Island Journey Brings Challenges for Owls
11/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2011
Rice Game Notes l Northern Iowa Game Notes
Iowa State Game Notes 
Off to its best season start since 2004-05, Rice continues play at the South Padre Island Invitational with games on the Island Friday and Saturday.
The tournament moves to the South Padre Island Convention Centre this weekend after games were earlier contested at four campus sites. Rice, 4-0, takes on Northern Iowa Friday at 5 p.m. and then plays Iowa State Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in a game which will be broadcast by CBS Sports Network. Both games will be broadcast in Houston by 1560 The Game (KGOW) and the audio will be streamed through RiceOwls.com.
Rice began play in the tournament a week ago with an 80-65 win over Southern and beat Florida A&M 75-59 earlier this week.
The Owls go for their fifth straight win this weekend. The 2004-05 Rice team won its first six games en route to a 19-12 record and an NIT appearance.
Northern Iowa and Iowa State have both started their seasons at 3-1 with their lone losses coming on the road. UNI lost at Saint Mary's 57-41 while Iowa State lost a 74-65 decision at Drake earlier this month.
While each opponent has different strengths, the Owls will face their most formidable opponents thus far this season in both games.
"It is an opportunity to step outside our conference and play some teams from prestigious leagues," said Rice head coach Ben Braun. "Whether it is the Big 12 or Missouri Valley, it is an opportunity for us to play teams that have had success. We are going to be challenged. We are going to find out a little bit more about ourselves."
UNI has stifled opponents' offenses this year, allowing just 52.8 points per game and holding teams to 36.9 percent shooting. The Panthers force 18 turnovers on average.
The Panthers are coming off a 56-39 win over Western Carolina on Tuesday, holding the Catamounts to under 30 percent shooting.
Northern Iowa junior Jake Koch is averaging 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds and also leads the Panthers in total assists (11), steals (9) and blocks (6).
Last year, UNI won 20 games for the third straight year and the Panthers return eight letter winners and three starters off a team which went 20-14.
Iowa State enters the weekend shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
The Cyclones have been led by sophomore transfer forward Royce White who is averaging 18.3 points and 10.0 rebounds. White is shooting 58.3 percent from the field and also leads ISU with eight blocks in four games.
This year's Iowa State team features seven Division I transfers and the Cyclones' top three scorers are all Big 10 transfers. In addition to White who transferred from Minnesota, Chris Allen (transfer from Michigan State) and Chris Babb (transfer from Penn state) are averaging 13.5 and 12.3 points, respectively.
While 71 percent of Iowa State's scoring production has come from Division I transfers, 36 percent of Rice University's production has come from its freshman class.
Rice rookie Dylan Ennis was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Week on Monday and is averaging 9.0 points an outing. Fellow freshmen Julian DeBose and Jarelle Reischel have each started two games for the Owls this season.
Junior forward Arsalan Kazemi is coming off a 15-point, 15-rebound effort against Florida A&M earlier in the week and is the Owls' scoring co-leader with junior guard Tamir Jackson. Both players are averaging 11.8 points per game. Kazemi is also averaging 12 rebounds an outing and has 11 assists, eight blocks and seven steals through four games.
Rice senior Connor Frizzelle is averaging 8.8 points per game. He is 53 points shy of becoming the 29th player in Rice history to score 1,000 career points.
