Colorado
Rice
Colorado Defeated By Rice, 80-61
December 20, 2002 | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON - Omar-Seli Mance led four scorers in double figures with 19 points as Rice beat Colorado 80-61, Saturday evening at Autry Court on the campus of Rice University.
The Owls improved to 5-2 on the season, while the Buffaloes dropped to 4-3.
Michael Harris came off the bench to record his 15th career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while teammates Brock Gillespie scored 14 and Jason McKrieth added 10.
Rice shot an impressive 58 percent for the game (28-for-48) and jumped out to 43-25 halftime lead behind six 3-pointers. Colorado managed just 32 percent shooting (20-for-63), including just 7-of-30 field goals in the first half.
Junior Michel Morandais scored his second straight 21-point game on 6-for-18 from the field and tallied career-highs in free throws made (8) and attempts (12). Morandais also tied a personal-best four steals. Senior Stephane Pelle added 12 points and sophomore David Harrison chipped in with 11.
Colorado made the game interesting going on a 13-0 run after trailing 51-30 with 16:15 remaining in the game. Freshman Glean Eddy sparked the rally with five of CU's seven points over the next 2:16 before a media timeout halted action. After the timeout, CU continued to chip away its deficit scoring the next six points engineered by Pelle and back-to-back baskets by Morandais. Rice finally answered with a 3-pointer pushing the lead back to 11 with 11:56 to go.
Colorado cut the margin back to eight points with 10:22 remaining, however the Owls went on its own 12-1 run to seal the victory. Junior-transfer Lamar Harris grabbed a season-best nine rebounds, including seven offensive.
Colorado returns to action this Monday, Dec. 23 against North Texas (4-4) before heading to the Pepsi Classic in Charlotte, N.C., where they will face Louisiana-Lafayette (Dec. 27, 11:30 a.m. MST, ESPN2); Charlotte (Dec. 28, 12:30 p.m. MST, ESPN2); and Loyola Chicago (Dec. 29, 12:30 p.m. MST).
