Houston Roundball Review Archive: November 2006 Willis Wilson and Morris Almond after the Owls loss to North Texas

Saturday, November 18, 2006

HOUSTON, TX (Autry Court) -- The Rice Owls have been an inconsistent basketball team the past few seasons.

Thus far, this year's team is following a similar pattern: get blasted by 38 points to Gonzaga; bounce back the next night with a good nine point win over Colorado State; then, lose to a North Texas team who didn't have their leading scorer (Kendrick Davis) due to an injury.

Saturday night at Autry Court, Rice lost 71 to 69 to North Texas.

All-American candidate, Morris Almond, did his part on offense with 38 points (15 for 29 from the field); however, no other Owls player scored in double-figures.

The game began with Rice in a fog. North Texas jumped to a 15 to 11 lead before the Owls awakened from their slumber.

The Owls went on a 18 to 0 to lead 29 - 15 with 5:52 remaining in the first half.

Unfortunately, the Owls managed just four points the rest of the half; and, North Texas finished the opening period scoring 18 points to tie the score at 33 heading to halftime.

Rice began the second half with a 7 to 2 burst; but, once again, the Green Wave responded.

UNT outscored Rice 12 to 0 to take a 47 - 40 lead at the 12:24 mark of the half.

Then, the Green Wave began pouring on the offense.

Senior forward Calvin Watson (Houston Madison High School) and super sub Michael Sturns (21 points in 22 minutes) helped push the lead to 13 points (65 to 52) with six minutes and two seconds remaining.

The Owls made one final push and closed within two points (65-63) with 51 seconds remaining; but, Watson responded with a tough baseline jump shot to give UNT a four point lead with just 32 seconds left.

After a missed three-point shot by Almond, Watson knocked down three of four free throws to put the game away.

Listen to the Owls' post-game press conference featuring Head Coach Willis Wilson and Morris Almond: "...we did not execute our defensive game plan..."

Rice (2-2) plays Oregon, Monday, November 20, at Autry Court. Tip-off is set for 7:05pm.

Note: UNT's Calvin Watson was the first guest on my basketball radio segment on KCOH 1430 AM when he was a senior at Madison High School.

Consequently, to see him play so well (26 points on 10 for 19 shooting, 3 for 7 from the field) did my heart good.

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