Rice claims first postseason win since 1993

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LAFAYETTE, La. — When the Rice Owls have outrebounded their opponents this season, they have been unbeatable.

While edging Louisiana-Lafayette on the boards Wednesday, the Owls continued that recipe for success, defeating the Ragin’ Cajuns 68-63 in the first-round of the CollegeInsider.com tournament.

“Outrebounding our opponents is key to our success,” Rice coach Ben Braun said. “That is a significant part of our game. I really felt like we did a good job of rebounding, especially in the second half. Being able to hold them to one shot in the second half was the key to the game for us.”

The victory, which improved the Owls to 18-15 overall and gave them their first postseason victory since 1993, when they defeated Wisconsin in the NIT, extended Rice’s record to 16-0 when they outrebound their opponents.

“I’m just really excited to be in the postseason, because this is the first time in my four years that we’ve done in the postseason,” Owls senior Connor Frizzelle said. “Personally, this is huge for me to be able to not only be in the postseason but to actually get a win in the postseason. It is really just an exciting time for us.”

Frizzelle, who was one of four Rice players in double figures, was instrumental in the victory for the Owls off the bench, pairing a team-high 18 points with four assists. Joining Frizzelle in double figures was guard Tamir Jackson, who scored 11, while Dylan Ennis and Julian DeBose each contributed 10 points in the win.

“I thought that UL was more aggressive than we were in the first-half,” Braun said. “I felt like they forced us into some turnovers in the first half, and that really took us out of our offense. But in the second half, we did a much better job of taking care of the basketball.”

While the Owls controlled the boards and avoided turning over the basketball in the second half, they turned up their defensive pressure, which forced the Cajuns to settle for more jump shots but also led to their committing more fouls.

Good thing for the Owls the Cajuns aren’t a good team at the free-throw line. Louisiana-Lafayette finished 13-of-28.

“Any time you can hold a team to 28 percent shooting from the field in a half, you are going to have a good chance to win games,” Braun said.

Rice will host Drake in the CIT’s second round at 7 p.m. Saturday.