Wednesday, March 11
Frisco, TX
6:30 p.m.
Rice University
-1517,711 CUSA
76
vs
85
FIU
-1913,99 CUSA
1
2
F
Rice
28
48
76
FIU
35
50
85
Rice Falls to FIU in First Round of C-USA Tournament
3/11/2020 11:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
FRISCO, Texas — A 10-0 FIU run midway through the second half turned a tie game into an 85-76 Rice defeat in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament, Wednesday night from the Ford Center at the Star.
How it Happened
The teams traded three-pointers to open the game. After an FIU basket, Drew Peterson and Ako Adams hit back-to-back threes to send Rice on an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 14-7, 6:18 into the game. Five points from FIU cut the lead to two, but a driving layup from Josh Parrish pushed the lead to four. After an FIU three-pointer, Chris Mullins made a pull-up jumper to give Rice a three-point lead. FIU then took the lead on back-to-back baskets, but a Peterson three-point play gave Rice a 21-19 lead with 7:04 to play in the half. The Panthers scored five straight to take a three-point lead, but Rice tied the game three times. With the game tied at 28, FIU scored the last seven points of the half to send Rice into the break trailing 35-28.
The teams traded baskets through the first two minutes as the Panthers extended their lead to eight points. Layups by Peterson and Trey Murphy III cut the deficit to four points. After baskets by both teams, an FIU layup made it a six-point game. However, Murphy made a driving layup and after an FIU miss, Mullins made a pair of free throws. After a Peterson steal, he hit Murphy for a dunk to tie the game. FIU retook the lead, but Murphy again tied the game with a dunk, this time at 48 with 11:33 to play. However, an Eric Lovett three-pointer sent the Panthers on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes. Rice scored six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to six. But FIU went on a 13-6 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 73-60, with 4:07 remaining. Rice would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"Give credit to FIU. They played a really good game from start to finish. They answered our runs and hit us back hard with (10) in a row after we tied it, which I thought was a big, big deal in the game. We still had opportunities. Our kids fought like crazy. I was really proud of their effort, how they came back and how they stayed resilient. Unfortunately, down the stretch, they made big plays and we missed some front ends of one-and-ones. We just couldn't keep it close enough to make it interesting down the stretch."
The Stats
Rice connected on 45.6% from the field and 32.3% from three. FIU connected on 53.4% from the floor and 40.0% from behind the arc. Rice was outrebounded, 33-to-32, but connected on 14-of-18 (77.8%) from the free throw line.
Notes
• Rice ended the season with a 15-17 record.
• Rice dropped to 4-5 in the series. This was the first meeting on a neutral court.
• This was also the first meeting in the Conference USA tournament.
• Rice fell to 6-14 all-time in the Conference USA Tournament and 18-40 all-time in conference tournaments.
• Rice connected on 10 three-pointers, the 14th time this year that it made at least 10 three-pointers.
• Drew Peterson scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds. It was his first career 20-point game.
• Trey Murphy III scored 18 points and grabbed four rebounds.
• Ako Adams scored 12 points on four three-pointers.
• With four three-pointers, Adams finished the year with 81 on the season, passing Egor Koulechov (2015-16) and David Willie (1987-88) and tying Egor Koulechov (2016-17) for sixth-place on Rice's single-season three-pointers made list.
• Adams finished his career connecting on 86.2% from the free throw line to set a new Rice career record.
• Robert Martin grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
• Chris Mullins scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and had four assists.
• Josh Parrish was one-of-one from the field to finish with a season field goal percentage of 63.8% to set a new Rice record for single-season field goal percentage.
How it Happened
The teams traded three-pointers to open the game. After an FIU basket, Drew Peterson and Ako Adams hit back-to-back threes to send Rice on an 11-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 14-7, 6:18 into the game. Five points from FIU cut the lead to two, but a driving layup from Josh Parrish pushed the lead to four. After an FIU three-pointer, Chris Mullins made a pull-up jumper to give Rice a three-point lead. FIU then took the lead on back-to-back baskets, but a Peterson three-point play gave Rice a 21-19 lead with 7:04 to play in the half. The Panthers scored five straight to take a three-point lead, but Rice tied the game three times. With the game tied at 28, FIU scored the last seven points of the half to send Rice into the break trailing 35-28.
The teams traded baskets through the first two minutes as the Panthers extended their lead to eight points. Layups by Peterson and Trey Murphy III cut the deficit to four points. After baskets by both teams, an FIU layup made it a six-point game. However, Murphy made a driving layup and after an FIU miss, Mullins made a pair of free throws. After a Peterson steal, he hit Murphy for a dunk to tie the game. FIU retook the lead, but Murphy again tied the game with a dunk, this time at 48 with 11:33 to play. However, an Eric Lovett three-pointer sent the Panthers on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes. Rice scored six of the next eight points to cut the deficit to six. But FIU went on a 13-6 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 73-60, with 4:07 remaining. Rice would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"Give credit to FIU. They played a really good game from start to finish. They answered our runs and hit us back hard with (10) in a row after we tied it, which I thought was a big, big deal in the game. We still had opportunities. Our kids fought like crazy. I was really proud of their effort, how they came back and how they stayed resilient. Unfortunately, down the stretch, they made big plays and we missed some front ends of one-and-ones. We just couldn't keep it close enough to make it interesting down the stretch."
The Stats
Rice connected on 45.6% from the field and 32.3% from three. FIU connected on 53.4% from the floor and 40.0% from behind the arc. Rice was outrebounded, 33-to-32, but connected on 14-of-18 (77.8%) from the free throw line.
Notes
• Rice ended the season with a 15-17 record.
• Rice dropped to 4-5 in the series. This was the first meeting on a neutral court.
• This was also the first meeting in the Conference USA tournament.
• Rice fell to 6-14 all-time in the Conference USA Tournament and 18-40 all-time in conference tournaments.
• Rice connected on 10 three-pointers, the 14th time this year that it made at least 10 three-pointers.
• Drew Peterson scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds. It was his first career 20-point game.
• Trey Murphy III scored 18 points and grabbed four rebounds.
• Ako Adams scored 12 points on four three-pointers.
• With four three-pointers, Adams finished the year with 81 on the season, passing Egor Koulechov (2015-16) and David Willie (1987-88) and tying Egor Koulechov (2016-17) for sixth-place on Rice's single-season three-pointers made list.
• Adams finished his career connecting on 86.2% from the free throw line to set a new Rice career record.
• Robert Martin grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
• Chris Mullins scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and had four assists.
• Josh Parrish was one-of-one from the field to finish with a season field goal percentage of 63.8% to set a new Rice record for single-season field goal percentage.
Team Stats
RICE
FIU
FG%
.456
.534
3FG%
.323
.400
FT%
.778
.600
RB
32
33
TO
13
10
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
7
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG/F
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