Owls lose fifth consecutive game
Blowout vs. Mean Green brings sixth defeat in last eight outings
Max Fiedler rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Riley Abercrombie and laid it back in to give Rice a quick 2-0 lead in Sunday’s road tilt with North Texas at Denton.
Forty seconds later, he put up a runner that fell through. Then he scored a hook shot in the post. Then a mid-range jumper. The Owls raced to a quick 8-4 lead behind four straight baskets from Fiedler, and it looked to be one of those games for the sophomore big.
But as was the case Friday, North Texas broke off for an extended run to go up nine and never looked back, blowing out Rice 7953 in The Super Pit.
The loss was the fifth straight for the Owls (10-8, 4-6 C-USA) and their sixth in eight games.
“We missed some open shots early, and that really hurt us,” Rice coach Scott Pera said. “We get open shots, we’ve got to make 40 percent of those 3s, and we didn’t.”
After making nine of 19 shots from deep Friday, the Owls made just three of 17 on Sunday, missing their first three attempts in the first half and first six attempts in the second. They also finished with doubledigit turnovers for the fifth straight game.
Fiedler helped Rice stay afloat with 16 first-half points, keeping the Owls within 11 at halftime. Inside feeds to Fiedler seemed to be the only thing working in the visiting team’s favor early on, but as he went cold in the second half (he finished with 18 points), the Mean Green (9-5, 5-1) extended the lead to as many as 28 in the blowout.
“It’s just his confidence growing. He’s a skilled player, and he just keeps getting better and better,” Pera said. “Good thing he showed up. We might’ve lost by 60.”
What was once a promising season has turned sour for Rice in recent weeks. The Owls started conference play 4-1 as chatter began about a potential run to the postseason. 247sports.com even included them as a 16 seed in a Jan. 5 NCAA Tournament projection.
But the roster has been dealt blow after blow over the last three weeks. Travis Evee, Chris Mullins and Cavit Ege Havsa have missed time due to COVID-19-related issues (all three sat on Jan. 23 against UAB), coinciding with the losing streak.
While Evee returned this weekend, Havsa and Mullins missed the series. Mullins will also miss the upcoming two-game tilt with Southern Miss.
It has already been a turbulent season for Rice, and COVID-19 has not been on the Owls’ side thus far. Still, with a winnable series ahead, Rice has to find a way to right the ship with the roster it has.
“Look, we’ve got highcharacter guys, and so they’re going to come ready to work (this week),” Pera said. “We’re going to be excited to play this weekend at home, and we’ll be ready.”
The Owls look to get back on track when they host the Golden Eagles at 7 p.m. Friday at Tudor Field House.