Shot touch eludes Owls in loss to Miners

In a winner takes the No. 11 seed bonus-play finale, UTEP defeated Rice 77-72 Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Owls will face Florida International as the No. 12 seed when the Conference USA tournament begins in Frisco on Wednesday.

“We had our chances. We didn’t shoot the ball well,” Rice coach Scott Pera said. “When we don’t shoot the ball well, we have a hard time winning.”

After struggling to find the basket in its previous two games against UTEP (1714, 8-10) this season, the Owls (15-16, 7-11) failed to find a consistent shooting rhythm again.

Through the first 7:32 of the second half, Rice scored just one field goal. That one, a Chris Mullins 3pointer, cut a four-point halftime lead to one.

Two minutes later, the Miners dug in.

UTEP guard Souley Boum knocked down a 3pointer to add to his gamehigh 23 points. It began a 13-1 Miners run that lasted until Trey Murphy III’s 3pointer ended a near threeminute Rice scoring drought.

The Owls shot a combined 35 percent from the floor and 28 percent from distance in their previous two games — both losses — to UTEP. On Saturday, Rice shot 35.9 from the floor and 25.7 percent from behind the arc.

“We had a 19-point lead at their place, so we know we’re good enough to play with them at a minimum,” Pera said. “When the ball doesn’t go in the basket, it’s really hard to win. And you have to be incredibly tough on defense and incredibly tough on the glass and we weren’t tough enough especially against really good guards.”

A pair of UTEP field-goal droughts enabled Rice to cut a game-high 14-point deficit down to seven in the closing minutes.

But Rice couldn’t generate enough offense to get any closer until Quincy Olivari’s 3-pointer beat the final buzzer.

Guard Daryl Edwards scored 21 points to power the Miners behind Boum. Murphy III led the Owls with 16 points and senior Ako Adams added 13.

Rice lifted itself into a second straight C-USA tournament under Pera following Wednesday’s win at Southern Mississippi. The Owls move on to meet an FIU team they defeated 9278 in January.

“Obviously a disappointing effort today,” Pera said. “I’m not sure why we weren’t a little more ready to play. I think it falls on my shoulders. We need to make sure Wednesday night a 6:30 we’re ready to play our best basketball.”