Even with Evans struggling, Owls find a way to prevail

Rice showed Saturday night that it can win without a big scoring game from talented sophomore guard Marcus Evans.

With Evans struggling from the field, Egor Koulechov stepped up with a game-high 21 points in the Owls’ 70-63 victory over Stephen F. Austin at Tudor Fieldhouse.

Even without his usual shooting touch, Evans was productive in other areas and delivered down the stretch against SFA.

Evans’ jumper gave the Owls a 67-61 lead with 39 seconds remaining, followed by his two free throws that increased the advantage to eight points with 26 seconds left.

“Probably his worst shooting night of his young career, but he never lost it,” Rice coach Mike Rhoades said. “That’s a sign of maturity.

“He didn’t lose connection to the game. Still running the show, talking to his teammates in the huddle, calling the defenses, look- ing at the coaches and communicating with us. That’s a huge growth. Hemade a big play in the game because he’s a good player.”

Despite not playing a great floor game, Rice improved to 7-2.

“We’ve got a long ways to go to where we want to, but it’s good to see progress,” said Koulechov, who was 6-of-10 from the floor, made all three of his 3-pointers and added a team-high nine rebounds.

Evans is the reigning Conference USA Player of the Week. The 6-2 guard came into the non-conference game averaging 23.1 points and had scored 20 or more points in seven of the Owls’ first eight contests.

On Saturday, Evans missed his first seven shots, including his first four 3-pointers.

His first points came with 9:36 remaining in the game — a jumper that gave the Owls a 54-40 lead.

Evans finished with just six points, but he collected a career-high nine assists. He was 2-of-12 from the field, 0-for-6 on 3-pointers and 2-of-4 from the foul line.

“Last year, we had to get Marcus scoring 20, somebody else scoring 20, to win,” Koulechov said. “This year, he doesn’t have to score 20 or 30 every game for us to win.”

Marcus Jackson added 11 points for Rice. Of the Owls’ 24 baskets, 18 were assisted.

Leon Gilmore III, a junior from Manvel, led SFA (3-5) with 18 points, followed by Ivan Canete with 17 points.

Rice, which lost 85-84 at Texas Tech in its previous game, built on a 33-32 halftime advantage to lead by as many as 17 points in the second half. With nine minutes left, a 3-pointer by Connor Cashaw put Rice ahead 57-40.

SFA is 0-4 on the road this season under first-year coach Kyle Keller. Last season, the Lumberjacks were 28-6 overall and 18-0 in the Southland Conference under Brad Underwood, reaching the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament.