Jordan Dingle scores 22, but Rice tops visiting Penn, 80-61
A.J. Brodeur added 20 and a team-high eight rebounds.
Penn started red-hot, had a lengthy stretch where it went ice cold, and never recovered.
Rice (1-1) took advantage, and once the Owls got going they never let up en route to an 80-61 win Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston.
The Quakers (1-1) went 6-for-6 from the field to start the game, scoring the first nine points and leading, 18-8, just over six minutes into the game. However, Penn went just 19-for -59 the rest of the way, including a 3-for-22 performance from beyond the arc. The Quakers finished with just nine turnovers.
Freshman Jordan Dingle led Penn with 22 points, giving him 46 over his first two games as a collegian, and senior A.J. Brodeur added 20 and a team-high eight rebounds. Brodeur has reached double figures in scoring in 27 straight games dating back to last season.
Rice, meanwhile, led by Ako Adams’ 17 points, put five players in double figures, knocked down 10 treys, and outrebounded Penn, 49-32.
Penn got a three-point jumper from Dingle off the opening tip and the Quakers were off and running. It was 9-0 before the Owls finally got on the board, and the Quakers hit their first six shots en route to a 15-6 lead.
The lead crested to 18-8 shortly after that when Jarrod Simmons knocked down a three-pointer, but the rest of the half was all Rice. After its red-hot start from the field, Penn went just 4-for-27 before Dingle hit a layup at the halftime buzzer.
The Owls, meanwhile, scored 14 points in a row which was part of a half-ending 21-2 run that left them ahead at the half, 41-29.
The teams traded points for the first few minutes of the second half, before Rice got back in gear. Up 47-35, the Owls scored five in a row and that was the start of a 16-4 run that had the hosts up 63-39 at the second media timeout. Penn came out of that break with seven quick points, which prompted a Rice timeout at 63-46.
As it turned out, that was the high-water mark. Penn got within 17 one other time, at 72-55, but Rice recovered to score eight of the next 10 points to close it out.