Rice University
9-10, 1-4
UCF
14-4, 1-4
Rice Conquers the Knights, 57-50
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. - Leading by a point, Rice junior guard Connor Frizzelle sank a pair of free throws after UCF was called for a technical foul with 27 seconds to play and the Owls went on to convert four more shots from the line en route to a 57-50 victory Saturday.
Playing in front of the third-largest crowd in UCF Arena history (9,347), Rice earned its first Conference USA victory of the season, improving to 9-10 and 1-4. UCF, which began the season by winning 14 straight games and at one point was nationally-ranked, fell to 14-4 and 1-4.
Down 27-25 at intermission, Rice began the second half by outscoring UCF 15-1 to build a 40-28 lead. The Knights did not make a field goal in the second half until a Keith Clanton layin with 9:53 to play that cut the Owls' lead to 40-33.
Behind Clanton's inside presence, the Knights rallied. UCF put together a 15-3 run to erase the Owls' 12-point advantage. Clanton scored eight straight points at one point and later, Marcus Jordan's two free throws tied the game at 43-43.
Tamir Jackson would make one of two free throws after a Rice offensive rebound and following a UCF turnover, Frizzelle nailed an outside jumper off a pass from Cory Pflieger to put the Owls up 46-43 with 4:24 left.
UCF would stay within four points of the Owls before Jordan made three of four free throws over two possessions. His 1-for-2 performance at the line with 27 seconds to play cut the Owls' lead to 51-50.
On the ensuing inbounds, UCF point guard A.J. Rompza swiped and touched the ball which was in Jackson's hands on the baseline drawing a whistle. Rompza was called for a technical foul, Frizzelle made both free throws and again the Owls' got the ball for an inbounds. This time, Jackson took the inbounds pass from Nate Schwarze and was immediately fouled. Jackson made both free throws and the Rice lead was 55-50.
Arsalan Kazemi would add a pair of free throws after his 14th rebound which gave him his 21st career double-double. Kazemi was 3-for-11 from the field. He was 5-for-10 at the line and finished with 11 points.
Rice shot 34 percent from the field and held the Knights to 30 percent shooting. UCF, the Conference USA leader in the statistical category, finished the game with nine blocked shots. It was the most blocks by a Rice opponent this season.
The Owls outrebounded the Knights, 40-33.
The first half set the tone for the defensive battle as both teams shot under 35 percent and turned the ball over seven times each during the period.
The Knights were able to stretch out as much as a nine-point lead in the period. Rice would claim an offensive rebound following one of Clanton's three, first-half blocks and Frizzelle's three-pointer keyed six, unanswered points to get Rice back into the game.
Lucas Kuipers scored the Owls' final five points of the half. His three-pointer with 44 seconds to play cut UCF's lead to 27-25. The teams went to the locker room with the Knights holding a two-point lead after they missed a pair of shots in the final 10 seconds.
Frizzelle scored 15 points to lead Rice while Jackson finished with 10 points and four assists. Kuipers was 3-for-6 from the field, finishing with nine points, four rebounds and two assists.
Clanton scored a game-high 18 points to lead UCF. Jordan, who entered the game as the Knights' leading scorer at better than 16 points per game, finished with 10 points, all at the free throw line. Jordan was 0-for-5 from the field.
Rice returns home Wednesday to begin a home stand against cross-town rival Houston. The Owls will also play host to SMU Saturday afternoon.
