USD Forces Overtime but Falls to Rice, 97-90
Rice University took advantage of its free throws to defeat the University of San Diego, 97-90, in overtime in a nonconference basketball opener for both teams at Autry Court in Houston.
USD had rallied to tie the game, 82-82, in regulation when Danny Means made a three-point shot from the top of the key to tie the game with four seconds remaining.
“I thought we were going to do it when we took it to overtime,” USD Coach Hank Egan said.
Rice led, 38-30, at halftime and extended its lead to 72-59 with 6:05 remaining in the game. USD cut the Rice lead to 82-79 with 29 seconds remaining to set up Means’ three-point shot. Means led USD’s rally, scoring eight points in the final 55 seconds of regulation on two three-point shots and two free throws.
USD trailed, 91-90, with 1:18 remaining in overtime, but four straight free throws by Andy Gilchrist and Michael Irving sealed the victory for Rice. David Willie scored on a slam with six seconds left.
USD was hurt by turnovers. They committed 25, including an offensive foul by Means late in overtime. Means fouled out on the turnover with 48 seconds remaining and USD trailing 93-90.
“We executed terribly,” Egan said. “They played a lot of different presses, and we kind of came unglued a few times. But we were competitive. A couple of times, we were playing three freshmen. We got real good efforts from everybody.”
Marty Munn scored 30 points and had 8 rebounds to lead USD. Means finished with 13 points and 6 assists, and freshman center Keith Colvin had 10 points and 8 rebounds. Efrem Leonard added 12 points and 6 rebounds for USD.
Guard Dave Mlachnik scored 7 of his 19 points in overtime, and Ronald Robertson and D’Wayne Tanner each scored 16 points to lead Rice. Mlachnik was 3 of 5 from three-point range.
Although USD outshot (50.7% to 45.8%) and outrebounded (48-44) Rice, the Toreros could not overcome the turnovers and the Owls’ free throws. Rice was 23 of 38 from the line. USD was 14 of 21.
The Toreros play host to UC Santa Barbara in a nonconference game at 7:30 p.m. Monday.