Owls Take on UALR Sunday
12/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 26, 2008
Rice returns from a short holiday break from the hardwood Sunday when the Owls take on UALR in the Jack Stephens Center. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. and the game can be heard on ESPN 97.5 The Ticket.
The Owls are coming off a 70-58 loss to No. 4 Oklahoma on Monday in Tudor Fieldhouse. The game featured eight times, the last comeing with 7:44 to play, as well as 10 lead changes.
Rice, 4-7 on the year, will look to end a two-game losing streak against one of the premier teams in the Sun Belt Conference. UALR is the defending Sun Belt West Division Champion and is off to an 8-3 start. The Trojans are 5-1 at home in the Jack Stephens Center.
Matt Mouzy scored 12 points, had three assists and two steals as UALR defeated Arkansas State 65-59 on Dec. 20th in the Trojans' last game. Mouzy, a 6-0 sophomore guard, and 6-4 senior forward John Fowler have both started all 11 games for UALR. Mouzy is averaging 13.1 points per game and his 3.11 three-pointers per game ranks third in the Sun Belt Conference. Fowler averages 9.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and is third on the team with 25 assists.
Prior to the Arkansas State game, junior guard Steven Moore had led the Trojans in scoring five straight games and for the year is averaging 14.2 points an outing. Moore served a two-game suspension to begin the season and has started one of nine games in which he has played.
The UALR road game caps a home-and-home series. Las November, UALR scored the game's final eight points, knocking down six of its last eight free throws to beat Rice 59-52 in Reliant Arena.
Rice guard Cory Pflieger was the Owls' co-leader in scoring last year against the Trojans finishing with 13 points. This year he is averaging a team-leading 12.9 points per game. He has scored in double figures four times in the last five games. He finished with a team-high 17 points against No. 4 Oklahoma on Monday.
UALR and Rice have one common opponent thus far this season. The Trojans opened the year with a 67-40 win over Cal Poly to start a five-game winning streak to open the year. Rice snapped a 21-game losing streak dating back to the 2007-08 season with an 81-76 win over the Mustangs at the BYU-hosted Basketball Travelers Invitational last month.
Following Sunday's game, Rice returns home to play host to Texas A&M Wednesday at 3 p.m.
