Saturday, February 3
San Antonio, TX
2 p.m.
Rice University
9-13,3-6AAC
80
at
76
UTSA
8-14,2-7AAC
1
2
F
Rice
39
41
80
UTSA
28
48
76
Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics
Mason’s Career-High 30 Points Leads Rice to Win at UTSA
2/3/2024 5:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Mekhi Mason scored a career-high 30 points and Rice held off a late UTSA run to earn its third straight road victory, 80-76, Saturday afternoon at the UTSA Convocation Center.
The Story
Rice came out on fire, as Alem Huseinovic, Mekhi Mason, and Travis Evee all hit threes to give it a 9-2 lead. But an 11-0 run gave the Roadrunners a 13-9 lead five minutes into the game. After Rice tied it at 13, the teams went back-and-forth. With the game tied at 19, the Owls scored six straight points, taking a 25-19 advantage and forcing a UTSA timeout. Evee and Anthony Selden made threes to extend the lead to eight. But after a UTSA triple cut the lead to five, Rice closed the final 2:45 on an 8-2 run to head into halftime with a 39-28 advantage.
Evee, Mason, and Huseinovic started the second half the same as the first, hitting four-of-five threes, but the teams went back-and-forth through the first 6:22 with Rice extending its lead to 55-39, its largest of the game. A 9-0 run over the next 2:26 cut the lead to 55-48. However, Andrew Akuchie made two free throws as the Owls went on an 11-5 run. After Christian Tucker hit a jumper, Noah Shelby hit a three just before the shot clock and Max Fiedler got a putback as Rice scored seven of nine points to push its lead to 71-56 with 5:02 to play. But the Roadrunners got hot, going on a 17-5 run to pull within 76-73 with 1:10 to play. Mason hit a jumper, but Adante' Holiman answered with a three to cut the lead to 78-76 with 33 seconds left. UTSA then fouled Anthony Selden, who calmly stepped to the free throw line and sank both shots to seal the victory.
The Stats
Rice connected on 47.5% (28-of-59) from the field and 41.4% (12-of-29) from three. UTSA was held to 43.1% (28-of-65) from the floor and 28.0% (7-of-25) from three. Rice was outrebounded, 36-to-34, but outscored the Roadrunners, 15-to-10 on second chance points.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"It's a great win for our guys. Any road win is hard. To win three in a row in conference is very hard. We knew there was going to be a run, it's just when is it going to come. This one came at the very end, but part of that was self-inflicted. We just didn't handle it the best. But we had great defense at the end. If they make the layup, who knows what crazy stuff can happen, especially in this series. What would this series be if something crazy didn't happen. It's just been an unbelievable series of close games. I'm just glad we could get out of here with a win."
Notes
• This was the second meeting of the year between Rice and UTSA and the 24th overall.
• UTSA holds a 13-11 record, including 7-3 in San Antonio.
• Rice has won two straight games in San Antonio for the first time in the series.
• Rice connected on 12 three-pointers, the seventh time this year it made at least 10 threes.
• G Mekhi Mason scored a game and career-high 30 points, his first career 30-point game.
• The 30 points are the most by an Owl this year.
• It was his 17th double-figure scoring game of the year and the 32nd of his career.
• It was also his fourth 20-point game of the year and the sixth of his career.
• G Travis Evee scored 18 points and was four-of-eight from three.
• It was his 18th double-figure scoring game of the year and the 91st of his career.
• With 18 points, he passed Tamir Jackson (2009-13) for sixth-place on Rice's all-time scoring list with 1,697 career points.
• G Anthony Selden scored eight points, had four rebounds, and set a season-high with four blocks.
• F Max Fiedler scored two points, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, and added seven assists.
• G Alem Huseinovic added eight points and three rebounds.
• F Andrew Akuchie tied his career-high with six rebounds.
Next Up
Rice returns home for a pair of games next Wednesday, Feb. 7, when it hosts SMU. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.
The Story
Rice came out on fire, as Alem Huseinovic, Mekhi Mason, and Travis Evee all hit threes to give it a 9-2 lead. But an 11-0 run gave the Roadrunners a 13-9 lead five minutes into the game. After Rice tied it at 13, the teams went back-and-forth. With the game tied at 19, the Owls scored six straight points, taking a 25-19 advantage and forcing a UTSA timeout. Evee and Anthony Selden made threes to extend the lead to eight. But after a UTSA triple cut the lead to five, Rice closed the final 2:45 on an 8-2 run to head into halftime with a 39-28 advantage.
Evee, Mason, and Huseinovic started the second half the same as the first, hitting four-of-five threes, but the teams went back-and-forth through the first 6:22 with Rice extending its lead to 55-39, its largest of the game. A 9-0 run over the next 2:26 cut the lead to 55-48. However, Andrew Akuchie made two free throws as the Owls went on an 11-5 run. After Christian Tucker hit a jumper, Noah Shelby hit a three just before the shot clock and Max Fiedler got a putback as Rice scored seven of nine points to push its lead to 71-56 with 5:02 to play. But the Roadrunners got hot, going on a 17-5 run to pull within 76-73 with 1:10 to play. Mason hit a jumper, but Adante' Holiman answered with a three to cut the lead to 78-76 with 33 seconds left. UTSA then fouled Anthony Selden, who calmly stepped to the free throw line and sank both shots to seal the victory.
The Stats
Rice connected on 47.5% (28-of-59) from the field and 41.4% (12-of-29) from three. UTSA was held to 43.1% (28-of-65) from the floor and 28.0% (7-of-25) from three. Rice was outrebounded, 36-to-34, but outscored the Roadrunners, 15-to-10 on second chance points.
What Head Coach Scott Pera Had to Say
"It's a great win for our guys. Any road win is hard. To win three in a row in conference is very hard. We knew there was going to be a run, it's just when is it going to come. This one came at the very end, but part of that was self-inflicted. We just didn't handle it the best. But we had great defense at the end. If they make the layup, who knows what crazy stuff can happen, especially in this series. What would this series be if something crazy didn't happen. It's just been an unbelievable series of close games. I'm just glad we could get out of here with a win."
Notes
• This was the second meeting of the year between Rice and UTSA and the 24th overall.
• UTSA holds a 13-11 record, including 7-3 in San Antonio.
• Rice has won two straight games in San Antonio for the first time in the series.
• Rice connected on 12 three-pointers, the seventh time this year it made at least 10 threes.
• G Mekhi Mason scored a game and career-high 30 points, his first career 30-point game.
• The 30 points are the most by an Owl this year.
• It was his 17th double-figure scoring game of the year and the 32nd of his career.
• It was also his fourth 20-point game of the year and the sixth of his career.
• G Travis Evee scored 18 points and was four-of-eight from three.
• It was his 18th double-figure scoring game of the year and the 91st of his career.
• With 18 points, he passed Tamir Jackson (2009-13) for sixth-place on Rice's all-time scoring list with 1,697 career points.
• G Anthony Selden scored eight points, had four rebounds, and set a season-high with four blocks.
• F Max Fiedler scored two points, grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, and added seven assists.
• G Alem Huseinovic added eight points and three rebounds.
• F Andrew Akuchie tied his career-high with six rebounds.
Next Up
Rice returns home for a pair of games next Wednesday, Feb. 7, when it hosts SMU. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.
Team Stats
Rice
UTSA
FG%
.475
.431
3FG%
.414
.280
FT%
.667
.765
RB
34
36
TO
12
7
STL
3
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
11
3FGM
3
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
F
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F
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