Monday, November 21
Houston, TX
7 p.m.
Rice University
-42,01 CUSA
76
vs
67
Houston Christian
1-5,0-0Southland
1
2
F
Houston Christian
41
26
67
Rice
24
52
76
Photo by: ©Juan DeLeon Creative
Men's Hoops Rallies to Defeat Houston Christian, 76-67, in Darius Lee Classic
11/21/2022 10:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON — Rice opened the second half on a 12-0 run, rallying from a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat Houston Christian, 76-67, in the Owl Invitational featuring the Darius Lee Classic.
The Story
The teams opened the game trading three-pointers. However, Rice missed nine of its next 10 shots as Houston Christian went on a 17-3 run, taking a 20-6 lead at the under-12 media timeout. Seryee Lewis converted a three-point play, but five straight points by HCU gave it a 25-9 lead. A layup by Mason Jones followed by a three from Mekhi Mason cut the deficit to 11 with seven minutes to play. But the Huskies scored eight of the next 10 points to take their largest lead of the half, 33-16. But the teams traded baskets over the final three minutes as the Owls went into halftime trailing, 41-24.
But the Owls came out firing in the second half. Travis Evee hit two threes to open the half. After Mason made a layup, Quincy Olivari and Evee each made a pair of free throws as Rice opened the half on a 12-0 run. HCU answered, scoring 10 of the next 14 points to push the lead back to 51-40 with 13:51 to go. Two Mason three-pointers bookended an 8-0 Rice run, but the Huskies extended their lead to eight. Alem Huseinovic made a layup and Evee made one-of-two free throws. After an HCU jumper, Mason and Evee hit back-to-back threes. Another jumper pushed the Huskies lead to three, but Max Fiedler made a layup and Mason converted a three-point play to give the Owls their first lead of the game, 62-60. HCU retook the lead on a three-pointer. But went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good, 70-62 with 3:38 to play. Rice pushed its lead to as many as 10 points before closing out the Huskies.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"Again, you know, we're leaning on these seniors to lead us. They never like being down 17 points at halftime. I knew that they (HCU) were going to come out emotional tonight, inspired, wanting to represent Darius (Lee) and his family because they were all here. So, I was really worried just about the emotional state of the whole situation and to their kid's credit, they really came out playing well. I wasn't surprised by that. I was surprised we didn't play so well to start. We finally got ourselves in a groove there beginning the second half, 12-2 in the first four minutes and then we started turning the corner. I felt more comfortable, but you're never comfortable until the final buzzer sounds. Winning is hard. That's four games in seven days for our kids and three in the last four. I'm very, very happy and can take a deep breath here for a couple of days."
The Stats
Rice connected on 42.4% (25-of-59) from the field but just 25.0% (9-of-36) from three. It also hit a season-high 89.5% (17-of-19) from the free throw line. Houston Christian connected on 42.9% (24-of-56) from the floor and 43.3% (13-of-30) from three. Rice also won the rebounding battle, 36-to-34.
Notes
• Rice faced Houston Christian for the fourth straight year and the 16th time overall. Rice leads the series, 13-3, and has won the last six.
• When played at Tudor Fieldhouse, Rice leads, 10-1.
• The 17-point comeback was Rice's largest since a 22-point comeback at UC-Santa Barbara on Nov. 16, 2019.
• Rice has started 4-0 at home for the first time since starting 6-0 in 2011-12.
• G Mekhi Mason scored a game and season-high 25 points, going 10-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three.
• Mason's 25 points are the most by a freshman since Marcus Evans scored 27 against Charlotte on Mar. 9, 2016.
• G Travis Evee scored 20 points, his third 20-point game of the year. He has scored in double-figures in all six games this year.
• With four three-pointers, Evee now has 179 at Rice, tying passing Adam Peakes (1991-95) for fifth-place on Rice's all-time list.
• G Quincy Olivari scored 10 points and had five rebounds and four assists.
• G/F Cameron Sheffield grabbed a game-high and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds.
