Rice Opens Home Stand Thursday
12/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2008
Rice begins its first ever Tudor Fieldhouse homestand Thursday when the Owls play host to UTSA. The game is part of a Thursday-Saturday, Southland Conference double billing as Rice takes on Texas State Saturday afternoon.
The Owls enter the week looking for their first victory in Tudor Fieldhouse. Rice dropped a 78-74 decision to Big Sky Conference defending champion Portland State in the season opener while 2008 SLC East Division champion Lamar posted a 61-53 victory over the Owls last week.
Tip-off for Thursday's game against UTSA is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast by ESPN 97.5 The Ticket.
Rice began the week with a 77-56 loss to No. 8 Texas on Sunday. Rice freshman forward Lucas Kuipers scored a career-high 19 points against Texas. He was 5-for-5 from the field in the first half, knocking down four three-pointers. For the game, he connected on 7-of-11 shots from the field, had three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
The Owls currently do not have a double-figure scorer. Cory Pflieger, who scored 17 points in each of his first two games has struggled shooting recently. He is a combined 2-for-16 from the field in the last two games and his season scoring average has fallen to 9.7 points per game, which is still best on the team. Pflieger also ranks second on the team, averaging 4.8 rebounds per game. He has averaged seven boards in each of the past two contests.
UTSA is coming off a 78-65 loss at Navy on Tuesday. Senior forward Travis Gabbidon is averaging 13 points and 4.8 rebounds. He scored 13 points and had six rebounds in the Roadrunners' loss at Navy.
Junior guard Omar Johnson leads UTSA, averaging 14.6 points and 4.8 assists this season.
In Tuesday's loss, Navy shot 84 percent in the second half to come back from a 36-29 halftime deficit. The Midshipmen knocked down 16-of-19 shots in the second period including 5-of-6 three-point attempts.
UTSA comes into Thursday's game with a 2-3 record but still looking for their first Division I win. The Roadrunners beat East Central and McMurry by an average of 46 points. Through five games, UTSA has a +2.2 rebounding average and a +7.6 turnover margin.
Rice and UTSA is renewing a series from the mid-1980s. The two teams met five times between 1982 and 1986 with UTSA winning three of five. Neither team won on the other's home court.
