Finding ways to win

[randy]

Offense: 70 (+4)
Defense: 68 (+4)
Recruiting: 63 (+4)
Scouting: 34 (+1)
Development: 68 (+4)
Reputation: 50 (+4)

Record: 261-41 (0.864)

[randy]

HS Seniors

1. SG Ray Richard (#71); SCR: A, OUT: B; OVR: B
2. C Brent Philips (#125); REB: A, BLK: B; OVR: B
3. PG Hayletts Johnson (#291); PAS: A; HND: B; OVR: B

[randy]

Starting Lineup

• 1: So PG Jovan Barker, 6-5, 1.5/4.0 (Dallas, TX)
• 2: So SG Jimmy Young, 6-1, 1.0/1.0 (Jacksonville, NC)
• 3: Jr SF Ross Brown, 6-8, 4.0/4.5 (Memphis, TN) (*)
• 4: So PF Sam Piatkowski, 6-11, 3.0/3.0 (Oakman, AL)
• 5: Jr C Curtis Harper, 7-3, 4.0/4.5 (Iowa, LA) (*)

Bench

• 2/3: So SF Andre McFadden, 6-8, 3.5/5.0 (St. Johnsbury, VT)
• 4/5: Jr PF Kevin Tiggs, 6-9, 2.5/4.0 (Big Lake, TX)
• 1/2: So PG Brett Evans, 6-3, 2.0/4.0 (Allen, TX)
• 4/5: So C Scott Fountain, 6-10, 2.5/4.0 (Hood River, OR)
• 1/2: Fr SG Ray Richard, 6-3, 1.5/4.0 (Monticello, KY)
• 4/5: Fr C Brent Phillips, 6-10, 1.0/1.0 (Selfridge, ND)
• 1/2: Fr PG Hayletts Johnson, 6-4, 1.5/4.5 (Addison, IL)

Walk-ons

• 1/2: Sr PG Brad Hahn, 6-4, 2.0/2.0 (Donna, TX)
• 2/3: Jr SF Deaundra Fast, 6-4, 1.0/1.0 (Brenham, TX)

(*) Norton candidate

[randy]

Nov 15, 2009: Binghamton (0-0) @ Rice (0-0)


Tip off

Great defensive performance in the 1st half, in which we limited BING to just 36% FG and forcing 10 turn overs. Even if he is coming from the bench, we expect SF Andre McFadden to play starter minutes this season. McFadden has delivered so far, leading all scorers with 14 pts


Halftime, Up 44-27


Start of 2nd half

Our offense slowed down a bit in the 2nd half because of our turn overs, but our defense and rebounding advantage were enough to keep BING at bay. Using SF Andre McFadden at 2, and playing together with SF Ross Brown, created a lot of mismatches for BING


Final Score: Binghamton - 63, Rice - 82


Box Scores
[INDENT]McFadden 23, 5, 1 (*)
Brown 14, 4, 2, 2 blks
Harper 12, 8, 0, 2 blks, 3 tos
Fountain 10, 4, 0
Young 9, 4, 3
Tiggs 4, 2, 0
Richard 3, 2, 3
Piatkowski 2, 5, 0
Evans 2, 3, 2, 4 tos
Barker 2, 1, 4
Phillips 1, 1, 1
Johnson 0, 0, 4
Fast 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 49-37%
REB: +16
TO: +1
Pts in paint: +22
2nd chance: +6
Fast break: -1
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 18, 2009: (8) Rice (1-0) vs (1) Georgetown (0-1)


Tip off

GEORG shot 30% FG in the 1st half; they started the game missing their 1st 12 shots. We're +20 in points in the paint.


Halftime, Up 40-27


Start of 2nd half

C Curtis Harper scored 8 pts in a 15-1 run to start the 2nd half. We led by 27 at the point. GEORG did hit 3 staright triples after that, but that was as close as they can get in trying to comeback.


