Wednesday, January 11
Houston, TX
7 p.m.
Rice University
-115,23 CUSA
68
vs
71
Middle Tennessee
-107,33 CUSA
1
2
F
Middle Tenn.
22
49
71
Rice
36
32
68
Rice Drops Heartbreaker to Middle Tennessee
1/11/2023 10:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON, Texas — Quincy Olivari's game-tying three-point attempt hit the back of the rim and Rice dropped a heartbreaker to Middle Tennessee Wednesday night, 71-68, from Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Story
Rice started of slow as Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first five minutes. But that's when the Owls picked up their play, hitting five of their first six shots, including a three-pointer by Alem Huseinovic that gave Rice an 11-0 run over the next four minutes and forced a Blue Raider timeout. Travis Evee then scored seven straight points as the Owls went on a 15-6 run. After three straight Middle Tennessee points, Mekhi Mason made a jumper and Evee converted a three-point play to give Rice a 35-19 advantage with 2:13 to play in the half before heading into halftime with a 36-22 lead.
Mason opened the second half with a layup, extending Rice's lead to 16. After trading baskets, the Owls went cold, making just one of its next 11 shots as the Blue Raiders went on a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to 42-40. After trading baskets, Evee hit a three and Quincy Olivari made one-of-two free throws, but MT came right back with five straight. Olivari then converted a three-point play made a pair of free throws to push the lead to 53-47 with 7:18 to play. After trading buckets, Teafale Lenard made a three and DeAndre Dishman's layup tied the game at 55. Max Fiedler gave Rice the lead with a layup, but a three from Eli Lawrence gave Middle Tennessee a 58-57 advantage. Rice again took the lead on another Fiedler layup, but the Blue Raiders scored seven straight points to take a 65-59 lead with 2:39 to play. The Owls wouldn't go away, scoring seven of the next nine points with Olivari's three-point play pulling them to within 67-66. Middle Tennessee made four straight free throws to make it a five-point game. With four seconds remaining, Olivari made a layup and stole the inbounds pass. But his last second three was off the mark and Middle Tennessee held on.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"It was really a tale of two halves. I thought we played really, really well in the first half and really, really poorly in the second half. (Middle Tennessee) was reversed. They played poorly in the first half and played well in the second half. They played better than us when they needed to. They made the plays and deserved to win."
The Stats
Rice connected on 47.5% (28-of-59) from the field but just 30.8% (4-of-13) from three. Middle Tennessee was 50.0% (28-of-66) from the floor and 36.4% (8-of-22) from three. Rice outrebounded the Blue Raiders, 34-to-33.
Notes
• This was the 15th meeting between Rice and Middle Tennessee.
• The Owls are 7-8 in the series and 6-3 in Houston.
• G Quincy Olivari scored 20 points, his 13th straight double-figure scoring game.
• It was his seventh 20-point game of the year.
• He added five rebounds.
• G Travis Evee scored 18 points and hit a game-high three, three-pointers.
• G Mekhi Mason scored 10 points and hit a game-high three, three-pointers.
• F Max Fiedler scored six points and added a game-high eight assists and seven rebounds.
• G Jake Lieppert added five assists.
Next Up
Rice closes its homestand this Saturday, January 14, when it hosts UTEP. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed by CUSAtv.
The Story
Rice started of slow as Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first five minutes. But that's when the Owls picked up their play, hitting five of their first six shots, including a three-pointer by Alem Huseinovic that gave Rice an 11-0 run over the next four minutes and forced a Blue Raider timeout. Travis Evee then scored seven straight points as the Owls went on a 15-6 run. After three straight Middle Tennessee points, Mekhi Mason made a jumper and Evee converted a three-point play to give Rice a 35-19 advantage with 2:13 to play in the half before heading into halftime with a 36-22 lead.
Mason opened the second half with a layup, extending Rice's lead to 16. After trading baskets, the Owls went cold, making just one of its next 11 shots as the Blue Raiders went on a 15-2 run to cut the deficit to 42-40. After trading baskets, Evee hit a three and Quincy Olivari made one-of-two free throws, but MT came right back with five straight. Olivari then converted a three-point play made a pair of free throws to push the lead to 53-47 with 7:18 to play. After trading buckets, Teafale Lenard made a three and DeAndre Dishman's layup tied the game at 55. Max Fiedler gave Rice the lead with a layup, but a three from Eli Lawrence gave Middle Tennessee a 58-57 advantage. Rice again took the lead on another Fiedler layup, but the Blue Raiders scored seven straight points to take a 65-59 lead with 2:39 to play. The Owls wouldn't go away, scoring seven of the next nine points with Olivari's three-point play pulling them to within 67-66. Middle Tennessee made four straight free throws to make it a five-point game. With four seconds remaining, Olivari made a layup and stole the inbounds pass. But his last second three was off the mark and Middle Tennessee held on.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"It was really a tale of two halves. I thought we played really, really well in the first half and really, really poorly in the second half. (Middle Tennessee) was reversed. They played poorly in the first half and played well in the second half. They played better than us when they needed to. They made the plays and deserved to win."
The Stats
Rice connected on 47.5% (28-of-59) from the field but just 30.8% (4-of-13) from three. Middle Tennessee was 50.0% (28-of-66) from the floor and 36.4% (8-of-22) from three. Rice outrebounded the Blue Raiders, 34-to-33.
Notes
• This was the 15th meeting between Rice and Middle Tennessee.
• The Owls are 7-8 in the series and 6-3 in Houston.
• G Quincy Olivari scored 20 points, his 13th straight double-figure scoring game.
• It was his seventh 20-point game of the year.
• He added five rebounds.
• G Travis Evee scored 18 points and hit a game-high three, three-pointers.
• G Mekhi Mason scored 10 points and hit a game-high three, three-pointers.
• F Max Fiedler scored six points and added a game-high eight assists and seven rebounds.
• G Jake Lieppert added five assists.
Next Up
Rice closes its homestand this Saturday, January 14, when it hosts UTEP. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed by CUSAtv.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Team Stats
MTSU
Rice
FG%
.500
.475
3FG%
.364
.308
FT%
.538
.615
RB
33
34
TO
11
14
STL
10
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballRice Men's Basketball Team Impact Signing
Friday, March 28
Rice MBB vs. Wichita State Postgame Presser
Friday, March 07
Rice vs. Tulsa Postgame Press Conference 2/22/25
Saturday, February 22
MBB Postgame Presser vs. UAB 2/19/25
Thursday, February 20