Rice at Home Against No. 4 Oklahoma Monday
12/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2008
Rice returns from a Saturday road contest at Duquesne only to face its biggest challenge to date as the Owls play host to No. 4 Oklahoma Monday in Tudor Fieldhouse. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast by ESPN 97.5 The Ticket.
Oklahoma, off to its best start since the 1989-90 season, is the only unbeaten team in the Big 12 and one of only 10 Division I programs which remain undefeated.
The Sooners are coming off an 81-70 win over Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday at the O'Reilly All-College Classic in Oklahoma City.
Rice is 4-6 on the year following an 80-64 loss at Duquesne on Saturday afternoon.
Oklahoma's 11-0 start includes an 87-82 overtime victory against Purdue in the championship game of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off as well as a 73-72 home-court win over USC in the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series.
Monday's game at Tudor Fieldhouse will be the Sooners' first true road contest of the season. OU defeated Tulsa 69-44 in the first collegiate game to be played in the city of Tulsa's new BOK Center.
Oklahoma Sophomore forward Blake Griffin is averaging 22.6 points and an NCAA-leading 14.4 rebounds this season. Griffin has eight double-doubles in the Sooners' first 11 games.
While Rice will be looking for a way to slow down Griffin, the unanimous choice for Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, the Owls will also have to contend with perimeter defense.
In games played in Tudor Fieldhouse this season, Rice opponents are shooting 47.9 percent from three-point range (56-of-117). Inside the arc, opponents are shooting 40.9 percent (68-of-166).
Oklahoma made a season-high 10-of-16 three-pointers in Saturday's win over VCU. OU junior guard Tony Crocker made 5-of-6 three-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points in the victory.
Rice junior guard Cory Pflieger is averaging 12.5 points per game to lead Rice and his his 5.2 rebounding average ranks second on the squad.
Freshman forward Lucas Kuipers has started the last four games in place of senior Aleks Perka who suffered a hyper-extended knee earlier this month. Kuipers recorded his first career double-double, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Harvard then had a game-high 16 points in the Owls' loss at Duquesne.
Following the Oklahoma game, Rice is off for the rest of the week. The Owls travel to UALR on Sunday before returning home for a New Year's Eve contest with Texas A&M. Oklahoma is back in action Dec. 30, traveling to Arkansas.
