Owls Close Out '09 in Tudor Fieldhouse Tuesday
12/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2009
Rice Game Notes l McNeese State Game Notes
Rice will look to ride out of 2009 on a winning note Tuesday as the Owls play host to McNeese State in Tudor Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game can be heard in Houston on ESPN 97.5 as well as world wide via RiceOwls.com.
Rice returns to Tudor after a couple road losses left the team with a 5-6 record. Following a 65-61 loss at LSU, the Owls dropped a 77-61 decision at Lamar last week.
The Owls turned the ball over 21 times at Lamar and were outrebounded by 10 boards.
Now the squad turns its attention to the final week of games before opening Conference USA play next week. Following Tuesday's game against McNeese State, the Owls travel to TCU Saturday. The Horned Frogs, 6-6, play host to Northern Colorado on Wednesday.
McNeese State, 5-6, heads into Tuesday's game at Rice having won two of its last three games including a 61-57 victory at Conference USA-member Tulane.
Junior forward P.J. Alawoya, who prepped at Alief Hastings High School, scored a career-high 18 points in the Cowboys' win over the Green Wave. For the year, Alawoya is averaging 9.1 points and leads the team with a 6.9 rebounding average.
Sophomore forward Patrick Richard averages 12.5 points per game and junior guard Diego Kapelan is averaging 11.5 points an outing to lead McNeese State in scoring. Through 11 games Kapelan has knocked down 32-of-76 three-point attempts (.421).
A pair of freshmen lead Rice in five primary statistical categories including scoring and rebounding.
Arsalan Kazemi received his first career start last week at Lamar, equaling a career scoring high with 13 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. For the year, Kazemi is averaging a team-leading 7.5 rebounds to go along with a 9.3 points per game scoring average. He also leads the Owls with nine blocked shots.
Tamir Jackson leads Rice in scoring, averaging 10.8 points per game. He also has 28 assists and 27 steals on the year.
