HOUSTON – USF's basketball season came to an end this evening as the Dons suffered an 85-76 loss to Rice in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational inside venerable Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
Five USF players scored in double figures, led by senior Ronnie Boyce, who finished with 18 points in his final game as a Don. Sophomore Frankie Ferrari added 15, Chase Foster 13 and Charles Minlend and Jimbo Lull added 10 each for USF, which finishes the season with a 20-13 record.
  Rice was led by its high-scoring duo of Egor Koulechov and Marcus Evans, who finished with 24 and 21 points, respectively. Chad Lott was the only other Owl to reach double figures with 10 points.
 
USF shot a chilly 35.4 percent from the floor and made just 7-of-37 three-pointers while the Owls finished at 50.9 percent for the game.
 
In a game of runs, Rice outscored USF 12-2 over the final 2:03 to advance to the second round of the CBI on Monday against Utah Valley, which blew out Georgia Southern 74-69 in Statesboro tonight.
 
"Rice would probably be in the top half of our league and we knew this would be a tough game, especially playing on the road," said head coach Kyle Smith. "They made plays when they needed to when it counted and that was the game."
 
USF was just 1-of-11 from the floor to start the game and fell behind 11-2 out of the gates. Rice grew its lead to as many as 11 points at 35-24 but the Dons scored the last 11 points of the half to tie the game at the break. Boyce ignited the run with three-point play after he was fouled on a driving lay in.
 
On USF's first possession of the second half, Jimbo Lull's lay in gave the Dons a 37-35 lead and after Foster connected on a three-pointer, the Dons enjoyed a 49-42 advantage.
 
Rice then outscored USF, 22-5 over the next five minutes to take a 64-54 lead with 10:38 left in the game. With the Owls nursing a 70-63 lead with 4:59 left, Ferrari nailed a triple to ignite a 9-0 Dons run which gave USF a 72-70 lead with 2:38 left.
 
After a pair of free throws by Boyce gave USF a 74-73 lead with 2:03 remaining, Evans canned a long three-pointer to ignite a 12-2 Rice run over the final two minutes to give the Owls a school-record 23 wins on the year. Evans scored nine of Rice's last 12 points of the game as the Owls advanced to the second round of the CBI on Monday against Utah Valley.
 
"We got off to a slow start but our small lineup got us going a bit," said USF head coach Kyle Smith. "We battled back from 10 down in the second half to take a lead but Evans made a lot of big shots down the stretch. He shot us out of the game."
                                                           
Smith and the Dons will find some comfort in the fact that one of the youngest teams in school history managed to win 20 games on the year.
 
"We came along way this season but we can't afford to look back," said Smith. "We've been getting a lot of pats on the back, which were well-deserved, but we have a lot of work in front of us. This league is just too good. We just have to get better."