Owls Begin Busy Week with Sunday Matinee
11/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2010
Rice University will look to rebound from a heart-breaking, one-point loss at Santa Clara last Thursday when the Owls take on St. Gregory's Sunday afternoon in Tudor Fieldhouse. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally in Houston on ESPN 97.5 and through RiceOwls.com.
Rice, 2-1, has been led by sophomore forward Arsalan Kazemi who has posted three double-doubles in as many games. He is averaging 14 points and 13.3 rebounds for the Owls.
Against Santa Clara, Kazemi had 17 points and grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds. The Owls led throughout the game until a three-pointer with 15 seconds to play gave Santa Clara its lone lead, 66-65.
Sunday's game against St. Gregory's begins a three-game week for the Owls. Rice travels to North Texas on Tuesday and plays at Texas next Saturday.
St. Gregory's guard Fayzon Richey leads St. Gregory's in scoring. The 6-3 sophomore is averaging 21 points per game. Richey scored 25 points earlier this week in the Cavaliers' 108-58 loss at Arkansas-Little Rock. UALR shot 59 percent from the field while holding the Cavaliers to 17-for-63 shooting (27 percent).
Sophomore guard Preston Davis comes off the bench to average 12.8 points and 5.5 rebounds for St. Gregory's. The NAIA school has a 3-1 record this season.
Rice heads into the week outrebounding opponents by a +16.3 margin. In addition to Kazemi's numbers, Rice senior Trey Stanton is averaging 6.7 boards in addition to a 8.7 points per game scoring average.
Stanton along with junior guard Connor Frizzelle both received their first starts of the season on the road at Santa Clara.
Frizzelle is averaging 13.3 points per game and leads the team with nine steals through three contests. He has got to the line 16 times and has an 87.5 free throw shooting percentage.
As a team, the Owls have knocked down 84 percent of their free throws. At one point over the course of the Grambling and Santa Clara games, Rice converted 28 straight free throws.