Final Score: Rice - 82, Georgetown - 59


Box Scores
[INDENT]Harper 14, 10, 0, 3 blks (*)
McFadden 14, 3, 1
Brown 14, 2, 1, 4 blks
Piatkowski 12, 2, 1
Evans 9, 2, 6
Fountain 7, 5, 0
Richard 6, 1, 2
Barker 4, 1, 0
Tiggs 2, 5, 0
Young 0, 1, 0
Johnson 0, 1, 0
Phillips 0, 0, 1
Fast 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 45-34%
REB: +1
TO: -6
Pts in paint: +34
2nd chance: +1
Fast break: -2
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 19, 2009: (5) Iowa St (1-1) vs (8) Rice (2-0)


Tip off

IAST not able to get much going on offense, forcing them to 12 turn overs, along with 31% FG. SF Andre McFadden big off the bench again with 15 pts and 3 stls


Halftime, Up 37-22


Start of 2nd half

More turn over problems for IAST at the start of the 2nd half, and they finished the game with 20. Our ball movement and offensive execution was near perfect today, 20 asts and just 4 turn overs, resulting in 60% FG.


Final Score: Iowa St - 52, Rice - 87


Box Scores
[INDENT]McFadden 22, 5, 1, 3 stls (*)
Harper 18, 6, 1, 2 blks
Brown 18, 5, 1, 2 stls, 2 blks
Piatkowski 8, 6, 1
Fountain 7, 3, 0
Richard 5, 0, 0
Tiggs 4, 2, 0
Young 3, 0, 1
Evans 2, 1, 11
Barker 0, 0, 4
Phillips 0, 0, 0
Johnson 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 60-40%
REB: +3
TO: -16 (IAST: 20)
Pts in paint: +46
2nd chance: +2
Fast break: +6
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 20, 2009: (2) #12 Massachusetts (3-0) vs (8) Rice (3-0)


Tip off

Both teams are averaging 80+ ppg.

UMASS started hot making their 1st 3 attempts, all from beyond the arc. We tightened up our defense afterwards, and was able to recover. We had a 12-0 advantage in fast break pts. SF Ross Brown with 13 pts.


Halftime, Up 40-34


Start of 2nd half

Only 2 pts for UMASS during the 1st 6 mins of the 2nd half. UMASS made a run (10-0), as it was our turn to turn cold on offense. I had to burn an early timeout.
9:48, Up 50-46

We managed to increase our lead back to 8, but UMASS quickly coming back again with a 9-0 run to wrestle the lead. We're shooting just 2-13 3PT so far.
6:22, Down 54-55

UMASS just hit another 3 to open up a 4 pt lead. We are also in the penalty. Timeout
3:02, Down 58-62

We missed 2 attempts at the basket. UMASS also missed on their end. PF Sam Piatkowski gets a short jumper to go in on our next play.
2:23, Down 60-62

UMASS missed on their 1st shot, got the offensive rebound, and also missed their follow up. Ball out of bounds in our favor. Chance to tie. We go to C Curtis Harper, bulldozes his way against UMASS' 2-3 zone, and scores.
1:42, Tied at 62

UMASS' PG Andrew Lewis gets away from his defender, an scores on a drive. A breakdown in our defense. Timeout
1:14, Down 62-64

Teams missing their last respective shots. I called my last timeout
0:41, Down 62-64

C Curtis Harper wide open on top of the key. He missed. UMASS got the rebound. We have to foul immediately before they can run out the clock. UMASS makes both FTs. No timeouts left
0:28, Down 62-66

SF Andre McFadden puts up a 3. Missed. We get another chance. Another shot by McFadden. Missed again. Game over. We shot just 3-19 3PT today. Outside shooting could be our big weakness this season


Final Score: Massachusetts - 67, Rice - 62


Box Scores
[INDENT]Brown 18, 6, 0, 3 blks
Piatkowski 12, 9, 0
Harper 10, 7, 3, 4 blks
Tiggs 9, 0, 0
Young 5, 1, 0
Barker 4, 2, 5, 3 stls
McFadden 2, 5, 0
Richard 2, 0, 1
Phillips 0, 3, 0
Evans 0, 2, 2
Fountain 0, 1, 1
Johnson 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 39-39%
REB: -1
TO: -5
Pts in paint: +26
2nd chance: -5
Fast break: +12
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 22, 2009: Rice (3-1) @ Youngstown St (1-1)


Tip off

We're getting to the paint most of the time and able to score (24 pts in the paint in the 1st half). YST shot just 32% FG. Both teams with 7 turn overs each. SF Ross Brown leads all scorers with 15 pts.


