Rice, LSU Faceoff in Saturday Matinee
12/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2009
Rice Game Notes l LSU Game Notes
The holiday season is always best spent with family and friends. For Rice senior guard Lawrence Ghoram, that will certainly be the case this weekend. You see, Ghoram will be playing as close as he can to his hometown of Zachary, La., Saturday when the Owls take on LSU.
Tip-off for Saturday's game in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is set for 1 p.m. The contest can be heard in Houston on ESPN 97.5 as well as world wide via RiceOwls.com.
Ghoram, who is averaging 9.4 points and 3.7 rebounds this season, has played in his native Louisiana every year of his career as the Owls have annually played at Conference USA rival Tulane. But Saturday's game against LSU will be played just minutes from his hometown which is located just north of Baton Rouge, La.
And Ghoram is not the only Rice player who will be experiencing a homecoming. Freshman forward Stuart Pirri becomes eligible with Saturday's game. Pirri has just completed a year of residency at Rice after transferring midyear last season from Southeast Missouri. Pirri, a native of Metairie, La., prepped at Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge.
Pirri is a first cousin of LSU freshman forward Eddie Ludwig who has played in all nine of the Tigers' games this season.
Another tie between the two programs is LSU assistant coach Brent Scott who was a four-year letterman at Rice (1989-93) and a member of the Owls' coaching staff during the 2007-08 season. Scott finished his playing career at Rice ranked second in both career points and rebounds.
Saturday's game will be the third in a week for LSU which is coming off wins over instate opponents Southeastern Louisiana (77-60) and Nicholls State (63-60). The Tigers have won four straight and are 7-0 at home this season.
LSU, 7-2, is led by sophomore forward Storm Warren who is averaging 15.9-point, 11.4-rebound double-double while senior forward Tasmin Mitchell leads the Tigers in scoring at 18 points per game. Mitchell also averages 8.4 rebounds.
As a team, the Tigers are outrebounding their opponents by 8.6 boards per game.
Rice improved to 5-4 with a 70-57 win over Santa Clara earlier in the week.
Led by Tamir Jackson and Arsalan Kazemi's performances, Rice had a season-high 17 steals which aided in the Owls scoring 27 points off turnovers.
Jackson, who is averaging 9.4 points per game, had a season high five steals against Santa Clara and leads the Owls with 21 steals. Kazemi had four steals in the game. He is averaging 8.5 points and a team-leading 7.1 rebounds.
Rice sophomore guard Connor Frizzelle scored a team-high 16 points in the Owls' win over Santa Clara and is averaging 10.3 points per game to lead Rice.
Following Saturday's game, the Owls return to action next Wednesday when they travel to Lamar. Rice's next home game is Dec. 29th when the Owls play host to McNeese State.
