Owls must learn from sloppy win

There are too many fresh faces, too many moving parts seeking cohesion for nights like Tuesday to be avoided. It was bound to happen and, in truth, Rice is better off for the experience so early in the season. Every step the Owls take in this season of promise won't lead the team forward. That's a guarantee. But if they can avoid the catastrophic while occasionally staggering about, teaching points can be presented while the won-loss ledger remains palatable. In the end, everyone's happy. Rice sloshed its way past Florida A&M 75-59 at Tudor Fieldhouse, surviving as much as thriving. The Owls (4-0) remained undefeated while completing their prep for legitimate competition at the South Padre Island Invitational, but the process was marred with miscues. They struggled shooting against the Rattlers' alternating defenses, a significant factor behind an offense that seemed disjointed for most of the game. There were personnel groupings that fizzled, questionable decisions with the basketball, and way too many missed free throws. "If we can get to the line 44 times I'll take our chances," Rice coach Ben Braun said after the Owls missed 18 of those attempts. "At least we did that in a physical game, but I'd be hard pressed to think our team is going to leave almost 20 points in the balance. I think we're going to have to knock those down and convert just to really make a statement. You can't come away empty handed." The Owls should have wrangled control of this game early, especially after limiting the Rattlers (0-4) to 26.9 percent shooting before the intermission. But Rice missed 16 of 24 first-half shots and sank just half of their 18 free-throw attempts. Their constant misfiring negated their impressive defensive might, and their 28-18 halftime lead meant the Owls had much more work left ahead coming out of the locker room. Lethargy was to blame for those early doldrums. Senior guard Connor Frizzelle used the word "sluggish" to describe the performance; junior forward Arsalan Kazemi opted for "lazy" as his adjective of choice. When presented with an opportunity to spark his teammates, Kazemi did so. Having missed his first four shots, Kazemi threw down a thunderous alley-oop dunk with 15:49 remaining to get on the board and extend the Owls' lead to 34-22. He followed with another alley-oop basket, this time taking the pass from Tamir Jackson and laying the ball in at the rim, 24 seconds later. Kazemi followed with a dunk through a foul, completing the three-point play for a 39-28 lead with 14:01 remaining. "I missed three shots at the beginning of the game and then I was like, 'Maybe it's not my day today,'" said Kazemi, who recorded his 30th double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. "I just tried to get everyone involved, giving out a couple of assists, stealing the ball and trying to get my teammates going. So they picked it up. "In the second half they (the Rattlers) were focusing on a different player and that's when I got in and got my points. That was the deal." Kazemi was a godsend, stabilizing things until the Owls discovered the momentum needed to extend the lead to 23 points with 2:18 left. Rice continued to miss free throws -- the Owls shot 17-of-26 in the second half -- but the shooting from the floor (51.7) improved dramatically. Because the Owls failed to pull away early, Braun was forced to scuttle his continuing plan to play his freshmen extended minutes in the second half. Frizzelle logged a season-high 32 minutes; Kazemi played a season-high 30. Only three reserves logged double-digit minutes: freshmen Dylan Ennis (19), Jarelle Reischel (14) and Seth Gearhart (10). Kazemi joked that he's spent more time watching from the bench than playing in the second half this season, but when Rice needed him on Tuesday he delivered. Their hope is that he mustn't carry such a load against Northern Iowa and Iowa State this weekend. He'll require aid if the Owls are to beat those quality teams, and Rice will need to perform with greater urgency for its developmental plan to remain on schedule. "If we play like this we're not going to have any chance," Kazemi said. "We're going to go back to practice and practice harder and bring it everyday, so when we get to this situation that the team is struggling, then we can do something about it." Said Frizzelle, who scored 13 points: "Overall though we did get the win so we're happy about that. We're going out to (South Padre Island) 2-0 (in tournament play), but obviously there are some areas we still need to improve for this team to be successful and go to the postseason." Follow me on Twitter at FSH_Owls