The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 2001 Page: 19 of 24
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THE RICE THRESHER SPORTS FRIDAY, MARCH 2,2001
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Rice hopes to make waves at upcoming WAC tourney
by Ryan Keedy
THRESHER STAFF
Electricity is in the air. It's that
time of year again — college basket-
ball playoffs. The Western Athletic
Conference tournament is just around
the corner, and the men's basketball
team is preparing to put everything it
has into a run for the title.
Although they have an unimpres-
sive 5-9 conference record, the Owls
believe they are poised to surprise a
fewteamswhen the tournament starts
Tuesday. The first puzzle piece to fall
into place is the return of sophomore
guard Omar-Seli Mance. Not only
does he bring skills to the floor, but
as a transfer from Louisiana State
University, he also brings the level
head of a player with experience in
big Southeastern Conference games.
"I definitely think I can use a little
experience from LSU," Mance said.
"We played against Florida, against
Mike Miller and those guys, at the
Georgia Dome, and that was a big
crowd, and really everyone gives
their all, gives 100 percent, because
they know if they lose, they're going
home. Hopefully, I can portray that
to the team, that each game matters
and this is pretty much the last straw,
so you just have to give your all.
"You can rest and worry about
your bruises after the season is over
with. Each team has the opportunity
to win. If we go in there thinking we
can win, then I think we'll be okay."
The second thing Rice has is a
surge of confidence from last week's
59-56 win over second-place Univer-
sity of Tulsa, a team that had de-
feated the Owls seven straight times.
If it hadn't been for a late-game scor-
ing drought, Rice would have coasted
to victory after playing what fnight
have been its best half of the season.
In the game's first half. Rice opened
a 36-29 lead and went 7-of-10 from
three-point range.
" ['Ilie Tulsa win | obviously gave
the team a lot a lot of confidence,"
IN FOCUS:
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Record: 13-13
WAC record: 5 9 (8th)
Last week: The Owls defeated
the University of Tulsa 59-56
but fell to the University of
Texas at El Paso 59-52.
What made the difference: Rice
went 7-of-10 from three-point
range in the first half against
Tulsa to help snap a seven-
game losing streak to the
Golden Hurricane.
Up next: The Owls play at the
University of Nevada tomorrow
night before heading to Tulsa,
Okla. forthe WAC tournament,
which begins Tuesday.
Mance said. "I think even more so
than the way we shot the ball, the
way we played defense againstTulsa
was remarkable. We played great
team defense, and everyone was
there for each other, and they were
taking away the baseline drives. I
think that gives a lot of confidence
going into the tournament."
Rice is currently fighting with San
Jose State University for the critical
seventh position in the WAC. The
Spartans are 6-9 in conference play,
half a game aheacTof 5-9 Rice going
into this weekend. If the Owls re-
main in the eighth position, they will
have to face ninth-seeded Univer-
sity of Nevada to determine which
team will advance to play the top
seed in the quarterfinals.
Since the Spartans swept the sea-
son series against the Owls, however,
they would win a tiebreaker between
the two teams. To avoid the play-in
game, Rice has to have beaten Fresno
State University yesterday and the
University of Nevada tomorrow. 'Die
Owls also have to hope San Jose State
fell at home against the University of
KATIE STREIT/THRESHER
The Otfls celebrate Saturday following a 59-56 win over the University of Tulsa. The win gives the Owls much-needed
confidence heading into the Western Athletic Conference tournament, which starts Tuesday in Tulsa.
Hawaii yesterday. Results were not
available at press time.
If the Owls win both games, they
also have a shot at passing Texas
Christian University, which will fin-
ish 7-9 if it loses both its games. The
Horned Frogs would lose a
tiebreaker to Rice because the Owls
swept the season series.
WTiat it boils down to is that Rice
must win both its games this week-
end to have a chance of avoiding the
play-in game.
"Right now we're fighting for the
seventh and eighth spots," Mance
said. "Each game we play from here
on out really counts and means a lot
to us, so I'm going to definitely play
this weekend and play for the tour-
nament, too. Hopefully, we can grab
these two and grab some more in
the tournament."
Fresno State entered last night's
game ranked 25th in the country
and is the only conferenceteam that
has virtually locked up a bid to the
NCAA tournament. But the Owls
feel that a win is still within reach.
"Any team can beat any other
team on any given night," senior
guard Mike Wilks said. "If you look
at our conference, pretty much ev-
erybody has lost. Teams that have
beaten one team lost to another team
that they probably shouldn't have
lost to. We're going in here with a
game plan and a strategy that we're
going to hopefully execute. We'll go
in there confident."
