Thursday, January 16
Ruston, LA
6:30 p.m.
Rice University
56
at
72
Louisiana Tech
Photo by: © Maria Lysaker
Murphy’s Six Threes Not Enough as Rice Falls to Louisiana Tech
1/16/2020 9:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball
RUSTON, La. — Trey Murphy III connected on a career-high six three-pointers, but it was not enough as Rice fell to Louisiana Tech, 72-56, Thursday night at the Thomas Assembly Center.
How it Happened
The teams traded baskets to open the game. However, Rice missed its next 10 shots over the next eight minutes as DaQuan Bracey scored nine straight points to send Louisiana Tech on an 18-4 run and take a 20-6 lead. Quincy Olivari finally got Rice going with a three-pointer. The Bulldogs scored six of the next eight points before Trey Murphy III began to heat up. After he hit a three, Tech made two baskets. Murphy answered with another three. Another Louisiana Tech basket led to Murphy's third three of the half. But the Bulldogs scored eight straight points to take their largest lead of the half, 40-20, with 3:30 to play. Murphy then hit another three and after a Tech basket closed the half with his fifth three-pointer of the half, tying his career-high for a game in just the first half and sending Rice into halftime trailing 42-26.
Mullins scored six of the first eight points to start the second half. But the Bulldogs went on a 9-1 run to take a 53-33 lead five minutes in. After trading baskets, Ako Adams made a three-pointer and Murphy hit a jumper to pull the Owls to within 56-40. However, an 8-1 run gave Louisiana Tech its largest lead of the game, 64-41, with 8:31 to play. Rice would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
The Stats
Rice was held to just 39.2% from the field and 29.0% from three. Louisiana Tech hit on 46.2% from the floor but was held to just 20.8% from behind the arc. The Bulldogs outrebounded Rice, 40-to-30 and scored 18 points off 15 Rice turnovers.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"It comes down to what won us the game on Saturday. Tonight we turned it over 11 times in the first half. Not only did we turn it over 11 times but (Louisiana Tech) had 15 points off our turnovers in the first half, and it's a 16-point game (at halftime). You can't go on the road and turn it over like that, and we did. Yeah, we missed some open shots, but you can't turn the ball over. Unfortunately, tonight we did."
Notes
• Rice fell to 9-9 on the year and 1-4 in Conference USA.
• Rice fell to 7-16 all-time against Louisiana Tech at 3-7 in Ruston.
• Trey Murphy III led all players with 20 points. It was his third 20-point game of the year and the fourth of his career.
• Murphy set a new career-high with six three-pointers.
• The six three-pointers give Murphy 104 in his career to become the 27th player in school history with 100 career three-pointers.
• Chris Mullins scored 10 points.
• Ako Adams had four assists and a season-high four rebounds.
• With the four assists, Adams tied Anthony DeCello (1977-81) for 15th-place on the Rice career list with 265.
• Quincy Olivari added nine points and three assists.
Next Up
Rice continues its three-game road trip this Saturday, Jan. 18, when it travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face Southern Miss. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the ESPN+.
How it Happened
The teams traded baskets to open the game. However, Rice missed its next 10 shots over the next eight minutes as DaQuan Bracey scored nine straight points to send Louisiana Tech on an 18-4 run and take a 20-6 lead. Quincy Olivari finally got Rice going with a three-pointer. The Bulldogs scored six of the next eight points before Trey Murphy III began to heat up. After he hit a three, Tech made two baskets. Murphy answered with another three. Another Louisiana Tech basket led to Murphy's third three of the half. But the Bulldogs scored eight straight points to take their largest lead of the half, 40-20, with 3:30 to play. Murphy then hit another three and after a Tech basket closed the half with his fifth three-pointer of the half, tying his career-high for a game in just the first half and sending Rice into halftime trailing 42-26.
Mullins scored six of the first eight points to start the second half. But the Bulldogs went on a 9-1 run to take a 53-33 lead five minutes in. After trading baskets, Ako Adams made a three-pointer and Murphy hit a jumper to pull the Owls to within 56-40. However, an 8-1 run gave Louisiana Tech its largest lead of the game, 64-41, with 8:31 to play. Rice would get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
The Stats
Rice was held to just 39.2% from the field and 29.0% from three. Louisiana Tech hit on 46.2% from the floor but was held to just 20.8% from behind the arc. The Bulldogs outrebounded Rice, 40-to-30 and scored 18 points off 15 Rice turnovers.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"It comes down to what won us the game on Saturday. Tonight we turned it over 11 times in the first half. Not only did we turn it over 11 times but (Louisiana Tech) had 15 points off our turnovers in the first half, and it's a 16-point game (at halftime). You can't go on the road and turn it over like that, and we did. Yeah, we missed some open shots, but you can't turn the ball over. Unfortunately, tonight we did."
Notes
• Rice fell to 9-9 on the year and 1-4 in Conference USA.
• Rice fell to 7-16 all-time against Louisiana Tech at 3-7 in Ruston.
• Trey Murphy III led all players with 20 points. It was his third 20-point game of the year and the fourth of his career.
• Murphy set a new career-high with six three-pointers.
• The six three-pointers give Murphy 104 in his career to become the 27th player in school history with 100 career three-pointers.
• Chris Mullins scored 10 points.
• Ako Adams had four assists and a season-high four rebounds.
• With the four assists, Adams tied Anthony DeCello (1977-81) for 15th-place on the Rice career list with 265.
• Quincy Olivari added nine points and three assists.
Next Up
Rice continues its three-game road trip this Saturday, Jan. 18, when it travels to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face Southern Miss. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
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