HOUSTON – The University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team started the game red-hot, had a lengthy stretch where it went ice cold, and never recovered. Rice took advantage, and once the Owls got going they never let up en route to an 80-61 win Saturday at Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
Penn went 6-of-6 from the field to start the game, scoring the game's first nine points and leading 18-8 just over six minutes into the game. However, the Quakers went just 19-of-59 the rest of the way including a 3-of-22 performance from beyond the arc. Rice, meanwhile, put five players in double figures, knocked down 10 treys, and outrebounded the Red and Blue 49-32.
 
With the loss, Penn fell to 1-1 on the season. Rice, which opened the season with a loss at Arkansas, improved to 1-1.
 
Notes
*Penn lost despite turning the ball over just nine times.
 
*Freshman Jordan Dingle tied for game-high honors with 20 points, giving him 44 over his first two games as a collegian.
 
*Senior AJ Brodeur also had 20 points, his 19th game reaching that marker at Penn. He now has reached double figures in scoring in 27 straight games dating back to last season.
 
*Brodeur also led the Quakers with eight rebounds, while senior Devon Goodman had six boards to go with his six points.
 
*Freshman Max Lorca-Lloyd scored his first collegiate points in his first appearance.
 
*After not dressing in Tuesday's win at Alabama, freshman Max Martz was Penn's first player off the bench on Saturday and played nearly 13 minutes in his college debut.
 
How It Happened
Penn got a three-point jumper from Jordan 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 Red and Blue hit their first six shots of the day en route to a 15-6 lead at the first media timeout.
 
The lead crested to 18-8 shortly after that when Jarrod Simmons knocked down a three-point basket, but the rest of the half was all Rice. After its red-hot start from the field, Penn went just 4-of-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.