HOUSTON – Lamont Berzat provided most of the offense in the first half with 11 of the 45 combined points, but the 25-20 New Orleans lead wasn't enough as Rice rallied to defeat the Privateers 73-62 Monday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Rice entered averaging 81.6 points per game and after shooting just 25 percent in the first, regrouped and went 15-of-29 and 7-of-16 from deep in the second for the win, erasing
Rodney Carson Jr's strong second half of 13 points (Carson Jr. finished with 15).
Rice 73, New Orleans 62
Records: Rice (6-2), New Orleans (1-7)
Location: Tudor Fieldhouse (Houston)
KEY MOMENTS
- UNO began the game with eight points – six coming from Berzat's long distance shooting.
- Berzat led all with 11 points in the first half, nine coming from deep.
- The Privateers limited Rice to just 25 percent shooting in the first half and led by as much as nine points.
- Free throws were hard to come by. The Privateers did not take a trip to the charity stripe until Rosser's and-one at the 14:20 mark of the second half (tied game at 36), while Rice visited the line four times in the opening stanza.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Rice did not score until the 17:01 mark in the first half and trailed 10-2 at the under-16 media.
- The Owls went on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to 13-12 at the under-12 media of the first.
- On the other side of the break, Berzat checked back into the game and connected on his first triple to become the first to reach double figures with 11 points. Carson Jr. followed with a steal and dunk to extend the Privateer lead to six.
- Offense was hard to come by on both sides, but UNO took a 25-20 lead into the locker room.
- Minutes into the second half, Rice rode a 7-0 run to its first lead of the game, 34-30 (16:15).
- The back and forth second featured five ties and Ahren Freeman's and-one at the under-12 media regained the lead for UNO 42-40. Prior to the Freeman layup +1, Jahmel Myers flushed home the alley-oop off the Derek St. Hilaire dish.
- Rice went on a 12-1 run to take originally its largest lead of the game – 52-43 – at the 8:10 mark.
- The Owls continued its strong offensive half to take the contest over the Privateers.
STATS
- Berzat drained his first three-point field goal attempts.
- Rosser played his patented swiss army role with eight rebounds, two blocks and two assists in the first.
- Green added five points and five rebounds.
- Carson Jr. posted 13 of his season-high 15 points in the second half, including three triples.
- St. Hilaire matched Berzat and Carson Jr. with nine points from three-point range.
- Carson Jr.'s 15 points set a career-high for the sophomore.
- Rice outrebounded UNO 45-to-35 and went 16-of-18 from the charity stripe.
- Three Owls reached double figures, led by Travis Evee's 18 points.
GAME NOTES
- Marshall started his first game as a Privateer.
- The Privateers did not trail in the first half.
- Rice leads the all-time series 3-0.
UP NEXT
The Privateers begin Southland Conference play January 2 at preseason favorite SFA at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
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