Technically, the curse of the blue curtain hasn’t been lifted yet since the game wasn’t actually played at Autry Court, but Houston will take its 69-60 win over Rice on Wednesday and run with it. In the end, a road win over Rice is still a road win over Rice.
It’s a task the Cougars (14-3, 3-0 Conference USA) have not been able to accomplish in over a decade and a step in the right direction if the team plans to put on its dancing shoes in March.
Houston would utilize its conference-best free-throw shooting late in the second half to distance itself from Rice (3-15, 0-5) in what was a back-and-forth match until about three minutes to go. Houston senior guard Robert "Fluff" McKiver’s only relief from a 4-of-16 shooting night was at the foul line, where he went 7-of-8 to lead his team with 18 points. He said the Owls made things difficult.
"Rice (versus) Houston is definitely a great rivalry," McKiver said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game… from the beginning those guys came out and played hard and physical. We had to adjust to their intensity, and I think that’s why we were successful."
Rice used a quick run at the start of the first half to jump out to a 43-39 lead after senior forward Paulius Packevicius drained a seven footer with 15:40 left in the game. Houston would not regain its lead until junior guard Dashaun Williams fought through some contact and put a double-clutch layup off the glass to put UH up 46-44 with 13:00 to go.
From that point on, Houston would struggle to hold the Owls off, despite a minute-and-a-half Rice scoring drought that started at the 9:02 mark in the second half. The Cougars’ only successful scoring methods were to knock down free throws and feed the ball to senior center Marcus Cousin, who scored seven of his nine points during a six-minute span in the second half and put UH up 58-51 after completing a three-point play the old fashioned way with 3:30 left in the game.
"Cousin gave us a little spark tonight," said senior forward Tafari Toney. "I had my fourth foul. He came in and I gave him a little talk. I told him to hustle out there and get all the rebounds. He was a big factor tonight with the rebounds, and we needed that."
Cousin ended the game with six rebounds, but he paled in comparison to Rice’s Packevicius, who grabbed 20 to complement his 16-point performance.
Houston entered the second half with a 39-36 lead, but just couldn’t knock down any shots. The Cougars went 14-of-38 from the field, including a 20 percent performance from the three-point line, which negated much of their success on defense. About three minutes into the game, UH switched to a half-court trapping zone and forced the Owls into five turnovers. Houston, however, did not capitalize on that and missed a series of three-point attempts and even two layups by McKiver.
"We sure as hell didn’t do a good job at converting some of those three-on-ones and two-on-ones (fast-break opportunities)," Houston head coach Tom Penders said.
By the end of the half Houston had forced a season-high 19 turnovers in the first half, thanks to unrelenting defense led by junior guard Kelvin Lewis Williams.
