Rice Takes on Undefeated Furman Tuesday
11/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2009
Rice Game Notes l Furman Game Notes
Rice is back at home Tuesday, playing host to a Furman team which is off to a 3-0 start. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Tudor Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast by ESPN 97.5.
Tuesday's game begins a two-game home stand as well as a stretch in which the Owls play four of their next five at home. Rice plays host to Texas Sunday afternoon in a game set to be broadcast by CBS College.
Furman is coming off an 83-60 win over Dartmouth last Saturday as the Paladins opened a season 3-0 for the first time in more than 20 years.
Furman junior forward Amu Saaka is coming off a 22-point, 8-rebound effort in Saturday's win over Dartmouth. For the year, Saaka is averaging 20 points and 8.7 rebounds. He has converted 62.9 percent of his shots from the field (22-of-35) and has made 6-of-10 three-pointers. Junior guard Jordan Miller is averaging 14.7 points and is second on the team with 11 assists through the first three games of the season.
Rice will be looking to win its fourth straight at home. The Owls won the Rice Basketball Challenge before suffering a 66-49 loss at Arizona last week.
In the loss to Arizona, Rice shot just 19 percent from the field in the first half but came back to cut UA's lead from 18 points in the first period to as few as six points with 13 minutes to play.
Rice freshman forward Arsalan Kazemi is coming off his first career double-double in the loss at Arizona. He scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Kazemi has played off the bench in the Owls' first four games and is averaging 7.8 points and 5.3 rebounds for the year. He is shooting 50 percent from the field and has made 11-of-14 free throws (.786).
Sophomore Connor Firzzelle is averaging 12.8 points to lead Rice in scoring. Frizzelle is 11-of-19 from three-point range this season (.579). Freshman Tamir Jackson is averaging 10.5 points an outing.
