HOUSTON – Jacob Germany had 20 points and nine boards and Isaiah Addo-Ankrah splashed a career-high five 3-pointers off the bench but Rice used a hot-shooting start to post a 91-78 win over UTSA men's basketball, on Thursday night in the Tudor Fieldhouse.
UTSA (8-15, 1-9 Conference USA) saw Rice (13-8, 6-4 C-USA) score 18 of its first 22 points in the game in the paint, making 11 of its first 16 shots to build a 10-point lead 10 minutes into the contest. The lead grew to 17 15 minutes into the game as the Owls made 16 of their first 21 shots and hit their first seven free throws. The Roadrunners rallied with a 15-5 run to close the half and narrow the lead at intermission to 44-40.
The Roadrunners kept the hot pace going in the second half, scoring the first four points of the frame to even the game at 44. The Owls were able to regain a nine-point lead after UTSA tied the game but the Roadrunners kept the pressure up, making nine of their first 13 shots in the final stanza to cut the lead to two with 11:19 left.
Rice pushed the lead back to nine and the Roadrunners were able to cut it to four with just over six minutes left but the Owls pushed it back to double digits with five minutes remaining to secure the win.
Germany, a 6-foot-11 native of Kingston, Okla., reached double figures for the 18th time in 23 games in 2021-22, totaling 20 points, nine rebounds and a season-best three blocks. It marked his sixth 20+ point game of the year and the seventh of his career. He was 10 of 14 from the field.
Addo-Ankrah, a product of Houston's Second Baptist High School, had a career high 15 points on five 3-pointers, going 5 of 6 from behind the arc and adding three rebounds.
La Marque, Texas, native Jordan Ivy-Curry finished with a career-high nine assists, adding 10 points and three rebounds.
Dhieu Deing had seven points – all in the second half – with three rebounds and an assist. Darius McNeill, a native of Houston, had 12 points with four rebounds and four assists. Lachlan Bofinger chipped in a season-high 10 points, adding two boards. Phoenix Ford had a career-high four steals.
UTSA shot a season-high 50 percent from the field, including a 53.1 clip in the second half. Rice shot 62.3 percent from the field, including 66.7 percent in the second half, and 7 of 14 from range. Rice won the battle of the boards, 31-29.
The Owls were led by UMass transfer Carl Pierre, who had 19 points and four rebounds to pace five Owls in double figures. Max Fielder scored eight of the first 10 points for the Owls and finished with 22 points. VMI transfer Travis Evee had 16 points and five assists. Quincy Olivari finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Roadrunners will return to action on Saturday, traveling to face North Texas at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.
Max Fielder got the Owls on the board with a paint bucket but UTSA got two straight baskets, including a righty hook shot from Germany and a layup from McNeill. After Travis Evee evened the game at four, Germany sank his second post basket for a 6-4 lead.
After Fielder hit a pair at the line to even the game, McNeill sank an elbow jumper. Fielder scored the next four points to give Rice a 10-8 lead at the first media timeout.
Ivy-Curry got on the board with a free throw and Germany sank a midrange jumper to narrow the Rice lead to 12-11. The Owls got two straight buckets from Mylyjael Poteat, a 6-9, 260-pound post player, to take a 16-11 lead before Lachlan Bofinger finished a post bucket around a foul.
Rice ripped off a 7-0 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game, 23-13. McNeill answered with a finish at the rim to cut the lead to eight. Carl Pierre got on the board and after an Ivy-Curry basket at the rim, Fielder netted his 10th points of the game for a 27-17 lead at the 7:58 mark of the first.
The lead grew to 15 after a quick 5-0 run from Pierre, including his first triple of the game. McNeill cut the lead to 34-19 with a basket at the rim. Evee stretched the lead to 38-21 with 4:13 left, prompting a timeout from Coach Steve Henson.
Germany, and consecutive corner 3-pointers from Addo-Ankrah, sparked a 8-0 UTSA run to narrow the lead to 39-31. Pierre answered the UTSA treys before Bofinger got the three points back with a hoop-and-harm. The lead grew to 44-34 after a Fielder basket.
Bofinger cut the lead to single digits with 55.2 seconds left in the first and Addo-Ankrah splashed his third triple of the half to narrow the lead to 44-40 at half. Addo-Ankrah led UTSA with nine points at the half and Rice was paced by 12 points from Fielder. UTSA shot 47 percent in the half, while Rice shot 59 percent, making 17 of 29 baskets.
The Roadrunners immediately tied the game out of the break, getting a lefty hook shot from Germany and a basket from McNeill for a 44-44 game. The Owls answered with a triple from Evee and a basket from Quincy Olivari for a 49-44 lead. After a made free throw, Germany cut the lead to 50-46 but Evee responded with a transition 3-pointer at the top of the key. Pierre took the lead to nine with a baseline slam.
Germany cut the lead to seven and Bofinger took his point total to a season-high 10 to cut the advantage to 55-50 with 14:57 left. Dhieu Deing got on the board with a drive to the rim but Olivari sank a 3-pointer for a seven-point lead. Erik Czumbel's post-move fadeaway narrowed it to 59-54 but Chris Mullins immediately got the deuce back at the line.
Germany had consecutive trips where he finished at the rim, with the Rice lead going to 63-58 with 11:31 left in regulation. Addo-Ankrah immediately splashed a 3-pointer on a play drawn up by Henson out of the timeout, cutting the Rice lead to 63-61. After the teams traded defensive stops, Olivari hit a transition wing 3-pointer and Evee laid consecutive attempts off the glass for a 70-61 lead with eight left.
Addo-Ankrah cut the lead to 70-64 with his fifth triple, Deing responded to a Rice basket with a 3-pointer and Germany finished in transition for a 73-69 margin. Rice scored the next seven points for a 80-69 lead, putting the game away with five minutes left.
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