HOUSTON -- Rice used a blistering hot start offensively to post the 84-69 win over UTSA men's basketball, on Saturday evening at the Tudor Fieldhouse.
UTSA (4-5, 0-2 Conference USA) fell victim to a second consecutive hot shooting performance from Rice (8-2, 2-0 C-USA) after the Owls bombed in 14 3-pointers in a 95-86 win on Friday afternoon.
The Owls made their first four 3-pointers and sank their first five shots to build a lead that the Roadrunners couldn't overcome. Rice shot 62.1 percent in the first half – including an 8 of 15 mark from distance – to build an early insurmountable lead.
UTSA was led by a 15-point outing from Keaton Wallace, who added four rebounds and an assist. UTSA also got 11 points and six boards from Jacob Germany, with Jhivvan Jackson – who set a C-USA record with 26.8 points per game last year – chipping in 10 points, four boards, two blocks and a steal.
UTSA also got a career-high 15 points, five rebounds and three steals from freshman Jordan Ivy-Curry, and a career-high eight points with six boards from freshman Lachlan Bofinger. Junior Eric Parrish dished out a career-high seven assists, adding seven points and three boards.
The Roadrunners shot 36 percent from the field, held to 4 of 18 from distance. The Owls finished with a 57 percent shooting clip making 11 3-pointers.
Rice was powered by Chris Mullins and Travis Evee, with Evee going for 36 points a night before in the win. Mullins chipped in 20 points, while Evee finished with 10. Max Fieldler added 18 points and four boards.
The Roadrunners will return to action on Friday, playing host to North Texas at 6 p.m. on ESPNU and Ticket 760 AM.
Rice made its first five shots to build an early lead, including a 10-2 advantage, with UTSA cutting the lead to 12-6 with buckets from Germany, Jackson and Parrish.
The Rice run continued to a 22-8 lead as the Owls made their first four 3-point attempts.
UTSA crawled back into it after the next media timeout, cutting the lead to 25-17 after paint baskets from Germany, Parrish, Jackson and Bofinger.
Rice responded to put the game away leading into the final media timeout of the first half, getting a seventh triple in the first 15 minutes of the game, this time from Quincy Olivary for a 37-22 lead, forcing UTSA head coach Steve Henson into a timeout.
The Owls stretched the lead to 20 after a Chris Mullins' layup with just over a minute left in the half. Rice finished the first half shooting 62.1 percent from the field and made 8 of 15 3-point attempts, while UTSA was 0 of 10 from range and 11 of 34 from the field.
The Owls took the lead past 20 in the opening seconds of the second half, taking it to 31 after the first media timeout of the final stanza.
The Roadrunners wouldn't quit, rallying to cut the lead to 18 in the final five minutes of the game, using a defense that didn't allow a made bucket for a six-minute stretch to pull under 20. UTSA rallied in the last few minutes to cut the lead to 16.
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