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March 2, 2007 > Sports > Men’s basketball to close regular season against Tulsa

Men’s basketball to close regular season against Tulsa

By Chris Pasich | Thresher staff

Nearing the end of its conference schedule, the men’s basketball team finds itself one of five teams vying for the two remaining first-round byes in the Conference USA tournament. The Owls (14-14, 8-7 C-USA) split their past two contests, defeating Southern Methodist University at Autry Court to break a three game losing streak before falling to Marshall University in a close matchup on the road.

The Owls finish their regular season Saturday with a game against the University of Tulsa at Autry Court. Rice fell to Tulsa in the two teams’ only matchup last season, an 80-73 setback on the road. The game marks the final athletic event at Autry Court prior to its scheduled renovation.

For seniors Morris Almond, Lorenzo Williams and Greg Killings, it also marks their final home game. Although they have been forced to deal with injuries this season, they have been the primary producers for the Owls and have managed to meet many of the expectations from the beginning of the season. Williams said he hopes the team can send the trio out on a high note.

“Of course you want to come out with a win,” Williams said. “It’s going to be something special — we just want to make it memorable.”

Following tomorrow’s game, the Owls will travel to Memphis for the C-USA tournament, where the winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The top four teams in the conference standings will get first-round byes and will not begin play until Wednesday. Rice is currently tied for fourth place in conference with four other teams, and is one game behind the University of Houston. With a win on Saturday and some fortunate results in other contests, Rice can obtain the fourth seed or possibly the third seed in the conference tournament.

Wednesday night, the Owls did not trail until the final four minutes but still lost 69-64 to the Thundering Herd. Rice had the lead from the opening minutes until a three-pointer from Marshall guard Chris Ross put his team in front with under four minutes left. The Owls trailed by three with less than 30 seconds to play, but sophomore guard Cory Pflieger had a shot blocked and the Thundering Herd hit two free throws to seal the win.

Almond had 29 points and 9 rebounds for the Owls, who were plagued by turnovers in the contest. They had 21 overall, including 15 combined from Almond and Williams. In addition, Almond was the only Owl to score in double figures and the only one to shoot over 50 percent from the field.

In their previous game, the Owls pulled away from SMU down the stretch for a 75-66 victory. Almond led the team with 19 points on 7-11 shooting from the floor but also had 9 turnovers on the night. Rice overcame a strong night from Mustang forward Ike Ofoegbu, who led all players with 30 points and 10 rebounds and was 5-7 from three point range.

Although Almond was not as sharp as in previous games, he once again carried Rice down the stretch. Almond scored nine points in the final six minutes as part of a game-clinching 10-2 run, breaking out of what had been a poor scoring night.

“I’ve got to pick and choose my spots now,” Almond said. “Whenever I get [into] a nice rhythm or get a bucket here or a bucket there, I’ll take it. I just take what the defense gives me.”

The Owls got off to a fast start, using an 11-point run early in the game to take a 13-3 lead. The entire team was involved from the tip-off, playing with more energy than usual on a night when Almond was not able to match his season average in points.

Sophomore Aleks Perka was a key contributor. In the first start of his career, he chipped in with a career-high 12 points and tied for the team lead with 5 rebounds. In addition, he had two impressive fast-break dunks to keep the team’s energy elevated, something that has been lacking at times this season.

“We’ve been having problems with energy since the beginning of the season,” Perka said. “Coach always brings up … having a good attitude in practice and in the game. [Tonight] it was everybody collaborating with that energy.”

The Mustangs were able to stay close for the entirety of the game, as their starters accounted for all but nine of the team’s minutes in the contest. Ofoegbu’s three-point shooting punished Rice’s perimeter defense, but overall the Owls had a solid night on the defensive end of the court.

“Some of it just had to do with rotation,” head coach Willis Wilson (Will Rice ‘82) said. “Part of the evolution that we’ve got to make is giving up something to get other things, and for them to shoot about 38 percent in both halves, I would say that our defense was very good.”

Williams and Patrick Britton both scored 10 points to round out the Rice attack. The Owls shot 61 percent from the field. Williams also contributed with nine assists, as Rice swept the season series from SMU.

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