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March 4, 2005 > Sports > Harris sets Rice scoring, rebounding records in win over Hawaii

Harris sets Rice scoring, rebounding records in win over Hawaii

By Adam Tabakin | Thresher staff

Riding its first three-game winning streak in more than a month, the men’s basketball team closes out its regular season this weekend on the road against Louisiana Tech University and Southern Methodist University.

Rice (16-10, 10-6 Western Athletic Conference) solidified its third-place standing in the WAC with an 80-61 win over the University of Hawaii Sunday and a 56-50 win over San Jose State Friday as the four Owl seniors — guards Walt Chancellor (Will Rice ‘04), Brock Gillespie and Jason McKrieth and forward Michael Harris — played their last games at Autry Court.

A win against either La. Tech last night or SMU tomorrow would clinch the third seed in next week’s WAC tournament in Reno, Nev., and would ensure that the Owls would play on the half of the bracket opposite host University of Nevada, ranked 25th nationally by the Associated Press.

“It’s that time of year where there are no tricks,” head coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice ‘82) said. “We don’t have anything that we’re going to pull out of a bag that’s going to surprise anybody, and I don’t think anybody else does. It’s just the time where you have to stay focused and make the most with the moments that you’re on the court.”

Rice has not played La. Tech or SMU since the first weekend of WAC play at Autry Court, when the Owls beat the Bulldogs 78-57 Jan. 1 and defeated SMU 66-64 in overtime Dec. 30.

Last night’s match-up featured two of the nation’s leading rebounders: La. Tech’s Paul Millsap, who leads the nation for the second consecutive year with 12.1 boards per game, and Harris, who ranks third with 11.9. Harris broke the Rice career scoring and rebounding records by scoring 30 points and grabbing 24 rebounds against Hawaii.

The SMU contest presents no such intriguing match-ups, but the December contest did see McKrieth record the first triple-double in school history with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists.

McKrieth and the team’s other seniors have combined to win 59 games in their four years at Rice — which also coincide with assistant coach Marty Gillespie’s tenure — as compared with the previous four years, when the Owls won a total of 41 games.

“We put a lot into the program, us four, and [Wilson] has really believed in us from day one,” Brock Gillespie said. “I think especially being out there with my father, who also came in with me, was something I’d always wanted to do since I was a kid, play for him.”

Wilson said he was pleased with how his team maintained focus on the emotional day.

“You let your game speak for how you feel, and I think they all played with a lot of energy and a lot of focus and a lot of hunger,” Wilson said. “Sometimes you get nostalgic late in the year with the last home game and all that, but I thought they played to win. I really think they played with something to prove today.”

Harris entered the game needing 27 points and 17 rebounds to break the Rice career records of 1,906 points and 1,049 rebounds set by Brent Scott (Jones ‘04), who finished his career in 1993. Harris set the rebounding mark midway through the second half and broke the scoring mark with less than five minutes to play, ending the game with 30 points and 25 rebounds.

“To be honest, I wasn’t going to think about it,” Harris said. “I knew there was a chance of me thinking about it and maybe I might try to do something that I don’t ordinarily do. I hadn’t heard anything about it until this week. I’m really not into looking on Web sites and looking at statistics and stuff like that, so just this week I didn’t know until someone came and told me how close I was.”

Harris said his teammates deserve credit for his scoring success.

“It’s a great accomplishment, but I didn’t do it by myself,” Harris said. “I owe thanks to all my teammates. Without them getting me the ball, I wouldn’t have done it. [In terms of] rebounding, I just see a ball and go get it. In the second half, I had an extra burst of energy and every ball I saw, I went to go grab it.”

For his exploits — he averaged 25 points and 17.7 rebounds in three games — Harris was named WAC Player of the Week as well as National Star of the Week by Collegeinsider.com. Harris’

20.6 points per game and 61.1 percent field-goal shooting place him in the top 20 in the country.

McKrieth added a season-high 22 points for Rice in his last game at Autry Court.

“[I thought], ‘This is it — last one, last home game,’” McKrieth said. “Last year’s seniors went out with a loss, but to go out on a winning note — I remember when we first got here and those few fans in the stands used to come out for our first games. Now, with this being our last game, to have it packed a little bit brought a good feeling to know that all four of us have had a significant impact on Rice basketball.”

Chancellor spent the majority of his two years at Rice coming off the bench at the end of blowouts and contributing with his energy and tenacious defense on scout teams in practice. Wilson inserted him into the starting lineup Feb. 21 against Fresno State, and the Owls have gone 3-0 since.

“Coach gave me a great opportunity,” Chancellor said. “I’ve been working all my life for this, and it just feels great to be able to help the team win — that’s the only thing that matters. When I’m out there, all I want to do is help us win. [Being on the court] is a little more fun at the end of the day, but as long as we’re winning, I’m set.”

Rice has held opposing offenses to less than 40-percent shooting from the field in each game during its winning streak, as compared with Nevada’s 57.7 percent Feb. 16 against the Owls in Reno, Nev.

“I think from the defensive standpoint is where we’ve shown improvement the last few games,” McKrieth said. “Looking at percentages, teams haven’t shot that great from three-[point range] or inside. [Defensively], it’s in good time as far as going into the tournament.”

Also crucial in Rice’s resurgence has been the gradual return of sophomore point guard Lorenzo Williams. After Williams missed seven games with a deep thigh bruise, Wilson has gradually worked Williams back into the playing rotation in the last four games. Williams played 23 minutes against Hawaii while recording six assists.

“We’re getting guys back healthy,” McKrieth said. “Bringing Zo back is going to be huge. For the most part, if you leave one of us wide open, we’re going to knock it down.”

With the sentimentality of Senior Day over, Gillespie said the Owls know they need to finish strong this weekend in order to continue building momentum for the conference tournament.

“We live in the moment,” Gillespie said. “There’s a time to smile and a time to cry, and when it’s time to tip it up, it’s time to go, and everyone understands that.”

Since exiting in the semifinals of last year’s conference tournament and then getting blown out in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament, the Owls’ goal has been the team’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 1970. Despite the recent winning streak, an at-large bid is out of the question, meaning the Owls must win the conference tournament for the seniors to exit with their goals fulfilled.

“We came in with one thing on the mind — to put Rice basketball on the map,” McKrieth said. “In some ways we’ve accomplished that, but we still haven’t accomplished some of our goals as a group — we still have a lot of basketball left to play.”

End of article

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