They should go into the WAC tour-
nament with confidence as well. The
odds will be against them, but every
year at this time, Cinderella teams all
over the country win their confer-
ence tournaments. The Owls just
hope this year is their turn to dance.
"We've always believed that we
can win three games in a row," Wilks
said. "We have a good enough team
that if we come out and execute, we
can play with anybody. It's just a
matter of putting together three con-
sistent games and playing hard and
seeing what happens."
Owls finally find a way to beat
Tulsa but falter against UTEP
by Ryan Keedy
THRESHER STAFF
KATIE STREIT/THRFSHER
Senior guard Mike Wilks scoops a layup around a University of Tulsa defender Saturday. Wilks,
who is second in the Western Athletic Conference with 20.5 points per game, hopes to end his
Rice career with a bang at this week's WAC tournament.
The men's basketball team found out there's
not a huge difference between second place
and eighth place in the Western Athletic Con-
ference last week.
The Owls, who currently sit in eighth place
in the nine-team WAC, snapped a seven-game
losing streak against second-place University
of Tulsa with a 59-56 win Feb. 22.
They almost finished a sweep of the
homestand against third-place University of
Texas at El Paso Saturday, when they trailed
by just one point with five minutes remaining
but fell 59-52 to the Miners.
The Owls had been waiting a long time to
beat Tulsa, and the win was especially reward-
ing for their two seniors, guard Mike Wilks
and forward Erik Cooper. They've endured
several ugly losses to the Golden Hurricane
— four of the seven losses came by more than
20 points — so beating Tulsa in the final
homestand of their Rice careers is a big deal.
Rice opened up a 5(>44 lead with 6 minutes,
47 seconds remaining, but a late-game scoring
drought allowed Tulsa to close to within one.
"Having a big lead against Tulsa the first
three quarters of the game, we were excited,"
Wilks said. "But we knew we had to finish the
game. A great team Hke Tulsa's capable of
coming back. We came out there and played
great defense that night, and fortunately that
helped us get a victory. I knew we were ca-
pable of stepping up."
Against Tulsa, sophomore guard Omar-
Seli Mance continued his recovery from stress
fractures in both feet and scored his first
basket since he returned to Autiy Court
"It felt real good I to be back at Autry Court],"
Mance said. "It was a real good feeling just to
be back out there, to contribute a little bit. To
get the win against Tulsa, and beat the second
place team in conference, made it that much
better. I was having fun out there."
Although Mance wants to be playing 30-
plus minutes a game as soon as possible, it is
important for him to atfbifll pushing too hard
and re-aggravating the injury. He is working
with the trainers to build back up to full
strength.
"I'm feeling pretty good right now," Mance
said. "The doctor doesn't want me to put too
much stress on [the ankles], to where I might
injure them again. Each game I'm feeling bet-
ter. and I think each game my minutes will be
able to increase. I'm not back to full strength
like I was at the beginning of the season. I'm
definitely not in that kind of shape, but I'm
getting towards that right now."
Despite the emotion that accompanied
Wilks and Cooper's last game at Autry Court.
Rice's inside game struggled against the Min-
ers and the Owls fell short of a win. Sopho-
more center Ferron Morgan was held score-
less and went 0-of-6 from the field, and fresh-
man forward Yamar Diene had zero points and
five fouls in 12 minutes.
But the senior duo put up impressive num-
bers for the*fans one last time. Cooper contrib-
uted 16 points and Wilks poured in a game-
high 19, including a nearly perfect ll-of-12
effort from the line.
"It was just tremendously exciting," Coo-
per said. ".After a long road here at Rice, with
a lot of injuries, to make a positive contribu-
tion to the team my senior year, and having all
my whole family and friends to see me here, it
was just a really special night.
"[Wliat I'll miss mostl is the students and
the support. A lot of fans have been really
loyal. I've met great people here at Rice."
Wilks. who plans to take a shot at playing
pro basketball either in the U.S. or in Eu-
rope. said he will always remember Autry
Court.
"It was a bittersweet moment," Wilks said.
"It's been great playing here at Rice. It's been
great having the great fan support, but I'm
happy to be moving on to newer and better ai d
challenging things. I've enjoyed my experi-
ence here at Rice and all the support I've got,
and I'm very thankful, and I've enjoyed my
stay."
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 88, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 2, 2001, newspaper, March 2, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443134/m1/19/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.