Tuesday, December 18
Edinburg, TX
7 p.m.
Rice University
5-7
75
at
67
UTRGV
7-6
1
2
F
Rice
31
44
75
UT Rio Grande Valley
25
42
67
Freshmen Lead Rice to 75-67 Victory at UTRGV
12/18/2018 10:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball
EDINBURG — Rice got 59 of its 75 points from freshmen as it defeated UTRGV, 75-67, Tuesday night at UTRGV Fieldhouse.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"I'm just really proud of our guys. I'm proud of a group of kids who really took a hard one on Saturday. But, tonight, we made the plays. We controlled the tempo of the game. We kind of dictated what happened and led for a very long time. (UTRGV) made their run. We knew that was going to happen. But, we didn't waver. It was a great defensive effort and a good team win. Everybody contributed on the bench. I'm just proud of everybody in the program because it was a winning performance."
The Story
The first half was a back-and-forth affair. The teams traded baskets to start the game before UTRGV scored seven of 10 points to take an 11-8 lead, six minutes into the game. The teams then traded leads over the next nine minutes. But, with Rice trailing 24-23, the Owls closed the half on a 7-2 run to lead 31-25 at the break. The Owls came out flying in the second half, opening with a 14-4 run to take its largest lead of the game, 45-29, seven minutes in. The Vaqueros slowly got back in, pulling to within six points. But a Trey Murphy III three-pointer pushed Rice's lead back to nine and the Owls made 13-of-16 free throws the rest of the way to ice the game.
The Stats
Rice shot 45.1% from the field and 42.1% from three. Rice held UTRGV to just 38.2% from the floor and 26.1% from three. Rice edged the Vaqueros on the glass, 39-to-38, and connected on 72.4% from the free throw line while UTRGV hit just 52.9%.
Notes
• Rice improved to 5-7 on the year.
• Rice is 6-7 all-time against UTRGV and 2-3 in games played in Edinburg.
• Rice is 70-103 all-time against the Western Athletic Conference.
• This was just the third meeting against the WAC since leaving the conference following the 2004-05 season.
• The victory snapped a six-game road losing streak and a nine-game road non-conference losing streak.
• Chris Mullins led the Owls with 22 points, his third straight 20-point game. He is the first Rice freshman to score 20 points in three straight games since Marcus Evans in 2015-16.
• It was also Mullins' sixth straight double-digit game.
• Mullins also led Rice with four assists.
• Quentin Millora-Brown recorded his first career double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
• Trey Murphy III scored a career-high 13 points.
• Drew Peterson scored 12 points and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.
Next Up
Rice closes its non-conference schedule this Friday, Dec. 21, when it hosts Omaha. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the CUSAtv.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"I'm just really proud of our guys. I'm proud of a group of kids who really took a hard one on Saturday. But, tonight, we made the plays. We controlled the tempo of the game. We kind of dictated what happened and led for a very long time. (UTRGV) made their run. We knew that was going to happen. But, we didn't waver. It was a great defensive effort and a good team win. Everybody contributed on the bench. I'm just proud of everybody in the program because it was a winning performance."
The Story
The first half was a back-and-forth affair. The teams traded baskets to start the game before UTRGV scored seven of 10 points to take an 11-8 lead, six minutes into the game. The teams then traded leads over the next nine minutes. But, with Rice trailing 24-23, the Owls closed the half on a 7-2 run to lead 31-25 at the break. The Owls came out flying in the second half, opening with a 14-4 run to take its largest lead of the game, 45-29, seven minutes in. The Vaqueros slowly got back in, pulling to within six points. But a Trey Murphy III three-pointer pushed Rice's lead back to nine and the Owls made 13-of-16 free throws the rest of the way to ice the game.
The Stats
Rice shot 45.1% from the field and 42.1% from three. Rice held UTRGV to just 38.2% from the floor and 26.1% from three. Rice edged the Vaqueros on the glass, 39-to-38, and connected on 72.4% from the free throw line while UTRGV hit just 52.9%.
Notes
• Rice improved to 5-7 on the year.
• Rice is 6-7 all-time against UTRGV and 2-3 in games played in Edinburg.
• Rice is 70-103 all-time against the Western Athletic Conference.
• This was just the third meeting against the WAC since leaving the conference following the 2004-05 season.
• The victory snapped a six-game road losing streak and a nine-game road non-conference losing streak.
• Chris Mullins led the Owls with 22 points, his third straight 20-point game. He is the first Rice freshman to score 20 points in three straight games since Marcus Evans in 2015-16.
• It was also Mullins' sixth straight double-digit game.
• Mullins also led Rice with four assists.
• Quentin Millora-Brown recorded his first career double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
• Trey Murphy III scored a career-high 13 points.
• Drew Peterson scored 12 points and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds.
Next Up
Rice closes its non-conference schedule this Friday, Dec. 21, when it hosts Omaha. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the CUSAtv.
Team Stats
RICE
UTRGV
FG%
.451
.382
3FG%
.421
.261
FT%
.724
.529
RB
39
38
TO
17
12
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
6
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
F
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