice and were aided by the 19 Owl turnovers to score 28 points.
Rice out-shot TCU, connecting on 24 of 51 field goal attempts, but the difference was that of the 30 field goals by the Horned Frogs 14 were three pointers. TCU was 14 of 30 from long range.
"The one thing that hurt Rice tonight was turnovers," said Rice coach Willis Wilson. "We did a pretty good job with tempo. TCU is a team that wants you to play fast. I don't think their 83 points were as much a result as them dictating tempo, than us making some typical mistakes that we have made night-in and night-out. With a young team, we are going to make those mistakes."
TCU freshman guard Bingo Merriex led all scorers with 20 points, finishing seven of nine from the floor including six of eight from three-point range. Three other Horned Frogs finished in double digits, including senior Marquise Gainous, who recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
For Rice, freshman forward Jay Christian led the way with a career-best 19 points. He was also the top rebounder for the Owls with eight boards. Senior Alex Bougaieff added 18 points while sophomore T.J. McKenzie equaled his career best with 14 points.
Rice freshman guard Michael Walton tied the Rice single-game record for assists with 11 dishes. He equaled Dana Hardy's performance at Texas A&M in 1991 and Adam Peakes' mark at Sam Houston State in 1993.
The win was TCU's third straight as the team improved to 13-10 overall and 4-3 in the WAC. For Rice, the loss was the 10th consecutive defeat to fall to 4-14 and 0-7. The streak is the longest for the Owls since losing 18-in-a-row during the 1975-76 season.
Rice will next play on Monday night when it hosts Southern Methodist at 7:05 pm at Autry Court. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday at 7:35 pm, but was moved to accommodate television by Fox Sports Net.
