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The Rice Thresher
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by Ryan Keedy thresher staff Things aren't quite going the Owls' way these days. One of the men's basketball team's more recent attempts to turn things around fell short Monday against a strong Southern Methodist University squad. A 22-point turnaround saw a 12-point Owl lead evaporate as the Mustangs went on to win 65-55. The win moved SMU to 7-3 in conference action, while the Owls dropped to 3-5. "That's a tough loss no matter how you slice it," head coach Willis Wilson said. "I thought that the Rice team that showed up just gave a terrific effort. There were some little things that we didn't do that we've got to fix. SMU's a very, very imposing team when it comes to fast breaks, pushing the ball, going to the offensive glass - that's what they thrive on." The Owls, who led 22-10 at one point, went into the half with a 31-26 lead. But all it took was a timely 18-4 run by SMU in the second half to turn the tables. The Mustangs held Rice scoreless for a 6 minute, 49 second stretch in the middle of the half. Rice fought back from a 14-point deficit and narrowed the gap to five, but would get no closer as the Mustangs came through at the free-throw line and Owl three-pointers missed the mark. "I think their game plan in the second half was just to turn up the intensity and really push the ball and attack the rim," Wilson said. "We didn't build our defense. We didn't get that same sort of intensity that we had to start the game. "I think a little bit of it is our lack of maturity. We're counting on some young guys to do some things that normally you count on veteran guys to do. It's a learning process." Giving credit where it's due, the Mustangs took care of business, shooting 50 percent from the field in the second half. However, Rice's 27 percent shooting in the half certainly helped SMU get back into the game. "We got a lot of good looks all night long, but shots just didn't go down," Wilson said. "We can't dwell on it. We've got too many good things to really focus on. We played good basketball over this last month or so. We've had some times where we've been down, but we've had some times when we've played some pretty good basketball." Senior forward Erik Cooper's shooting mirrored the team's performance. Although he started the game shooting 7-of-11 from the floor, SMU made adjustments to hold him to 2-of-7 in the second half. "They threw in a little junk defense which kind of took me out of my rhythm a little bit," Cooper said. "Even in the second half, all the shots felt good coming off, and I thought they were going in, but sometimes they fall, sometimes they don't." Things don't get any easier for the Owls. After traveling to the University of Tulsa (16-7, 5-4 WAC) last night, the Owls battle Texas Christian University (14-8, 5-4 WAC) at Autry Court tomorrow. Wilson said he will look to the seniors to provide the leadership and maturity needed to keep the team from losing its composure in this rough patch. "I think the biggest thing that we've got to do is come with a resolve that we're going to be a good team," Wilson said. "The biggest key for us is the responsibility that's going to be delegated to the seniors to get everybody ready to go."
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