Rice Drops Contest to East Carolina

Saturday, February 14

Houston, TX

1 p.m.

Rice University

11-15,5-8American

East Carolina

9-16,4-8American

East Carolina

Rice

Photo by: Maria Lysaker | Rice Athletics

2/14/2026 5:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Book (PDF)

By: Tim Andrzejewski (tra3@rice.edu)

HOUSTON — Trae Broadnax and Bodey Howell each notched career-highs, but it was not enough, as Rice fell to East Carolina, 85-75, Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Story
Rice jumped out to an early 10-5 lead. However, the Pirates scored nine of the next 11 points. Bodey Howell's three-pointer gave the Owls the lead. But Rice missed 10 of its next 12 shots, allowing East Carolina to go on a 14-5 run and take its largest lead of the half, 28-20, with 5:23 to play. After Trae Broadnax made two free throws, the teams exchanged baskets before Luke Davis converted a three-point play. Andrew Akuchie and Broadnax made layups, and after an ECU three, Howell scored five straight to pull the Owls within two points. But Jordan Riley's layup sent Rice into halftime trailing 38-34.

The teams traded baskets through the first four minutes of the second half. But Rice missed five straight shots as East Carolina went on a 14-3 lead, taking its largest lead of the game, 61-45, with 11:58 to play. After exchanging baskets over the next two minutes, the Owls began to chip away at the deficit. Broadnax, Nick Anderson, and Akuchie. ECU scored on a jumper, but Anderson hit a three. Giovanni Emejuru made one-of-two free throws, and Broadnax made both of his. But two free throws by Demitri Gardner were followed by a Corey Caulkner jumper, extending the deficit back to 11 with 5:36 remaining. Rice again refused to go away. A Broadnax layup, two free throws from Anderson, and a Howell three-pointer cut the deficit to 73-69 with 3:58 to play. However, the Owls got no closer, missing six of their final seven shots.

What Head Coach Rob Lanier Had to Say
"You have to give a lot of credit to (East Carolina). They really outplayed us from beginning to end. There was a little stretch in the second half where we made a run. They just outplayed us (and) outcoached us. They did a lot of things well. They're a good team. They're better than their record, and I think you saw that tonight. They're playing good basketball. They did a good job of changing their defense, and it put us off-balance offensively. I thought we adjusted well-enough in the second half. We got good shots, but didn't make enough of them, and didn't do enough with our presence on the offensive glass. But at that point, they already had control of the game."

The Stats
Rice was held to 38.2% (26-of-68) from the field, and 26.5% (9-of-34) from three, and was 14-of-16 (87.5%) from the free throw line. East Carolina connected on 53.7% (29-of-54) from the floor, a season-high 47.1% (8-of-17) from three, and 73.1% (19-of-26 from the free throw line. Rice won the rebounding battle, 36-to-34.

Notes
• Rice dropped to 11-15 on the year, and 5-8 in the American Conference.
• Rice moves to 9-10 all-time against East Carolina.
• The Owls are now 4-5 in Houston.
• G Trae Broadnax scored a career-high 27 points, and had four rebounds and four assists.
• It was his eighth 20-point game of the year, and the 15^th of his career.
• It was his team-high 24^th double-figure scoring game this year, and the 96^th of his career.
• G Bodey Howell set career-highs with 19 points and five three-pointers.
• It was his fourth double-digit scoring game of the year.
• F Andrew Akuchie scored eight points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
• G Jalen Smith had a game-high five assists and tied a career-high with three steals.

Next Up
Rice takes a week off before traveling to New Orleans, La., next Sunday, Feb. 22, to face Tulane. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.