Friday, November 27
San Antonio, TX
1 p.m.
Rice University
-10,00 CUSA
68
at
53
Incarnate Word
0-1,0-0Southlan
1
2
F
Rice
32
36
68
Incarnate Word
31
22
53
Photo by: © Maria Lysaker
Defense Propels Rice to 68-53 Season Opening Victory at Incarnate Word
11/28/2020 12:53:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Rice picked up its defense in the second half, holding Incarnate Word to just 22 second half points to turn a one-point halftime lead into a 68-53 victory in the first game of the season opening Thanksgiving Invitational, Friday afternoon from the McDermott Center.
The Story
The game was a back-and-forth affair for most of the first half, with Rice leading for the first seven minutes of the game. A three-pointer by Incarnate Word gave it its first lead of the game. The Owls hit three free throws to tie the game at 18. But six straight points gave Incarnate Word its largest lead of the game, 24-18, with 8:52 to play in the first half. A 7-1 Rice run over the next four minutes tied the game at 25. UIW made one-of-two free throws and then connected on a three-pointer to take a four-point lead. But five straight points by Chris Mullins helped the Owls close the half on a 7-2 run and take a 32-31 lead at the break.
Rice started fast in the second half, getting a jumper from Max Fiedler and a three-pointer from Travis Evee to push its lead to six, but five straight UIW points cut the lead to 37-36. Back-to-back layups by Tre Clark pushed the lead to five. After trading a pair of free throws, Incarnate Word pulled within 43-40, 4:16 into the second half. That's when Rice stepped up its game. Fiedler and Payton Moore hit back-to-back layups. Riley Abercrombie made a three and Jake Lieppert had a putback off a missed layup. After an Incarnate Word turnover, Mullins capped off an 11-0 run with a steal and a layup as Rice jumped out to a 54-40 lead with 11:26 to play. The Cardinals would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
The Stats
Rice connected on 46.4% from the field, but just 15.4% from three. Incarnate Word was held to just 38.0% from the floor and 4-of-10 from three. Rice outrebounded the Cardinals, 41-to-32 and had nine steals.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"We won the game with defense. That's something we worked on the whole preseason. Being a better defensive team. Taking more pride in it and I thought from the eight minutes mark of the first half until the end of the game, we defended very well. Offensively, we were really out of rhythm. We did some things that were uncharacteristic of our preseason. First game jitters, I don't know. But that can't be who we are offensively. But as long as they guard like that and give that effort, we'll be able to stay in games."
Notes
• Rice began the year on the road for the second straight year.
• This was the third meeting between the Owls and Cardinals. Rice improved to 2-1 against UIW.
• Rice is 60-48 all-time in season openers.
• When opening on the road, Rice is 9-29.
• Rice is 41-34 all-time against the Southland Conference.
• This was the fourth time Rice has opened the season against the Southland. The Owls are 3-1 in those games.
• Rice won a road season-opener for the first time since defeating James Madison on Nov. 13, 2016.
• Rice won for the first time under Scott Pera when making less than five three-pointers. The Owls lost their previous four tries.
• The 53 points allowed are the second fewest under Pera and the fewest in a season-opener since defeating New Orleans, 83-49, to open the 2011-12 season.
• Max Fiedler recorded his first career double-double with career-highs of 14 points and 13 rebounds while adding three assists.
• Chris Mullins recorded a team-high 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Travis Evee scored 10 points
• Cameron Sheffield and Jake Lieppert made their collegiate debuts
• Riley Abercrombie, Travis Evee and Cavit Ege Havsa made their Rice debuts.
• 11 players saw action for the Owls with seven playing at least 10 minutes.
Next Up
Rice concludes the Thanksgiving Invitational tomorrow, Nov. 28, against Our Lady of the Lake. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be livestreamed at portal.stretchinternet.com/uiw/.
The Story
The game was a back-and-forth affair for most of the first half, with Rice leading for the first seven minutes of the game. A three-pointer by Incarnate Word gave it its first lead of the game. The Owls hit three free throws to tie the game at 18. But six straight points gave Incarnate Word its largest lead of the game, 24-18, with 8:52 to play in the first half. A 7-1 Rice run over the next four minutes tied the game at 25. UIW made one-of-two free throws and then connected on a three-pointer to take a four-point lead. But five straight points by Chris Mullins helped the Owls close the half on a 7-2 run and take a 32-31 lead at the break.
Rice started fast in the second half, getting a jumper from Max Fiedler and a three-pointer from Travis Evee to push its lead to six, but five straight UIW points cut the lead to 37-36. Back-to-back layups by Tre Clark pushed the lead to five. After trading a pair of free throws, Incarnate Word pulled within 43-40, 4:16 into the second half. That's when Rice stepped up its game. Fiedler and Payton Moore hit back-to-back layups. Riley Abercrombie made a three and Jake Lieppert had a putback off a missed layup. After an Incarnate Word turnover, Mullins capped off an 11-0 run with a steal and a layup as Rice jumped out to a 54-40 lead with 11:26 to play. The Cardinals would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
The Stats
Rice connected on 46.4% from the field, but just 15.4% from three. Incarnate Word was held to just 38.0% from the floor and 4-of-10 from three. Rice outrebounded the Cardinals, 41-to-32 and had nine steals.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"We won the game with defense. That's something we worked on the whole preseason. Being a better defensive team. Taking more pride in it and I thought from the eight minutes mark of the first half until the end of the game, we defended very well. Offensively, we were really out of rhythm. We did some things that were uncharacteristic of our preseason. First game jitters, I don't know. But that can't be who we are offensively. But as long as they guard like that and give that effort, we'll be able to stay in games."
Notes
• Rice began the year on the road for the second straight year.
• This was the third meeting between the Owls and Cardinals. Rice improved to 2-1 against UIW.
• Rice is 60-48 all-time in season openers.
• When opening on the road, Rice is 9-29.
• Rice is 41-34 all-time against the Southland Conference.
• This was the fourth time Rice has opened the season against the Southland. The Owls are 3-1 in those games.
• Rice won a road season-opener for the first time since defeating James Madison on Nov. 13, 2016.
• Rice won for the first time under Scott Pera when making less than five three-pointers. The Owls lost their previous four tries.
• The 53 points allowed are the second fewest under Pera and the fewest in a season-opener since defeating New Orleans, 83-49, to open the 2011-12 season.
• Max Fiedler recorded his first career double-double with career-highs of 14 points and 13 rebounds while adding three assists.
• Chris Mullins recorded a team-high 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Travis Evee scored 10 points
• Cameron Sheffield and Jake Lieppert made their collegiate debuts
• Riley Abercrombie, Travis Evee and Cavit Ege Havsa made their Rice debuts.
• 11 players saw action for the Owls with seven playing at least 10 minutes.
Next Up
Rice concludes the Thanksgiving Invitational tomorrow, Nov. 28, against Our Lady of the Lake. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be livestreamed at portal.stretchinternet.com/uiw/.
Team Stats
RICE
UIW
FG%
.456
.373
3FG%
.154
.400
FT%
.571
.500
RB
41
32
TO
16
17
STL
9
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
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