Halftime, Up 36-26


Start of 2nd half

YST slowly coming back because of our turn overs, and cold shooting. C Curtis Harper has been quiet today, just 2 pts on 1-3 FG
11:47, Up 45-40

Game remained close until the 7 min mark when YST started making some errors, and we took advantage of those to get our lead back to double digits heading into the final stretch
4:17, Up 65-54

SF Andre McFadden made the game out of reach for YST scoring 4 unanswered pts. Game became a FT shooting contest in the end.


Final Score: Rice - 81, Youngstown St - 69


Box Scores
[INDENT]Brown 23, 5, 5, 3-5 3PT (*)
Piatkowski 16, 6, 0
McFadden 10, 4, 5, 2 stls
Young 7, 0, 0
Fountain 6, 5, 1
Johnson 6, 0, 3
Harper 4, 4, 0, 6 blks
Tiggs 4, 1, 0
Richard 3, 0, 1
Evans 2, 4, 4, 3 tos
Barker 0, 0, 1, 5 tos
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 54-40%
REB: -3
TO: -1
Pts in paint: +22
2nd chance: -5
Fast break: +4
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 25, 2009: Northwestern St (1-3) @ Rice (4-1)


Tip off

We started the game shooting just 2-11 FG, but made 15 of our last 18 shots. NWST had 12 turn overs in the 1st half. SG Jimmy Young top scored with 11 pts on 4-5 FG.


Halftime, Up 45-27


Start of 2nd half

We established a 22 pt lead early in the 2nd half. And then NWST's shooting got hot, and they were able to trim our lead to 12. I wasn't pleased with our defense. We regrouped, and forced more turn overs on NWST to make the game our of reach. NWST shot 13-23 3PT; that kind of shooting could knock us off later during the tournament, so we have to be really careful against outside shooting teams. Overall, NWST shot 48% FG, the highest we have allowed so far in this season


Final Score: Northwestern St - 69, Rice - 89


Box Scores
[INDENT]Brown 16, 3, 2
Harper 15, 3, 1
Young 14, 1, 3, 4 stls (*)
McFadden 11, 3, 1
Piatkowski 9, 4, 3, 2 stls
Barker 6, 1, 5, 2 stsl, 3 tos
Fountain 6, 1, 0, 2 stls
Tiggs 4, 2, 0
Phillips 4, 1, 0
Richard 2, 0, 0
Johnson 2, 0, 0
Evans 0, 1, 4
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 58-48%
REB: -7
TO: -14 (NWST: 23)
Pts in paint: +30
2nd chance: +4
Fast break: +11
[/INDENT]

[randy]

Nov 29, 2009: Stephen F Austin (0-4) @ Rice (5-1)


Tip off

We raced to an early 17-4 lead, and controlled much of the 1st half with our defense, allowing SFA just 33% FG and 2-10 3PT. Our balanced scoring was led by SF Andre McFadden off the bench, with 10 pts


Halftime, Up 39-26


Start of 2nd half

We have given up big leads in the 2nd half lately, but not today as we didn't allow SFA to come any closer. Our shooting was a little bit off again, but we more than made it up by grabbing 18 offensive rebounds


Final Score: Stephen F Austin - 54, Rice - 76


Box Scores
[INDENT]Harper 24, 10, 0 (*)
Brown 15, 9, 5, 4 tos
McFadden 12, 4, 0, 3 tos, fouled out
Fountain 10, 7, 0
Tiggs 9, 7, 2, 2 stls
Barker 4, 1, 0, fouled out
Young 2, 3, 3
Evans 0, 1, 2
Phillips 0, 1, 0
Richard 0, 0, 1
Johnson 0, 0, 1
Piatkowski 0, 0, 0
[/INDENT]
Stats Comparison
[INDENT]FG: 40-36%
REB: +22 (+13 off)
TO: -5
Pts in paint: +30
2nd chance: +14
Fast break: +14
[/INDENT]