Houston Chronicle
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 1:38 pm--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Sports
March 6, 2004, 9:47PM
Rice stumbles to 21st win
SMU forces Owls to struggle through regular-season finale
By MICHAEL MURPHY
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
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DALLAS -- By all logic, it should have been a laugher.
Rice was wrapping up the regular season against SMU -- a team that not only recently replaced its coach, but one the Owls had destroyed by 40 points earlier in the season.
And the Owls were shooting for their 21st victory -- their highest total in 50 years -- hoping to catch the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee in the process.
But Rice wasn't laughing. Instead it was sweating to pull out a tight 71-66 victory before 2,492 disappointed fans Saturday at Moody Coliseum.
It was a far cry from the 80-40 whipping the Owls laid on SMU at Autry Court on Jan. 20, but Rice coach Willis Wilson didn't seem surprised by the turn of events.
"SMU is a good basketball team," Wilson said. "They're a struggling basketball team, but they're not a bad basketball team. We can relate to that. We struggled the last couple of basketball games."
Rice certainly struggled Saturday. Until Morris Almond and Jason McKrieth came to the rescue, that is.
Almond (16 points) was the offensive hero, coming off the bench to drop in two clutch baskets -- a floater along the baseline that beat the shot clock and a putback of a missed shot that gave Rice a three-point lead with less than a minute to play.
"With the clock winding down, instead of trying to force up a prayer, I wanted to make a move and get a good look," said Almond of his first big shot, which came with 2:46 to play and put the Owls up by two points. "Fortunately it fell for me."
McKrieth (13 points) was the man on defense -- not only putting the clamps on SMU's Bryan Hopkins (27 points) in the final minutes but also coming up with a pair of steals in the final two minutes. McKrieth converted the two steals into four free throws, all of which helped Rice (21-9, 12-6 in the WAC) wrap up one of its most hard-fought victories of the season.
The last steal came with 26 seconds to play, when SMU (11-17, 5-13) was attempting to inbound the ball for a potential game-tying 3-pointer. McKrieth read the play perfectly, intercepting the cross-court pass and dropping in two foul shots with 25.2 seconds left that iced the game.
"We got down and really did a job defensively at the end," Wilson said. "We did a much better job with the pressure. We played with a lot more confidence and just played a lot freer and a lot looser. That's an attitude that we really have to get back to playing with for 40 minutes."
In this game, having that attitude for the final five minutes was sufficient.
Almond and McKrieth made the big plays at the end, but Rice wouldn't have been around to steal the game in the closing minutes had it not been for the second-half play of Yamar Diene (12 points, eight rebounds) and Michael Harris (eight points, nine boards). The two combined to score 10 of the Owls' 14 points -- six coming on dunks -- as they rallied from a 48-41 deficit to a 59-57 lead.
From there, it was just a matter of making plays.
After Almond hit his baseline floater that put Rice up 63-61, Hopkins drilled two free throws with 2:22 left to knot the game at 63. A dunk by Diene put Rice up by two points, and McKrieth turned his first steal into two free throws that gave Rice a 67-63 lead with 1:36 left.
Hopkins then dropped in a 3-pointer that cut Rice's lead to 67-66 with just over a minute remaining. That's when Almond turned in his second big play, snagging a missed shot by McKrieth and sliding it into the basket for a 69-66 lead with 41.1 seconds left to play in the game.
"There was nothing bigger than that rebound," Wilson said. "He goes and gets it and sticks it back in, and that really took the wind out of their sails."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sex for Life
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Sports
This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/2437210
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Sports
March 6, 2004, 9:47PM
Rice stumbles to 21st win
SMU forces Owls to struggle through regular-season finale
By MICHAEL MURPHY
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES
SCORES:
• College scoreboard
• Conference tournaments
• Chronicle capsules
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• BIG 12 »
CHRONICLE COVERAGE:
• Big 12 Notebook: Oklahoma St. soars upward as 'sky is limit'
• C-USA »
CHRONICLE COVERAGE:
• UH/C-USA notebook: Cougars must win out to nab tourney spot
• WAC »
CHRONICLE COVERAGE:
• Rice/WAC notebook: Owls ready to kiss Autry goodbye
• SWAC »
DALLAS -- By all logic, it should have been a laugher.
Rice was wrapping up the regular season against SMU -- a team that not only recently replaced its coach, but one the Owls had destroyed by 40 points earlier in the season.
And the Owls were shooting for their 21st victory -- their highest total in 50 years -- hoping to catch the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee in the process.
But Rice wasn't laughing. Instead it was sweating to pull out a tight 71-66 victory before 2,492 disappointed fans Saturday at Moody Coliseum.
It was a far cry from the 80-40 whipping the Owls laid on SMU at Autry Court on Jan. 20, but Rice coach Willis Wilson didn't seem surprised by the turn of events.
"SMU is a good basketball team," Wilson said. "They're a struggling basketball team, but they're not a bad basketball team. We can relate to that. We struggled the last couple of basketball games."
Rice certainly struggled Saturday. Until Morris Almond and Jason McKrieth came to the rescue, that is.
Almond (16 points) was the offensive hero, coming off the bench to drop in two clutch baskets -- a floater along the baseline that beat the shot clock and a putback of a missed shot that gave Rice a three-point lead with less than a minute to play.
"With the clock winding down, instead of trying to force up a prayer, I wanted to make a move and get a good look," said Almond of his first big shot, which came with 2:46 to play and put the Owls up by two points. "Fortunately it fell for me."
McKrieth (13 points) was the man on defense -- not only putting the clamps on SMU's Bryan Hopkins (27 points) in the final minutes but also coming up with a pair of steals in the final two minutes. McKrieth converted the two steals into four free throws, all of which helped Rice (21-9, 12-6 in the WAC) wrap up one of its most hard-fought victories of the season.
The last steal came with 26 seconds to play, when SMU (11-17, 5-13) was attempting to inbound the ball for a potential game-tying 3-pointer. McKrieth read the play perfectly, intercepting the cross-court pass and dropping in two foul shots with 25.2 seconds left that iced the game.
"We got down and really did a job defensively at the end," Wilson said. "We did a much better job with the pressure. We played with a lot more confidence and just played a lot freer and a lot looser. That's an attitude that we really have to get back to playing with for 40 minutes."
In this game, having that attitude for the final five minutes was sufficient.
Almond and McKrieth made the big plays at the end, but Rice wouldn't have been around to steal the game in the closing minutes had it not been for the second-half play of Yamar Diene (12 points, eight rebounds) and Michael Harris (eight points, nine boards). The two combined to score 10 of the Owls' 14 points -- six coming on dunks -- as they rallied from a 48-41 deficit to a 59-57 lead.
From there, it was just a matter of making plays.
After Almond hit his baseline floater that put Rice up 63-61, Hopkins drilled two free throws with 2:22 left to knot the game at 63. A dunk by Diene put Rice up by two points, and McKrieth turned his first steal into two free throws that gave Rice a 67-63 lead with 1:36 left.
Hopkins then dropped in a 3-pointer that cut Rice's lead to 67-66 with just over a minute remaining. That's when Almond turned in his second big play, snagging a missed shot by McKrieth and sliding it into the basket for a 69-66 lead with 41.1 seconds left to play in the game.
"There was nothing bigger than that rebound," Wilson said. "He goes and gets it and sticks it back in, and that really took the wind out of their sails."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sex for Life
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Sports
This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/2437210