Rice Hoops Set for Busy Week
11/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2008
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Rice Game Notes l Texas Game Notes
Rice begins a week of games against in-state opponents on Sunday when the 2-3 Owls travel to Austin to take on Texas. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. in the Frank Erwin Center and the game will be broadcast state-wide on FSN Southwest. ESPN360.com will also streak the contest and will be available for free on any university internet network.
Sunday's game begins a busy week ahead of fall finals on the Rice University campus. Following Sunday's game, the Owls will play back-to-back home games later in the week, taking on Texas-San Antonio Dec. 4 and Texas State on Dec. 6.
Rice is coming off a 61-53 loss to Lamar on Tuesday which dropped the team to a game below .500. The Owls shot just 29 percent from the field, including 25 percent in the second half, and were outrebounded 48-36.
Texas returns home after winning two of three games at the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The Longhorns rebounded from an 81-80 loss to Notre Dame in the semifinals to beat Oregon 70-61 in the third-place game last week.
Texas senior guard A.J. Abrams is averaging 17 points to lead the Longhorns in scoring while junior swingman Damion James has registered back-to-back double-doubles heading into Sunday's game. Against Oregon, James scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. He had 11 points and 12 boards against Notre Dame.
The sixth game of the season will have some significance to Rice junior guard Cory Pflieger. Last year Pflieger played just five games before an ankle injury sidelined him for the remainder of the year. He received a medical red-shirt during the offseason and has two years of eligibility remaining.
Following an 0-for-6 shooting night against Lamar, Pflieger's scoring average dropped to 10.4 points per game.
Both senior forward Aleks Perka and freshman point guard Connor Frizzelle are averaging nine points per game. Perka's 6.8 rebounds per game leads the squad.
Rice has not played in Austin since beating the Longhorns 80-69 on Jan. 6, 1996. The game was also the final Southwest Conference game played in Austin. Since then, the two teams played one final SWC game in Houston and in recent years have played two games in the Toyota Center.
Last December James had 18 points and 17 rebounds in leading Texas to an 80-54 victory over Rice. Abrams and D.J. Augustin also scored 18 points in the victory.
