Rice loses to Memphis, 86-83

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POSTED: February 3, 2025 -- 8:34 a.m. CST

HOUSTON, TX (Tudor Fieldhouse) -- The Rice Owls lost to the 19th-ranked Memphis Tigers, 86-83, Sunday afternoon in front of a spirited crowd of 2278 fans gathered inside Tudor Fieldhouse.

Rice (11-11 overall, 2-7 in the American Athletic Conference) trailed Memphis by 11 (80-69) with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game. However, the Owls outscored Memphis 12-2 to climb within 1 (82-81) with only 12 seconds left in the game.

PJ Haggerty, Memphis guard and winner of the 2022 Guy V. Lewis Award, was fouled with 8 seconds on the clock. Haggerty made both free throws to give him a game-high 26 points.

Rice trailed 84-81; and, after a Memphis timeout, the Tigers opted to foul Rice rather than allow a three-point shot attempt.

Trae Broadnax, Rice graduate transfer, made the first free throw and tried to miss the second attempt. However, Broadnax made the second attempt to cut the Owls' deficit to 1 again (84-83).

Rice fouled Memphis' PJ Carter with 4 seconds on the clock. Carter made both free throws. Rice did not have a timeout and attempted to inbound the ball. However, Memphis forced a 5-second violation on Rice.

All Memphis needed to do to clinch the victory was to get the ball in bounds successfully; but, Broadnax stole Tyrese Hunter's inbounds pass. Broadnax took a few dribbles and attempted to launch a 70-foot shot. Before he attempted the shot, Colby Rogers stole the ball from Broadnax to seal the win for Memphis and secure Rice's 7th-straight defeat.

Memphis (18-4, 8-1) shot 55.0 fg% (33 for 60) for the game. The Tigers made 17 of 27 field goals (63.0 fg%) in the first half including 60 percent (6 for 10) from three-point range.

In spite of the Tigers' torrid shooting, Rice only trailed by 5 (44-39) at halftime. The Owls forced the Tigers to commit 9 turnovers in the opening half. Rice scored 12 points off the turnovers.

Rice pulled within 60-59 midway through the second half before Memphis went on a 12-4 run to lead 72-63 with 7:16 remaining in the game. The lead grew to 11 before Rice made its spirited comeback in the final 3 minutes.

Trae Broadnax led the Owls with 19 points. Broadnax added 6 assists; 4 rebounds; 3 steals; and 5 turnovers. Jacob Dar added 17 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks for the Owls.

"Obviously, it's a disappointing loss," Rob Lanier, Rice Head Coach said after the game. "It was a hard-fought game. It wasn't a case of Memphis not playing well. They obviously played very well, and we met the challenge from a competitive standpoint. But, we couldn't finish the job. The first half, we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball. We had five turnovers, but only two of them were live-ball turnovers. That was a huge emphasis in the game. But we had nine in the second half, so we didn't maintain that. We got down 11 in the second half, and we did a good job of staying engaged in the game. We maintained our competitive spirit throughout, it just became a matter of making plays, and we couldn't get the job done."

NEXT:

Rice's next game is Wednesday, February 5, at East Carolina. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

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