Owls’ 3s pace 2-game sweep
Olivari helps stave off a run late in first half
Rice men’s basketball’s offensive success is predicated on the team’s accuracy from deep.
The Owls sat in the top seven nationally in 3-pointers made and 3-pointers attempted heading into Saturday’s game against Southern Miss. They have a pair of 40 percent-plus shooters from deep in sophomore guards Quincy Olivari and Travis Evee. Their 36.6 3-point percentage has them tied for 55th in the country and just 0.3 percent from the top 50.
It’s no surprise then that Rice (12-8, 6-6 Conference USA) needed all 14 of their 3point makes to hold off the Golden Eagles (7-12, 3-9) in a 76-68 win Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse.
“It’s who we are. It’s how we recruit. It’s how we play, and we have terrific shooters,” Rice coach Scott Pera said. “I want them to shoot with confidence. I give them the green light, and they know that.”
Olivari led the Owls with 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-10 from 3point range. Evee, Riley Abercrombie and Cameron Sheffield each made three 3pointers to support the long range attack.
Tyler Stevenson matched Olivari’s 29 points from Friday, an 88-62 Owls win, with 29 Saturday in his attempt to help Southern Miss avoid a six-game losing streak.
Rice raced out to 14-1 lead on the back of seven quick points from Olivari. The Owls’ defense held firm, not allowing the Golden Eagles to make a shot from the field until 14:27 remained in the half. They built the lead to as many as 14 with 12:10 to go in the half, but like Friday, they could not put Southern Miss away early.
For the last 12 minutes of the half, Rice was outscored 20-11 as the Golden Eagles cut it to a five-point game. Especially troubling was the Owls’ 3-point shooting — they shot just 6-for-19 in the half.
Evee managed to knock one down from deep before the buzzer, though, and coming out of the break, Rice flipped a switch.
Each of the team’s first five makes and six of its first seven came from deep as it rebuilt its double-digit lead. The Owls ended the game 14for-32 (43.8 percent) from 3.
“Coming out (of halftime), we just didn’t panic,” Evee said. “They had made a big run to end the first half, but we just came out, didn’t panic, played our own game, moved the ball and kept shooting the shots that we know we can make.”
But Southern Miss still wouldn’t stay down, cutting the lead to three with just over a minute remaining. Instead of going to the 3-pointer for the game’s biggest possession, Pera called Max Fiedler’s number, and he rewarded his coach’s confidence with a layup to ice it.
“It means a lot (to get my number called),” Fiedler said. “Last year, I guarantee that wouldn’t have been the go-to play down the stretch. It’s nice to see that he has confidence in me, and I just got to do my best to deliver every night.”
Rice is scheduled to take on Western Kentucky at 7 p.m. Friday in Bowling Green, Ky. The Hilltoppers’ series with Florida Atlantic was postponed because of a positive COVID-19 case in the program, and Pera had no update on next weekend’s series after the game.