Men's basketball torches undersized opponents

By Ryan Glassman     11/18/10 6:00pm

The scene inside Tudor Fieldhouse last Friday evening was a memorable one for the men's basketball team. With a strong student turnout and a surprisingly potent section of hostile University of St. Thomas fans in attendance for the season opener, the stage was set for a team looking to build around a young nucleus and improve on last season's disappointing 8-23 season. But for Head Coach Ben Braun's squad, the first 20 minutes against their National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics foes were a half of basketball to forget. Sophomore forward Arsalan Kazemi picked up two fouls in the game's first three minutes and was forced to go to the bench for the majority of the first half. Both teams started off the game cold from the field, as St. Thomas led 3-0 at the first media timeout five minutes into the game. Rice did not make a field goal until the first six minutes of the game had passed, overcoming an 0-9 start from the field with strong defense and excellent rebounding to keep the game close. Facing an extremely undersized St. Thomas squad, the Owls settled for jumpers in the game's early minutes rather than utilizing their conspicuous size advantage in the post. Rice pulled ahead 17-9 following a three-point play from senior center Trey Stanton, but St. Thomas kept the game close early by getting hot from the three-point line.

"We knew that we were going to have to stretch them out on offense," St. Thomas Head Coach Todd Smith, a Rice basketball assistant from 1997-2007, said after the game. "We really had a game plan to play inside-outside defensively and make them shoot it over the top."

Smith's game plan worked to perfection in the first half for the Celts, as the team went on a 16-6 run late in the half to take a 30-25 lead with under two minutes left over the heavily favored Owls. Senior forward Suleiman Braimoh, who combined with Stanton to score more than half of the team's first-half points, put in a lay-up with under 30 seconds left to cut the deficit to 30-29.

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But for Braun's young team, the first-half numbers were not pretty. Despite having nearly twice as many rebounds as St. Thomas, the Owls shot just 8-27 from the field in the first half and were ice cold from behind the arc, missing all 13 of the team's attempts on three pointers.

"I think our guys understood that we were in a basketball game, which is good," Braun said when asked about his team's demeanor after the first half. For the first 20 minutes, St. Thomas' game plan to live and die by the three-point shot was working well, as the Owls went to the locker room trailing by one.

Rice came out flat in the first couple of minutes of the second half, but took a four-point lead at the first media timeout following back-to-back jump shots by junior guard Connor Frizzelle and sophomore guard Tamir Jackson. The game began to turn around for Rice after a backcourt steal led to a fast-break dunk by Kazemi, which gave Rice a 43-36 lead and forced St. Thomas to call a timeout. Leading by six points with 11 minutes remaining, the Owls pounded the ball inside to their big men, scoring 10 of their next 12 points from the free-throw line to take a 55-43 lead with just over five minutes left in the game. Kazemi, Stanton and Braimoh took over in the second half, wreaking havoc on the boards and forcing St. Thomas' undersized post players to foul and send the Owls to the free-throw line.

"I wish we could have stuck with it earlier and more consistently today," Braun said of the team's inside game on offense after watching his squad pull away in the second half on the shoulders of his post players.

St. Thomas trimmed the deficit to single digits with under two minutes left in the game, but got no closer than eight points, as Rice posted a 63-51 victory in the team's opener.

"We stayed in the game early defensively, and we pulled away in the second half," Braun said of his team's effort after the game. "It was a good game for us to open up the season."

Stanton led Rice with 17 points, while Braimoh added 11 to contribute to the team's 37 bench points. Kazemi finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds, recording a double-double in the team's opener.

Off to a 1-0 start, the Owls hosted Grambling State University on Sunday afternoon at Tudor. Grambling, like St. Thomas, was unable to match the size of the Owls but had a number of athletic and explosive perimeter players that pressured the ball all day long. In the team's second game, the perimeter play was much sharper, as Rice displayed strong scoring balance from its guards en route to an 86-57 blowout of the Tigers.

Leading by seven after a back-and-forth first half, Rice pulled away in the second half behind the shooting of junior forward Lucas Kuipers. In the first seven minutes of the half, the Owls pushed the lead from four to 14 points behind four straight jumpers from Kuipers, who was a perfect 7-7 from the field for 15 points on the day. Rice extended the lead to 20 points following threes from Frizzelle and Jackson, who led the team in scoring with 17 points apiece on the afternoon.

Another solid defensive performance allowed the Owls to build on the lead, which grew to 78-53 before Braun cleared his bench with three minutes left in the game. Highly touted freshman Omar Oraby scored four points, grabbed two rebounds and recorded a block in the closing minutes to electrify the remaining crowd, making for a successful collegiate debut.

Rice held the Tigers to 36 percent shooting on the day and had 20 more rebounds than Grambling State, staying true to the team's preseason focus on defense and rebounding. The Owls got another strong contribution from the bench, which combined for 31 points on the game. Kazemi finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double in as many games.

Rice hosts St. Gregory's University Sunday at 3 p.m. at Tudor Fieldhouse before traveling to Denton to take on the University of North Texas on Tuesday night.

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