Owls’ defense powers victory
A day after upsetting Penn, Rice took an early lead against Wayland Baptist and never relinquished it in a 65-40 blowout Sunday at Tudor Fieldhouse.
“I’m really proud of our guys’ defensive intensity today,” Owls coach Scott Pera said. “That’s something that we’ve been trying to build, (and) we’re starting to see more of it.”
Four minutes into the game, Drew Peterson’s 3pointer jump-started a 12-0 run that put Rice (2-1) up by 14.
Sophomore guard Trey Murphy III scored the last six points of that run and finished with a game-high 16.
After losing to Arkansas by 48 in its season opener, Rice had five players score in double figures against Penn, three of whom came within three rebounds of a double-double.
But it arguably was the Owls’ defense that keyed their first two wins of the season.
Proactive help defense harassed NAIA foe Wayland Baptist (3-1) in the first half and kept the Pioneers in single figures through the first 13 minutes of the game.
Murphy led the way in the first half with three of his career-high four blocks and a steal.
Junior J.J. Culver entered Sunday averaging 35 points per game for Wayland Bapist but had just four in the first half. He finished with 14.
“Arkansas and St. Edward’s really woke us up,” Murphy said of the team’s opening losses, including its lone exhibition. “We felt embarrassed, and we had to remember that feeling and channel it. Coach (Pera) scheduled practice around just playing defense, so we had a really big emphasis on it this week.”
Culver found a rhythm in the second half, scoring seven straight points to cut the Owls’ lead to 10 with eight minutes left.
Rice responded with another 12-0 run. The Pioneers scored just four points in the final eight minutes.
“I don’t know if we beat Arkansas on our best day, but I thought we wasted the day. You only get 32 of them. You can’t afford to waste one,” Pera said. “I thought we came back with great responses in these two home wins, and now we have to go on the road.”
The Owls get the chance to extend their first winning record of the season at Northwestern State and UC Santa Barbara. They will be back at home against Houston on Nov. 19.
glynn.hill@chron.com twitter.com/glynn_hill