Men's conference woes continue in El Paso

By Ryan Glassman     1/20/11 6:00pm

The men's basketball team needed less than half of the 2010-2011 season to reach its win total from last year. But if improvement is measured strictly in wins for the Rice program, its progress has come to a screeching halt thus far in Conference USA play. The Owls fell to the University of Texas-El Paso, 66-43, in El Paso last Saturday due to a sluggish second half beleaguered by poor offensive execution. The team fell to 8-10 on the season and 0-4 in C-USA play.

Entering the contest on an 11-game home winning streak, the Miners (15-4, 3-1 C-USA) jumped out to a quick lead by connecting on four of their first six three-point attempts. 2010 C-USA Player of the Year Randy Culpepper's lay-up with under eight minutes left in the half gave UTEP a 23-12 lead, putting the Owls behind by double digits early.

The Miners led by as many as 12 in the first half and took full advantage of seven Owl turnovers, but Rice kept within striking distance with back-to-back field goals from junior forward Lucas Kuipers and freshman forward David Chadwick. In spite of a weak shooting half from the Owls, a jump shot by sophomore guard Tamir Jackson with the clock winding down cut the deficit to 31-23 at intermission.

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If the Owls built any momentum on the Jackson jumper, they left it behind in the locker room when they came out to play the second half. The team followed up a poor first half on the offensive end of the floor in anemic fashion, turning the ball over on six of its first seven possessions to give the Miners a running start out of the gate. The Owls needed more than eight minutes to record their first field goal of the half, as the team went zero for six from the field in the midst of a 16-1 UTEP run that pushed the deficit to 47-24.

A three-pointer by senior guard Cory Pflieger temporarily stopped the bleeding but provided little remedy in a game that had already been put out of reach. The Owls, coming off of a sloppy 21-turnover performance against the University of Southern Mississippi last week, recorded more turnovers than field goals in what quickly became a second half to forget. The lead ballooned to as much as 31 points for UTEP before a Rice 10-2 run ended the game.

Saturday night spelled another frustrating evening for Rice's sophomore forward Arsalan Kazemi, who recorded a season low in points for the second straight game, finishing with just two, shooting one for seven. Kazemi, who remains the only C-USA player currently averaging a double-double, did grab 10 rebounds but could not find a rhythm on the offensive side of the ball.

There was a bright spot for Head Coach Ben Braun on Saturday, however, as freshman forward David Chadwick finished the game with 10 points on five of six shooting in 24 minutes to lead the Owls. Chadwick, who drew praise from his coach after providing a stellar defensive effort in the first half against Southern Miss, provides length and a shooting touch off the bench and is sure to see more minutes in C-USA action after his strong performance.

The upcoming C-USA schedule gets no easier for the Owls, who take to the road tomorrow in a match-up with the University of Central Florida. The Knights (14-2, 1-2 C-USA) have made headlines this season by going 13-0 in non-conference play and rising as high as No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. Upon returning from Orlando, Rice will take on the University of Houston (11-6, 3-1 C-USA) at Tudor Fieldhouse on Jan. 26.

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