Hilltoppers nip Owls in C-USA showdown
Rice coach Scott Pera has made it clear he wants guard Ako Adams to take Rice’s late-game shots.
Adams rewarded that trust Thursday night, sinking a deep 3-pointer to level the game in overtime and send it to another period. But in double overtime, the junior couldn’t save the Owls, who were held to five points in the final period before falling 92-85 to Western Kentucky at Tudor Fieldhouse.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard,” Pera said. “We all want to win. We all want to take this program up a notch. (I’m) proud of our guys, proud of their effort, proud of how hard they’re working. I just told them in the locker room we’re not there yet, we’re just not there yet. We’re going to get there but we’re not there yet.”
Rice missed its chance to put Western Kentucky away in regulation. With 90 seconds left in the second half and up by two, the Owls (9-15, 4-7 Conference USA) resumed possession after a timeout, looking for the win. Instead, Western Kentucky center Charles Bassey stuffed Quentin Millora-Brown’s shot down low before Rice’s Trey Murphy III missed a 3-pointer that could’ve helped ice the game.
On the Hilltoppers’ ensuing possession, forward Jared Savage nailed a 3pointer to put WKU (14-10, 7-4) up by one.
Rice freshman Chris Mullins had an opportunity to win it in regulation when he was fouled with five seconds left. He made his first free throw but missed the second.
“To their credit they were aggressive,” Pera said of the Hilltoppers’ defense in the second half. “They turned up the heat and got the game tied.”
Although the Hilltoppers made two crucial blocks in the final 65 seconds of the first overtime to help maintain a threepoint lead as the seconds dwindled down, Adams’ 3pointer rescued Rice with 15 seconds left.
“Trust is a big thing in this program,” Adams said of Pera’s confidence in his late-game shooting. “I’ve hit a couple big shots in my career but this one wasn’t a big shot because we didn’t win.”
Rice is 2-5 in its last seven games but two of those defeats came in one-point losses.
In that span, Rice had not lost by more than four until Thursday’s doubleovertime showing.
Adams finished with a team- and career-high 23 points. Mullins and Millora-Brown — who also had a career-high 11 rebounds — each scored 13 points.
All of WKU’s starters scored in double figures, led by guard Josh Anderson’s 24 points. The Hilltoppers held Rice to 9.1 percent (1-for-11) shooting from behind the arc in the second half.
“We’re always preaching ‘We’re right there, we’re this close.’ But at some point we just gotta break through,” Adams said. “Tired of being this close.”