Saturday, December 15
Tudor Fieldhouse
2 p.m.
Rice University
4-7
89
vs
99
UC Santa Barbara
8-2
1
2
OT 1
F
UC Santa Barbara
32
45
22
99
Rice
39
38
12
89
Rice Drops Overtime Thriller to UC Santa Barbara, 99-89
12/15/2018 5:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON — Rice battled back from a nine-point second half deficit to send the game into overtime, but UC Santa Barbara used strong free throw shooting to defeat the Owls, 99-89, Saturday afternoon from Tudor Fieldhouse.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"It was an exciting, well-played college basketball game. Give UC Santa Barbara the credit. They made 23 out of 24 free throws and all of the big ones. They deserved to win. I was really proud of our guys for so many things. I told them in the locker room (that) the shame about this is that for all of the good that happened, the one bad will overshadow it. That's how you're judged and we lost."
The Story
UC Santa Barbara came out firing, making four straight three-pointers to start the game to take a 12-0 lead barely two minutes into the game. But, following a Rice timeout, it was the Owls who came out firing, as they went on a 26-4 run over the next 11:30 to take a 26-16 lead. UCSB cut it seven, but a dunk by Quentin Millora-Brown followed by a Chris Mullins three-point play gave Rice its largest lead of the game, 31-19, with 4:21 to play in the half. The teams went back-and-forth the rest of the half until Rice was called for a foul on Max Heidegger's three-pointer and he made all three free throws to cut Rice's deficit at the half to 39-32. UCSB opened the second half on a 23-6 run to take a 52-45 lead just over seven minutes in before stretching its lead to 60-51. Rice slowly began to cut into the deficit, scoring eight of the next ten points to pull within three. The game went back-and-forth until a three-pointer by UC Santa Barbara made it a 75-68 with 3:41 to play. But, the Owls scored nine of the final 11 points, capped off by a pair of Mullins free throws to send the game into overtime. The teams again went back and forth to start overtime, with Rice trailing by no more than three points for the first two minutes. However, UCSB went on a 10-2 run and hit all 10 of its free throws in overtime to put the game away.
The Stats
Rice shot 49.2% from the field and 39.3% from three. UC Santa Barbara hit 52.5% from the floor and 48.3% from three. Rice outrebounded the Gauchos, 40-to-28, but connected on a season-low 52.9% (18-of-34) from the free throw line while UCSB was 23-of-24 (95.8%).
Notes
• Rice fell to 4-7 on the year.
• Rice is 0-3 all-time against UC Santa Barbara and 0-2 in games played in Houston.
• Rice is 6-10 all-time against the Big West Conference.
• The game was Rice's first to go to overtime since defeating Florida Atlantic, 79-76, on Feb. 22, 2018.
• Rice connected on 11 three-pointers, the fourth time this year it hit at least 10 from behind the arc.
• The Owls got 36 points from its bench. Their bench has outscored the opponents in nine of 11 games this year.
• Rice also set a season-high with 19 second-chance points.
• Chris Mullins made his first career start, scoring 21 points, his second straight 20-point game. He is the first player to score 20 points in consecutive games since Connor Cashaw against St. Edward's and Texas Tech in 2017.
• It was also Mullins' fifth straight double-digit game.
• Robert Martin recorded his first career double-double, setting career-highs with 24 points and 11 rebounds. The 11 rebounds are the most by a player this year.
• It is the first time two players scored at least 20 points since Cashaw and Malik Osborne against Marshall on Feb. 15, 2018.
• Quentin Millora-Brown scored 13 points and had a career-high four assists.
• Ako Adams scored 12 points.
Next Up
Rice will head out on the road for the final time in non-conference play when it travels to Edinburg to face UTRGV on Tuesday, Dec. 18. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the WAC Digital Network.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"It was an exciting, well-played college basketball game. Give UC Santa Barbara the credit. They made 23 out of 24 free throws and all of the big ones. They deserved to win. I was really proud of our guys for so many things. I told them in the locker room (that) the shame about this is that for all of the good that happened, the one bad will overshadow it. That's how you're judged and we lost."
The Story
UC Santa Barbara came out firing, making four straight three-pointers to start the game to take a 12-0 lead barely two minutes into the game. But, following a Rice timeout, it was the Owls who came out firing, as they went on a 26-4 run over the next 11:30 to take a 26-16 lead. UCSB cut it seven, but a dunk by Quentin Millora-Brown followed by a Chris Mullins three-point play gave Rice its largest lead of the game, 31-19, with 4:21 to play in the half. The teams went back-and-forth the rest of the half until Rice was called for a foul on Max Heidegger's three-pointer and he made all three free throws to cut Rice's deficit at the half to 39-32. UCSB opened the second half on a 23-6 run to take a 52-45 lead just over seven minutes in before stretching its lead to 60-51. Rice slowly began to cut into the deficit, scoring eight of the next ten points to pull within three. The game went back-and-forth until a three-pointer by UC Santa Barbara made it a 75-68 with 3:41 to play. But, the Owls scored nine of the final 11 points, capped off by a pair of Mullins free throws to send the game into overtime. The teams again went back and forth to start overtime, with Rice trailing by no more than three points for the first two minutes. However, UCSB went on a 10-2 run and hit all 10 of its free throws in overtime to put the game away.
The Stats
Rice shot 49.2% from the field and 39.3% from three. UC Santa Barbara hit 52.5% from the floor and 48.3% from three. Rice outrebounded the Gauchos, 40-to-28, but connected on a season-low 52.9% (18-of-34) from the free throw line while UCSB was 23-of-24 (95.8%).
Notes
• Rice fell to 4-7 on the year.
• Rice is 0-3 all-time against UC Santa Barbara and 0-2 in games played in Houston.
• Rice is 6-10 all-time against the Big West Conference.
• The game was Rice's first to go to overtime since defeating Florida Atlantic, 79-76, on Feb. 22, 2018.
• Rice connected on 11 three-pointers, the fourth time this year it hit at least 10 from behind the arc.
• The Owls got 36 points from its bench. Their bench has outscored the opponents in nine of 11 games this year.
• Rice also set a season-high with 19 second-chance points.
• Chris Mullins made his first career start, scoring 21 points, his second straight 20-point game. He is the first player to score 20 points in consecutive games since Connor Cashaw against St. Edward's and Texas Tech in 2017.
• It was also Mullins' fifth straight double-digit game.
• Robert Martin recorded his first career double-double, setting career-highs with 24 points and 11 rebounds. The 11 rebounds are the most by a player this year.
• It is the first time two players scored at least 20 points since Cashaw and Malik Osborne against Marshall on Feb. 15, 2018.
• Quentin Millora-Brown scored 13 points and had a career-high four assists.
• Ako Adams scored 12 points.
Next Up
Rice will head out on the road for the final time in non-conference play when it travels to Edinburg to face UTRGV on Tuesday, Dec. 18. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the WAC Digital Network.
Team Stats
UCSB
RICE
FG%
.525
.492
3FG%
.483
.393
FT%
.958
.529
RB
28
40
TO
9
14
STL
9
4
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
21
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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/ Men's BasketballF
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