HOUSTON – The ULM men's basketball team (1-3) fell to Rice (2-1) on the road 66-50 on Tuesday (Nov. 12) night at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.
 
After trailing by double digits, the Warhawks whittled the Owls' lead to three points with less than 12 minutes remaining. Rice pushed its lead back to double digits with less than eight minutes left and maintained its lead for the remainder of the game.
 
"We made a lot of progress on the defensive end tonight," said ULM men's basketball head coach Keith Richard. "It was not quite as good at times in the second half. It was a three-point game in the second half, and then we got a technical and then gave up some buckets. But we made progress defensively and found a way that we can play. We have to turn our attention and continue to get better offensively."
 
The Warhawks created 15 turnovers and 11 steals against the Owls with Jacob Wilson leading the charge with four. Makai Willis and Tyreese Watson also racked up multiple steals for the Warhawks in a strong defensive effort.
 
Three Warhawks finished in double figures with Jalen Bolden and Wilson both scoring 12 points while Willis dropped 11 points. Bolden was a pair of rebounds shy of a double-double and dished out one assist and picked up a steal. Wilson led ULM with four steals and secured four boards to go along with an assist. Willis tracked down six rebounds and chipped in three steals and a pair of assists.
 
Rice shot 46.2% from the field in the second half after posting a shooting percentage of 30% in the first half. The Owls were led in scoring by Alem Huseinovic (15 points) and Trae Broadnax (14 points). Caden Powell added nine points while Denver Anglin and Trey Patterson both registered eight points.
 
The Warhawks outscored Rice 22-14 on points from turnovers and 24-14 on points in the paint. ULM also led in fast break points, 18-6. The Owls capitalized on 13 second-chance points and held ULM to 3-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc while knocking down 10 three-pointers.
 
Bolden scored the first points of the night on a fastbreak layup in the paint. Both teams struggled to find production on offense early, with ULM starting 1-for-6 from the field and Rice 0-for-5 within the first four minutes. Denver Anglin delivered Rice's first field goal of the game on a three-pointer with 15:30 to go and Trey Patterson made a second-chance layup to extend the Owls' lead to 6-2. Wilson drained a triple in the corner and Tyreese Watson cut through the lane and made a finger roll to pull ULM back in front, 7-6.
 
After Rice regained the lead on a three, an AD Diedhiou steal turned into a layup on a pass by Coltie Young at the other end to even the score, 9-9. The Owls pushed the lead to 14-10 and ULM leveled the score on a turnaround jumper by Jerry Ngopot assisted by Young and a steal-and-score by Wilson. Watson ended a Rice 5-0 scoring run by forcing a steal and finishing with a fastbreak layup. Renars Sondors made the Warhawks' second three-pointer of the half to tie the game at 19-19 inside the final five minutes. Rice surged ahead after an 8-1 scoring run and held a 27-20 lead with less than 30 seconds in the half. Willis made a free throw to make it a six-point game at the half. ULM did not connect on a shot from the floor in the last 4:08 and trailed 27-21 at the break.
 
Rice began the second half on a 7-2 scoring run and gained its first double-digit lead of the night after a three-pointer by Huseinovic. ULM cut into Rice's lead after a Bolden three-point play and layup and a steal-and-score by Wilson that completed a 7-0 scoring run and brought the Warhawks within four. ULM trimmed Rice's lead to three points with 12 minutes to go after a three-pointer by Wilson and two free throws by Diedhiou as part of a 5-1 ULM run.
 
The Owls scored six unanswered points following a technical foul free throw made by Huseinovic, a three-pointer by Broadnax and a dunk by Akuchie. Rice controlled a double-digit lead after points by Powell and Amos with under eight minutes remaining. ULM could not find its rhythm offensively and sank one three-pointer on nine attempts in the second half. Rice extended its lead to 20 points with less than three minutes remaining and wrapped up a 66-50 home win.
 
The Warhawks will return to Fant-Ewing Coliseum after a three-game road trip on Thursday (Nov. 14) night at 6:30 p.m. to face Ecclesia.
 
"It was encouraging for a lot of that game because, for the first time this season, I felt like we played together as a real team," said Richard. "Even though we struggled on offense, the ball was moving, and we were running our offense. We had a good game plan defensively and had something going. That was nice to see to end this road swing."