An already unpleasant opening third of the season for Navy grew even more so last night against Rice at Alumni Hall.

Looking for their first win over a Division I opponent since Nov. 25, the Midshipmen couldn't find it against the talented but streaky Owls, absorbing an 82-60 defeat before 825 in Annapolis for their seventh loss in eight games and second in a row.

Trailing by two at halftime but carrying momentum, Navy (3-7) looked poised to make something happen in the second half against a team two days removed from a 19-point pasting of Colorado.

Navy had lowered itself into an early 32-16 hole with six turnovers in the first six minutes. Rice (6-2) helped its own cause by making 12 of its first 18 shots, including six three-pointers.

But the Owls began to show the hallmarks of a team playing its third game in six days, inheriting Navy's ball-handling difficulties and going cold from the field, missing five of their last eight shots and finishing the half with 13 turnovers.

The Midshipmen took advantage, using a big performance from senior center Francis Ebong (11 points, two rebounds before halftime) and three-pointers from guards Marcell Cummings and David Hooper to trim the deficit to 38-36 at the break.

Those trends didn't last, though, and the Mids found themselves in a double-digit hole again before six minutes had passed in the second half. The Owls made almost 65 percent of their shots to open the half, building a 26-6 run that gave them a 64-42 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Brock Gillespie, who finished 4-for-4 from three-point range, sparked the run with six points.

"I think we're kind of searching for a complete game," Navy senior guard Jason Jeanpierre said. "We haven't played a complete game all year. We haven't put two halves together. We'll play in spurts -- five minutes here, five minutes there -- but we haven't played a complete game."

Ebong finished with 20 points to lead all scorers and had 12 rebounds.

Omar-Seli Mance led Rice with 17 points.