Owls soar with hot shooting

First-half stumble not a problem after late surge

It had to be refreshing for Rice fans.

For stretches of Saturday’s game, it felt like anything would go in the net as the Owls (3-2) shot 61 percent from the field in the second half to rout Northwestern State 102-74 at Tudor Fieldhouse.

“The response after halftime was outstanding,” coach Scott Pera said. “That was fun to watch us play that way.”

Rice raced out to an 8-0 advantage in the first half but surrendered its lead just before halftime.

With less than two minutes left, the ball escaped the fingertips of Josh Parrish, into the hands of a Demons player as purple jerseys dashed down the floor for the transition bucket plus the foul, to the Northwestern State crowd’s vocal pleasure.

But guard Ako Adams responded with a 3-pointer, recapturing the lead.

Quentin Millora-Brown, a 6-9 freshman forward, led the team with a career-high 21 points and added eight rebounds and three blocks.

“We got him his first start on the road at Houston. We wanted to get those jitters out of the way,” Pera said. “He came here today a little more relaxed, I think. And look, we thought the way they play defense, he’d have some opportunities.”

Rice took control early in the second half.

Millora-Brown began a 10-point run with a layup that built a five-point lead two minutes in. Seconds later, he glided toward the rim for another layup, igniting Rice fans at Tudor.

Freshman Drew Peterson capped off the run with back-to-back 3-pointers, sinking the latter in front of a flailing defender to stretch the lead to 13.

From that point, Rice’s lead never fell below 11 points.

A 15-0 run through the middle of the second half pushed the Demons’ deficit to 27. It’d go as high 36.

Saturday’s game continues a winning trend for the Owls against Northwestern State (1-3), a team Rice has defeated in all eight of their series meetings.