Really bad minute stretch forces a Rice TO. 34-18.

Rice up 35-22 at halftime. Not a good finish to the half.

About as bad as the last 5+ minutes could have gone. 34-14 turns into a 35-22 halftime lead. Stagnant offense, soft defense, and some silly decisions down the stretch.

I hate to do this, but I have to go. The game is in your hands. I hope I don't jinx it all by leaving.

MTSU cuts it to 9 at the under-16. Not much happening on offense and MTSU starting to find a rhythm.

46-38 Rice. A little better on offense but I'd like to see QMB get some touches.

54-46 Rice at the under-8. Righted the ship there for a bit but now missing some open looks. First 10-12 minutes of the first half were really, really good...rest of the game not so much.

59-53 Rice. Frustrating game for Williams. Now 2-9 after missing two straight bunnies. Don't know why we consistently go to him in the post but not QMB.

We knew the first part of the game wasn't an accurate measure of how these teams compare, but MTSU isn't exactly a good team. It's now 61-57 and Rice is in full self-destruct mode.

We still need to learn to finish. Keep scoring and don't foul, and you can hold on to any lead.

(03-03-2019 04:45 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  We still need to learn to finish. Keep scoring and don't foul, and you can hold on to any lead.

Making your FTs would help.

Lost inflight wifi on approach shortly before the half and was appreciating the hot start. Log back in now and yikes. 62-59 now.

MTSU is a 9-19 team. A return to our 1H play is desperately needed.

Peterson makes both FTs. 64-59 now. 18 seconds to go

18.4 secs left 5 pt. lead. MTSU ball with no TOs left. Owls have foul to give.

64-59 Rice after two big Peterson FTs. Our late game offense is bad and I'm pretty sure that's Pera's fault. He seems content letting Mullins play iso ball when it isn't exactly working.

67-61. Final.

Owls win. whew.

Win's a win. It was convincing and then unconvincing, but I'll take that.

We hung in there when it counted.
Congrats to our Owls. Tournament bound.

Nice to see Peterson have a good game. If he can become an offensive weapon, this team can be dangerous

(03-03-2019 04:56 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  Win's a win. It was convincing and then unconvincing, but I'll take that.

Absolutely. Win > no win!

That said, we need some serious work to avoid another midgame/end game collapse. MTSU is really bad (record: 9-20), and a better opponent will not be as forgiving. Plus is after a horrific mid game, our last few minutes were better. Peterson hit both FTs which essentially sealed the game.