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December 1, 2006 > Sports > Almond scores 42 in Owls’ loss at Utah

Almond scores 42 in Owls’ loss at Utah

Rice looks to end losing streak tomorrow against Texas Permian-Basin

By Chris Pasich | Thresher staff

The out-of-conference schedule continued to give the men’s basketball team problems over the weekend as they lost to the previously winless Utah Utes, 80-64. This latest defeat came five days after Rice (3-4) watched a 10 point lead slip away in the final two minutes of their 79-73 overtime loss to Oregon at Autry Court.

Senior guard Morris Almond seemed to be the only Owl unaffected by the slump — he led the team in scoring in both games, tallying 42 against Utah, and was named Conference USA player of the week.

The Owls face the University of Texas-Permian Basin (2-3) on Saturday at 7:05 p.m., the first of three consecutive home games before Rice heads to California for the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic. At that tournament, scheduled for Dec. 28-29, Rice will face Belmont University and either Saint Mary’s University or Western Carolina University.

In Salt Lake City, Almond had a career-high 42 points on 13-16 shooting from the field and 12-14 shooting from the free throw line. On the night, he was the only Owl with more than seven points and the only Owl to make more than two shots. The rest of the team combined for only 22 points on 8-31 shooting.

“[Almond is] not pressing and taking the game to the defense, he’s making the defense come find him, and I think that’s really good for him,” head coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice ‘82) said. “In contrast to that, I think the rest of our team has got to let the game come to us a little bit.”

The Owls were ahead by nine points at the half, helped in part by their 54 percent shooting from the field. However, the Utes simply dominated in the second half, as they outscored the Owls 50-25. Rice only shot 35 percent in the half compared to 58 percent for Utah.

“We didn’t stay with our game plan — we weren’t the aggressors,” sophomore guard Cory Pflieger said of the Rice second half. “They came out more aggressive, pushed us out of what we do and came out with a win.”

The Utes outrebounded the Owls 36-23, marking the fourth time out of six games Rice has been outrebounded by their opponents and the second time the opponents have had at least 13 more rebounds. Rice has only outrebounded NAIA school Paul Quinn and the University of North Texas this season.

For the year, Almond leads the team in rebounding in addition to scoring, and he contributed four rebounds in the loss. Senior center Greg Killings led the Owls with five rebounds.

“We’ve got to find our man,” Pflieger said. “We lose our man when the shot goes up, we don’t always box [him out], we just run straight to the goal.”

The previous week, the Owls lost at home to Oregon. Rice appeared to have the game all but wrapped up when Ducks guards Aaron Brooks and Tajuan Porter combined for three three-pointers in the final minute of the game to force overtime. After the Owls scored first, Oregon responded with a 7-0 run that put the game away. In both games, the Owls had opportunities to take control, but they could not capitalize on any of them.

“We’re just learning how to not get content when we have a lead — and learning that just because you have a lead, it’s not over with,”Almond said. “We learned that with Oregon, and we learned that against Utah. It’s learning how to compound a lead instead of getting too comfortable when we get a lead.”

Almond had 28 points with 13-25 shooting. Almond is currently averaging 29.3 points per game, second in the nation behind only Trey Johnson of Jackson State University. After shooting poorly in the preseason National Invitation Tournament — he shot 4-15 in an 88-50 loss to 21st-ranked Gonzaga University — Almond is averaging 34.8 points over his last four games.

“I’m just learning how teams are starting to play me,” Almond said. “It’s a little different from last year. You learn from each game, and you go back and look at yourself on tape. I realized I can’t do all the dribbling and everything; when I catch it, I’ve got to be ready to shoot it, because they’re keying on me.”

The key for the Owls heading into this Saturday’s match-up and through the rest of the season will be playing well for the duration of the game, and not just in spurts. With consistent play, the Owls will likely be able to get the victories they need to remain competitive for the rest of the season.

“At times, we look amazing — we look like a really good basketball team — and at other times, we just look bad,” Pflieger said. “We just need to come out and play to our ability the whole game, which I think we can do. And hopefully that will start this Saturday.”

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