Rice University Athletics
Owls Open Season Against St. Thomas
11/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2010
Rice University opens its 97th basketball season Friday when it plays host to the University of St. Thomas. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Tudor Fieldhouse and is part of a rare, double-header with the Owl volleyball team which plays host to Marshall at 5 p.m.
Friday's game for the Rice basketball program begins a busy first weekend. The Owls also play host to Grambling State Sunday afternoon. The squad will look to take advantage of playing three of its first four at home in Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Owls' games are broadcast by ESPN 97.5. Live statistics and video are available through RiceOwls.com.
Rice is coming off a 76-49 win over Texas A&M International in an exhibition game played Monday. Arsalan Kazemi was one of five Rice players to score in double figures, finishing with 14 points and five rebounds while Trey Stanton came off the bench to score 11 points and grab a team-high nine rebounds.
Rice shot 53 percent from the field in the opening half and built a comfortable, 42-26 lead by intermission. All 15 Rice players saw action in the game with seven seeing 15+ minutes of playing time.
Connor Frizzelle, Lucas Kuipers and Cory Pflieger also scored in double figures. In addition to 10 points, Kuipers had seven rebounds. Tamir Jackson led the team with six assists and did not have a turnover.
Last year marked the return to intercollegiate basketball for the University of St. Thomas for the first time since 1985. UST head coach Todd Smith was a member of the Rice coaching staff from 1989-2007. The Celts, who posted a 10-15 record last year, are an NAIA Division I Independent team. This year, UST is already off to a 2-1 start but coming off a 77-57 loss at Texas Wesleyan earlier this week.
Senior guard Anthony Medina is averaging 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds to lead the Celts. Senior guard Jeremy Lewis averaged 15.5 points per game through UST's first two games as a starter, but came off the bench to play just nine minutes against Texas Wesleyan. He was 0-for-4 from the field in the game.
Rice returns its four leading scorers from last year including sophomores Jackson and Kazemi who led the squad in scoring and rebounding last year. Jackson averaged 10.8 points per game last year as a freshman and set a Rice freshman record with 53 steals. Kazemi averaged 10.1 points and 9.1 rebounds. His 272 total rebounds a year ago also established a new rookie standard.
This year marks the third straight year the Owls have opened at home. Last year Rice defeated Sacramento State 81-51 in the opener and jumped out to a 3-0 start.
Rice is 54-42 in season openers. The Owls are 36-12 in season openers played at home
