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January 12, 2007 > Sports > Men’s basketball wins conference opener

Men’s basketball wins conference opener

By Chris Pasich | Thresher staff

The men’s basketball team opened up its Conference USA schedule with a 75-70 overtime comeback win at home over Tulane University Wednesday night. Rice (7-7, 1-0 C-USA) faced a 10 point deficit in the second half, but managed to overcome a 4-17 shooting night from senior guard Morris Almond to force overtime.

The Owls were down by eight points at halftime, but, playing with Almond on the bench for most of the second half due to his cold shooting, they showed the energy and intensity that had been lacking during their previous games. Freshman forward Charles Belton and junior forward Patrick Britton each saw big minutes off the bench and responded by diving for loose balls and fighting for rebounds throughout their time on the court.

“We made a commitment to everybody playing hard,” sophomore guard Rodney Foster said. “If you’re not going to play hard, you’re not going to see any playing time. We were just making sure that everybody had confidence. We just wanted to make sure that it was a team effort today, and I think we did that for the most part.”

Senior guard Lorenzo Williams had his best outing on the season with 15 points, showing the slashing and driving ability that was missing from his game earlier in the year. Senior center Greg Killings also had a very solid performance in the post, especially in the second half, as he grabbed 13 rebounds in 32 minutes of play before fouling out in overtime.

Foster and sophomore guard Cory Pflieger both had solid nights off the bench, with Foster aggravating the Green Wave on the defensive end of the court and Pflieger hitting three of five three-pointers, including a three-pointer to give the Owls the lead for good in overtime. Their intensity and hustle, however, was what really helped turn the game around for the Owls.

“It was really a collective effort,” head coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice ‘82) said. “But it really boils down to five guys going after the ball, making that extra effort that we’ve been coming up short with in previous outings.”

Rice was aided throughout the night by a poor night from Tulane (7-6, 0-1 C-USA) at the free-throw line. The Green Wave managed to hit only 10 of 25 free throws on the night, including a mere 1-7 performance in overtime. That poor foul shooting helped to counteract a 31 percent shooting night for the Owls.

In spite of his poor shooting night and in spite of playing just over eight minutes in the second half, Almond led the team with 17 points. Rice moved to 7-7 this season with the victory and moved to 5-3 at Autry Court.

Rice goes on the road to face East Carolina Saturday before returning home to face the University of Houston on Wednesday night. The game begins at 7:05 p.m. and will be televised on CSTV, the second of four televised games for the Owls on the season.

The Owls wrapped up their pre-conference schedule with a 51-28 loss at Princeton Saturday. They went 6-7 against their non-conference opponents, including an 0-2 record in two road games.

Almond lived up to his multiple preseason accolades over the first half of Rice’s season. He leads the nation in scoring, averaging 29.7 points per game in those contests. The remainder of the team, however, does not have a single player averaging in double figures.

Freshman guard Chris Hagan said the rest of the team needs to step up its play to lessen the pressure on Almond.

“Sometimes you get in the habit of leaning on Morris,” sophomore center Matt Hagan said. “We’ve got to be more aggressive as a team, because when we’re more aggressive [opponents] have to respect us, and it allows Morris to get even more open looks.”

While senior point guard Lorenzo Williams was recovering from an injury, Chris Hagan emerged as one of the more pleasant surprises on the Owls’ roster. He started all but one game and led Rice in both steals and assists against non-conference opponents. Among his more impressive performances were a 17-point effort in an 82-65 victory over Prairie View A&M and a 16-point showing in a close 87-85 loss to the Belmont Bruins.

Partially due to Williams’ injury, Rice has been plagued by inconsistency and a lack of energy throughout the season, especially on the offensive end of the court. The loss to Princeton made this all the more clear — the Owls recorded only 10 baskets and 3 assists on the whole night compared to 18 turnovers.

“I think the lack of consistency from certain guys has been a factor, the lack of practice time for some guys has been a factor,” Wilson said. “Losing some of the depth on the front line has been a factor. But nonetheless, we are who we are and we have to find a way to start becoming a more consistent basketball club.”

The lack of depth in the post includes an injury to Matt Hagan and the departure of junior forward Marius Craciun, who left the team before its game against UT-Permian Basin. The remaining forwards and centers on the roster have been forced to play more minutes, and sophomore forward Aleks Perka was forced to burn his redshirt season to provide some depth to the frontcourt. As a result, the big men have been forced into playing a different style.

“You have guys who were accustomed to playing very aggressive early in the year and playing limited minutes now worried about foul trouble and worried how to stay in the game,” Wilson said. “That means they cannot be as aggressive.”

In spite of the injuries and inconsistency, the Owls still have confidence for the rest of their conference schedule. Most of the rest of C-USA has been plagued by similar problems: injuries and inconsistent play. As a result, other than defending champion Memphis, the league has no visible powerhouse.

“There’s so much parity — any team can beat any other team on any given night,” Almond said. “The biggest thing is finding your identity and staying consistent to that. I think once we get back clicking, we’re as good as anybody in the league.”

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