• F Max Fiedler had six points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Next Up
Rice will close its homestand on Wednesday, Nov. 30, against Prairie View A&M. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed by CUSAtv.
The Story
The teams opened the game trading three-pointers. However, Rice missed nine of its next 10 shots as Houston Christian went on a 17-3 run, taking a 20-6 lead at the under-12 media timeout. Seryee Lewis converted a three-point play, but five straight points by HCU gave it a 25-9 lead. A layup by Mason Jones followed by a three from Mekhi Mason cut the deficit to 11 with seven minutes to play. But the Huskies scored eight of the next 10 points to take their largest lead of the half, 33-16. But the teams traded baskets over the final three minutes as the Owls went into halftime trailing, 41-24.
But the Owls came out firing in the second half. Travis Evee hit two threes to open the half. After Mason made a layup, Quincy Olivari and Evee each made a pair of free throws as Rice opened the half on a 12-0 run. HCU answered, scoring 10 of the next 14 points to push the lead back to 51-40 with 13:51 to go. Two Mason three-pointers bookended an 8-0 Rice run, but the Huskies extended their lead to eight. Alem Huseinovic made a layup and Evee made one-of-two free throws. After an HCU jumper, Mason and Evee hit back-to-back threes. Another jumper pushed the Huskies lead to three, but Max Fiedler made a layup and Mason converted a three-point play to give the Owls their first lead of the game, 62-60. HCU retook the lead on a three-pointer. But went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good, 70-62 with 3:38 to play. Rice pushed its lead to as many as 10 points before closing out the Huskies.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"Again, you know, we're leaning on these seniors to lead us. They never like being down 17 points at halftime. I knew that they (HCU) were going to come out emotional tonight, inspired, wanting to represent Darius (Lee) and his family because they were all here. So, I was really worried just about the emotional state of the whole situation and to their kid's credit, they really came out playing well. I wasn't surprised by that. I was surprised we didn't play so well to start. We finally got ourselves in a groove there beginning the second half, 12-2 in the first four minutes and then we started turning the corner. I felt more comfortable, but you're never comfortable until the final buzzer sounds. Winning is hard. That's four games in seven days for our kids and three in the last four. I'm very, very happy and can take a deep breath here for a couple of days."
The Stats
Rice connected on 42.4% (25-of-59) from the field but just 25.0% (9-of-36) from three. It also hit a season-high 89.5% (17-of-19) from the free throw line. Houston Christian connected on 42.9% (24-of-56) from the floor and 43.3% (13-of-30) from three. Rice also won the rebounding battle, 36-to-34.
Notes
• Rice faced Houston Christian for the fourth straight year and the 16th time overall. Rice leads the series, 13-3, and has won the last six.
• When played at Tudor Fieldhouse, Rice leads, 10-1.
• The 17-point comeback was Rice's largest since a 22-point comeback at UC-Santa Barbara on Nov. 16, 2019.
• Rice has started 4-0 at home for the first time since starting 6-0 in 2011-12.
• G Mekhi Mason scored a game and season-high 25 points, going 10-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three.
• Mason's 25 points are the most by a freshman since Marcus Evans scored 27 against Charlotte on Mar. 9, 2016.
• G Travis Evee scored 20 points, his third 20-point game of the year. He has scored in double-figures in all six games this year.
• With four three-pointers, Evee now has 179 at Rice, tying passing Adam Peakes (1991-95) for fifth-place on Rice's all-time list.
• G Quincy Olivari scored 10 points and had five rebounds and four assists.
• G/F Cameron Sheffield grabbed a game-high and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds.
• F Max Fiedler had six points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Next Up
Rice will close its homestand on Wednesday, Nov. 30, against Prairie View A&M. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed by CUSAtv.
Team Stats
HBU
Rice
FG%
.429
.424
3FG%
.433
.250
FT%
.667
.895
RB
34
36
TO
14
7
STL
3
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
25
FGM
10
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
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