Saturday, February 6
Houston, TX
2 p.m.
Rice University
-128,66 CUSA
76
vs
68
Southern Miss
-712,39 CUSA
1
2
F
Southern Miss.
27
41
68
Rice
32
44
76
Photo by: Maria Lysaker
Rice Earns Sweep with 76-68 Victory over Southern Miss
2/6/2021 5:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON — Rice saw a 14-point lead cut to three, but the Owls closed the final 1:36 on a 7-2 run to earn a 76-68 victory and sweep Southern Miss Saturday afternoon from Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Story
Rice came out strong, holding Southern Miss without a field goal through the first 5:33 as it jumped out to a 14-1 lead. After Tyler Stevenson made USM's first field goal, Travis Evee hit a three to give Rice its largest lead of the game at 17-3. After a Stevenson basket, Mylyjael Poteat made two free throws. The teams then traded baskets with a Poteat jumper giving Rice a 21-7 lead with 12:10 to play in the half. However, that's when the Owls went cold, missing seven straight shots as Southern Miss went on an 8-0 run to pull within six. Cameron Sheffield pushed the lead to nine with a three-pointer, but Rice them missed six straight shots as USM cut the deficit to three. Poteat made two more free throws, but four straight from Southern Miss cut Rice's lead to 26-25 with 1:39 left in the half. Abercrombie then hit a three and after a Denijay Harris layup, Evee made a three at the buzzer to send Rice into halftime with a 32-27 lead.
Southern Miss opened the second half with a three-pointer, but six of Rice's first seven field goals came from distance as it extended its lead to 52-40 in the first 7:32 of the half. After trading baskets, the Golden Eagles scored eight of the next 10 points. Olivari's three pushed its lead to ten, but three straight baskets brought USM within 64-60 with 4:33 to play. An Abercrombie three followed by two Olivari free throws pushed Rice's lead to nine points. But three straight baskets cut the deficit to 69-66 with 1:36 to play. But a Fiedler layup made it a two-possession game, and Rice connected on five of six free throws in the minute to seal the victory.
The Stats
Rice connected on 42.9% from the field, 43.8% from three and 93.3% from the foul line. Southern Miss connected on 43.9% from the floor but just 17.6% from three and 58.3% from the charity stripe. Rice outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 39-to-34.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"I thought our guys were really tough. That's what they needed to do down the stretch, is be tough-minded, defend and rebound. But we battled. We knew this was going to be hard. With these back-to-backs, you just have to fight, battle, scratch and find some energy. It helped being a home. But our guys were 14-of-15 from the foul line and assisted on 21 of 24 made baskets. But it's fun to coach and I'm really proud of our guys."
Notes
• Rice improved to 12-8 on the year and 6-6 in Conference USA.
• The Owls improved to 14-10 against Southern Miss and 9-2 in Houston.
• Rice has won 10 of the last 12 meetings with the Golden Eagles.
• The Owls tied a season-high with 14 three-pointers, the 14th time this year it made at least 10 threes.
• Rice connected on a season-high 93.3% from the free throw line, making 14-of-15 from the charity stripe.
• Quincy Olivari led the Owls with 20 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds.
• It was his eighth 20-point game of the year.
• Max Fiedler scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had a game-high five assists.
• Travis Evee scored 11 points, tied a season-high with four rebounds and had four assists.
• Cameron Sheffield scored a career-high nine points and had five rebounds.
Next Up
Rice goes back on the road next weekend when it travels to Bowling Green, Ky., to face East Division leader WKU. Friday's game is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. and will be livestreamed by ESPN+ while Saturday's game is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be nationally televised ty CBS Sports Network.
The Story
Rice came out strong, holding Southern Miss without a field goal through the first 5:33 as it jumped out to a 14-1 lead. After Tyler Stevenson made USM's first field goal, Travis Evee hit a three to give Rice its largest lead of the game at 17-3. After a Stevenson basket, Mylyjael Poteat made two free throws. The teams then traded baskets with a Poteat jumper giving Rice a 21-7 lead with 12:10 to play in the half. However, that's when the Owls went cold, missing seven straight shots as Southern Miss went on an 8-0 run to pull within six. Cameron Sheffield pushed the lead to nine with a three-pointer, but Rice them missed six straight shots as USM cut the deficit to three. Poteat made two more free throws, but four straight from Southern Miss cut Rice's lead to 26-25 with 1:39 left in the half. Abercrombie then hit a three and after a Denijay Harris layup, Evee made a three at the buzzer to send Rice into halftime with a 32-27 lead.
Southern Miss opened the second half with a three-pointer, but six of Rice's first seven field goals came from distance as it extended its lead to 52-40 in the first 7:32 of the half. After trading baskets, the Golden Eagles scored eight of the next 10 points. Olivari's three pushed its lead to ten, but three straight baskets brought USM within 64-60 with 4:33 to play. An Abercrombie three followed by two Olivari free throws pushed Rice's lead to nine points. But three straight baskets cut the deficit to 69-66 with 1:36 to play. But a Fiedler layup made it a two-possession game, and Rice connected on five of six free throws in the minute to seal the victory.
The Stats
Rice connected on 42.9% from the field, 43.8% from three and 93.3% from the foul line. Southern Miss connected on 43.9% from the floor but just 17.6% from three and 58.3% from the charity stripe. Rice outrebounded the Golden Eagles, 39-to-34.
What Scott Pera Had to Say
"I thought our guys were really tough. That's what they needed to do down the stretch, is be tough-minded, defend and rebound. But we battled. We knew this was going to be hard. With these back-to-backs, you just have to fight, battle, scratch and find some energy. It helped being a home. But our guys were 14-of-15 from the foul line and assisted on 21 of 24 made baskets. But it's fun to coach and I'm really proud of our guys."
Notes
• Rice improved to 12-8 on the year and 6-6 in Conference USA.
• The Owls improved to 14-10 against Southern Miss and 9-2 in Houston.
• Rice has won 10 of the last 12 meetings with the Golden Eagles.
• The Owls tied a season-high with 14 three-pointers, the 14th time this year it made at least 10 threes.
• Rice connected on a season-high 93.3% from the free throw line, making 14-of-15 from the charity stripe.
• Quincy Olivari led the Owls with 20 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds.
• It was his eighth 20-point game of the year.
• Max Fiedler scored 16 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had a game-high five assists.
• Travis Evee scored 11 points, tied a season-high with four rebounds and had four assists.
• Cameron Sheffield scored a career-high nine points and had five rebounds.
Next Up
Rice goes back on the road next weekend when it travels to Bowling Green, Ky., to face East Division leader WKU. Friday's game is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. and will be livestreamed by ESPN+ while Saturday's game is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be nationally televised ty CBS Sports Network.
Team Stats
USM
RICE
FG%
.439
.429
3FG%
.176
.438
FT%
.583
.933
RB
34
39
TO
10
16
STL
11
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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/ Men's BasketballG/F
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