Saturday's Sports Update: Rice basketball falls short against UH
A 15-2 run by the Cougars over the final five minutes gave them the 54-51 victory over the Owls at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Owls were up 49-41 with 5:20 to play, but struggled without senior guard Rodney Foster who had to watch from the bench due to foul trouble. Foster, the team's leading scorer, picked up his fourth foul with over 13 minutes to play in the game and was on the court for only one minute before fouling out with 3:49 left. He finished with 5 points and six assists in 24 minutes.
"When you lose Rodney you lose a lot," said head coach Ben Braun. "He's our senior, he's a veteran, and it really does make a difference. He's got composure, he hits big shots and he understands the game."
The Cougars shot just 29.5 percent in the game, but kept it close by pressuring the Owls guards and forcing 14 turnovers. Houston guard Kelvin Lewis recorded three of the team's 11 steals and jumpstarted the Cougars run in the final minutes by completing a three-point play after a questionable goal tending call on senior forward Aleks Perka that brought them within three at 49-46. Houston outscored the Owls off turnovers 14-2 for the game.
"They turned up the heat and we made some careless turnovers," said Stanton. "When teams pressure us we seem have a lot of trouble late in games, especially without Rodney because he's such a good point guard."
The Cougars would finally take the lead for good with 2:38 left on a jumper by Aubrey Coleman. Coleman, the Cougars leading scorer, was held to a team-high 12 points to go along with 12 rebounds.
Coleman was a much larger factor in the Cougars 72-65 victory over the Owls on Feb. 7, when he scored 22 of his game-high 28 points in the second half.
With the win, the Cougars are 8-5 in C-USA and tied fourth place in the standings.
Stanton continued his run of stellar play, scoring a game-high 18 points and securing 10 rebounds.
"I sat out a whole year and having to get back in the rhythm of the game and a lot of it's my confidence," said Stanton. "He's letting me step out a little more whereas in the beginning of the year I was playing with my back to the basket and I wasn't really comfortable with that yet."
The Owls have dropped a number of close games this season, but Stanton and head coach Ben Braun remain optimistic due to improved effort defensively and the team's competitiveness against quality opponents.
With the loss, the Owls drop to 9-19 overall, and are 4-10 in C-USA. The team takes the court again next Wednesday against Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. The Thundering Herd is 5-8 in conference play.
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