Saturday, December 2
Houston, TX
4 p.m.
Rice University
3-5,0-0AAC
65
vs
56
Houston Christian
0-6,0-0Southland
1
2
F
Houston Christian
31
25
56
Rice
29
36
65
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Defense Propels Rice Past Houston Christian
12/2/2023 7:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON — Rice held crosstown foe Houston Christian to 35.3% from the field and 17.6% from three as it came back from a 13-point first half deficit to earn a 65-56 victory, Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Story
The Owls got off to a slow start, missing four of its first five shots as HCU jumped out to an 11-4 lead, forcing a Rice timeout. Back-to-back buckets by Mekhi Mason cut it to three, but the Huskies went on a 12-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 23-10, with 9:03 to play in the half. The Owls scored six of the next eight points. After a Houston Christian layup, Travis Evee scored 10 points in a 13-2 run to tie the game at 29 before an HCU basket sent Rice into halftime trailing, 31-29.
The Owls turned it on in the second half. After they traded baskets to open the half, Keanu Dawes' dunk gave them their first lead in a 9-0 run. After an HCU basket, Mason scored five straight points to send the Rice on a 13-3 run and take its largest lead of the game, 53-39, with 8:41 to play. The Huskies, however, did not go away, scoring nine straight points to pull within 53-48 with 6:00 left. But the Owls scored seven of the next eight points to extend its lead back to 11, holding off HCU the rest of the game.
The Stats
Rice connected on 39.3% (24-of-61) from the field but was just 20.0% (5-of-20) from three. Houston Christian was held to 35.3% (24-of-68) from the floor and 17.6% (3-of-17) from three. The Owls were outrebounded, 49-to-42.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"I'm really happy to get the win. A good word to use for this game is sloppy. Offensively, we just couldn't get any rhythm going. That's a credit to (Houston Christian's) defense. But, the good news is, we would not have won that game in the past. We won with our defense. They shot 35% from the floor and 18% from three. Any chance you do that, you're going to give yourself a chance to win. So I'm really proud of that. That's back-to-back pretty good defensive performances by us."
Notes
• This was 17th meeting between Rice and Houston Christian.
• Rice holds a 14-3 record in the series and has won the last seven games.
• G Travis Evee scored a game-high 18 points and added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. It was his eighth double-figure scoring game of the year and the 102nd of his career.
• Evee tied Quincy Olivari (2019-23) for 10th-place on Rice's all-time scoring list with 1,487 points.
• G Mekhi Mason scored 17 points, his sixth double-figure game of the year and the 21st of his career, and had a season-high three steals.
• F Max Fiedler recorded his second double-double of the year and the 27th of his career, tying a season-high with 12 rebounds while adding a season-high 10 assists.
• Fiedler moved into third-place on Rice's all-time assists list with 447 and fourth-place on its rebounds list with 923.
• F Keanu Dawes set season-highs with 14 points and eight rebounds. It was his first career double-figure scoring game.
• F Andrew Akuchie set season-highs with nine points and five rebounds.
Next Up
Rice stays in the city when it face crosstown foe and sixth-ranked Houston next Wednesday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.
The Story
The Owls got off to a slow start, missing four of its first five shots as HCU jumped out to an 11-4 lead, forcing a Rice timeout. Back-to-back buckets by Mekhi Mason cut it to three, but the Huskies went on a 12-2 run to take its largest lead of the game, 23-10, with 9:03 to play in the half. The Owls scored six of the next eight points. After a Houston Christian layup, Travis Evee scored 10 points in a 13-2 run to tie the game at 29 before an HCU basket sent Rice into halftime trailing, 31-29.
The Owls turned it on in the second half. After they traded baskets to open the half, Keanu Dawes' dunk gave them their first lead in a 9-0 run. After an HCU basket, Mason scored five straight points to send the Rice on a 13-3 run and take its largest lead of the game, 53-39, with 8:41 to play. The Huskies, however, did not go away, scoring nine straight points to pull within 53-48 with 6:00 left. But the Owls scored seven of the next eight points to extend its lead back to 11, holding off HCU the rest of the game.
The Stats
Rice connected on 39.3% (24-of-61) from the field but was just 20.0% (5-of-20) from three. Houston Christian was held to 35.3% (24-of-68) from the floor and 17.6% (3-of-17) from three. The Owls were outrebounded, 49-to-42.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"I'm really happy to get the win. A good word to use for this game is sloppy. Offensively, we just couldn't get any rhythm going. That's a credit to (Houston Christian's) defense. But, the good news is, we would not have won that game in the past. We won with our defense. They shot 35% from the floor and 18% from three. Any chance you do that, you're going to give yourself a chance to win. So I'm really proud of that. That's back-to-back pretty good defensive performances by us."
Notes
• This was 17th meeting between Rice and Houston Christian.
• Rice holds a 14-3 record in the series and has won the last seven games.
• G Travis Evee scored a game-high 18 points and added three rebounds, two assists and two steals. It was his eighth double-figure scoring game of the year and the 102nd of his career.
• Evee tied Quincy Olivari (2019-23) for 10th-place on Rice's all-time scoring list with 1,487 points.
• G Mekhi Mason scored 17 points, his sixth double-figure game of the year and the 21st of his career, and had a season-high three steals.
• F Max Fiedler recorded his second double-double of the year and the 27th of his career, tying a season-high with 12 rebounds while adding a season-high 10 assists.
• Fiedler moved into third-place on Rice's all-time assists list with 447 and fourth-place on its rebounds list with 923.
• F Keanu Dawes set season-highs with 14 points and eight rebounds. It was his first career double-figure scoring game.
• F Andrew Akuchie set season-highs with nine points and five rebounds.
Next Up
Rice stays in the city when it face crosstown foe and sixth-ranked Houston next Wednesday, Dec. 6. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.
Team Stats
HCU
Rice
FG%
.353
.393
3FG%
.176
.200
FT%
.333
.500
RB
49
42
TO
14
10
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
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