Rice University
16-15
UCF
22-9
Rice Upsets UCF To Advance To C-USA Semifinals
3/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 8, 2007
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Morris Almond scored 30 points, including a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left, to lead seventh-seeded Rice to a 53-51 upset of second-seeded Central Florida in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament on Thursday.
Almond's winning shot came from just right of the top of the key under double coverage.
UCF tried to throw the ball long on the ensuing inbounds play, but the pass by reserve Mike Battle went out of bounds.
Almond connected on 10-of-20 shots from the field, and was the only player in double figures for the Owls (16-15).
"I started the play and went a little too early," said Almond on his game-winner. "I looped back around and followed my same tracks. Zo (Lorenzo Williams) did a good job of getting me the ball... I just needed separation. I kind of jabbed him (UCF's David Noel) and took a step back. I just rose up and had enough legs under me and it fell."
For Almond, it was his second-straight game over 30 points and ninth this season. The nation's third-leading scorer, Almond is now averaging 26.9 ppg. He entered the season with 981 career points and he now has scored 833 points this season which surpasses Ricky Pierce's 1982 total of 805. It is also a C-USA season record. Almond now has scored 1,814 points which is third in school history. He is 34 away from moving past Pierce for third all-time at Rice.
Almond is averaging a C-USA Championship best 30.5 ppg, which is the highest of any player in C-USA Championship history.
Josh Peppers led the Golden Knights (22-9) with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Rice, which defeated Texas-El Paso 77-74 in the opening round, did not lead in the game until Lorenzo Williams hit a jumper with 3:20 left to give the Owls a 48-47 advantage, which they extended on a pair of free throws by Almond.
But UCF would reclaim the lead when Dave Noel, who had guarded Almond all day, hit a pair of free throws with 1:43 left for a 51-50 advantage.
Almond, C-USA's player of the year, scored 10 of Rice's last 12 points to carry the team into Friday's semifinal against the winner of Thursday's Southern Mississippi-Houston game.
The Golden Knights used balanced scoring to build the lead to as many as 10 in the first half and held a 29-25 lead at halftime.
The Owls controlled the tempo in the second half with different defensive looks.
"Our goal was to change defenses the keep them off balance a little bit and we gave them a lof of different looks so the help was coming from different people in different areas," commented Rice head coach Willis Wilson. "We adjusted our our approach on how we went to the ball and we competed a lot harder for rebounds in the second half."
"You have to congratulate Rice and Coach Wilson and their entire team. They did a great job of maintaing poise and composure. This is the second-straight game where they've been behind and never lost their poise," stated UCF coach Kirk Speraw. "It was a great job by Morris Almond all day long. He is difficult to defend. We've had three games where we've defended him pretty well. Not as well today as we needed to obviously. It was a great player making a great shot to win the game. I guess that's what March madness is all about."
