Rice University
15-12, 6-6
Tulsa
16-11, 9-4
Owls Fall at Tulsa, 69-50
2/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 18, 2012
Final Stats
Rice v Tulsa Game Book 
TULSA, Okla. - Rice made just two field goals in the final 14-plus minutes of play and Tulsa scored 16 unanswered points during one stretch en route to a 69-50 win Saturday in the Donald W. Reynolds Center.
Despite a point in the game in which the Owls went over four minutes without a point, Rice trailed only by two, 49-47 with just under eight minutes to play.
Lucas Kuipers' three-pointer with 8:22 remaining ended the four-minute scoreless drought and pulled the Owls to within four, 49-45. Two free throws by Connor Frizzelle, who led the Owls with 11 points, would later make it a one-possession game.
But leading 51-48 with almost seven minutes remaining, Tulsa went on a 16-0 run that saw the Golden Hurricane make eight straight free throws and Jordan Clarkson connect on a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down on a possession. Tim Peete's three-pointer would later cap the run and put TU out in front 67-48.
During one stretch of the TU rally, Rice turned the ball over three times and missed two field goal attempts.
Early in the second half it was Clarkson who sparked the Golden Hurricane who enjoyed their first double-figure lead at 44-34. Clarkson had two three-pointers in the early going of the period and capped off an 8-0 run with the second trey before finding Steven Idlet open for a layin.
Clarkson led Tulsa with 23 points while Idlet came off the bench to score 18 including an 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line.
Tulsa was 21-for-26 at the free throw line (80.8 percent).
TU outrebounded the Owls 41-27 and scored 14 second-chance points off 11 offensive boards. Rice shot just 25 percent in the second half (7-for-28).
With the win, Tulsa improved to 16-11 and 9-4 in league play. Rice is now 15-12 and 6-6 heading into Wednesday's regionally-televised game at UCF. Tip-off Wednesday is 8 p.m. and the game will be broadcast by CSS.
Rice jumped out to a quick 9-5, first-half lead as Omar Oraby connected on his first three shots. In just his second conference start, Oraby was 4-for-5 in the half and went on to score 10 points on the night. He also blocked two shots in the game to give him 45 for the season, tying the Rice single-season record.
The Owls last led in the first half, 21-19 on an Oraby jumper.
Tulsa would score the next seven points to grab a 26-21 lead.
In the final seconds of the half, the Golden Hurricane would enjoy their biggest advantage of the period as Idlet knocked down a jumper in the paint with six seconds to play. Rice freshman point guard Dylan Ennis would take the inbounds and race to just the other side of the half-court line, knocking down a shot at the buzzer.
Tulsa led 33-29 at the break.
