Men’s Hoops Closes Road Trip at UC Santa Barbara

HOUSTON — Rice closes its road trip this Saturday, Nov. 16 when it travels to Santa Barbara, Calif., to face UC Santa Barbara. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. and the game will be livestreamed by BigWest.tv.

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters today's game with a 3-1 record. The Owls have won their last three games after earning an 80-74 victory at Northwestern State on Tuesday.
• Sophomore Trey Murphy III leads the Owls with 14.5 points per game and is third on the team in rebounds, pulling down 5.3 per game. He's also tied for seventh in Conference USA in three-pointers made (2.3) and tied for eighth in blocks (1.5).
• Senior Ako Adams is second on the team with 11.0 points per game and leads the team in assists (3.0). He is also tied for the lead in the country (as of Nov. 13) in free throw percentage, connecting on a perfect 10-for-10 from the line.
• Sophomore Drew Peterson is third on the team in scoring (8.3) while leading the squad with 7.3 rebounds per game. He's also averaging 2.8 assists.
• Freshman Quincy Olivari is scoring 8.0 points per game and freshman Max Fiedler is second on the team with 7.0 rebounds per game.
• Rice is averaging 67.0 points while allowing 66.5.
• The Owls are connecting on 39.1% from the floor and 29.5% from three while allowing their opponents to connect on 41.4% from the field but just 28.9% from three.
• Rice is also outrebounding its opponents, 41.30-to-36.8.
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his third season leading the Rice men's basketball program. He holds a record of 23-44.

Scouting UC Santa Barbara
• UC Santa Barbara enters Saturday afternoon's contest with a 1-1 record after falling to UCLA, 77-61, on Sunday.
• Senior guard Max Heidegger is second in the Big West Conference with 20.0 points. He is tied for the lead in the nation in free throw percentage (100.0%) and is sixth in the Big West in field goal percentage (60.9%) and seventh in assists (3.5).
• Sophomore forward Amadou Sow is second on the team with 13.5 points per game. He is also second in the league in field goal percentage (76.9%) and rebounds (9.5) and is tied for sixth in free throw percentage (85.7%).
• Junior guard JaQuori McLaughlin is averaging 11.0 points per game while tying for seventh in the Big West Conference in three-point field goal percentage (50.0%) and eighth in assists (3.0).
• Junior guard Devearl Ramsey is fourth in the conference with 4.5 assists per game.
• UC Santa Barbara is averaging 72.0 points per game while allowing 69.5.
• UCSB is connecting on 52.6% from the floor, which leads the Big West Conference, and 37.2% from three while holding its opponents to 39.7% from the floor and 37.5% from beyond the arc.
• The Gauchos are outrebounding their opponents, 33.0-to-31.5 and lead the conference in blocks (4.5 bpg).
• Head coach Joe Pasternack is in his third season at the helm of the UC Santa Barbara men's basketball program where he owns a 46-20 (.697) record. In eight seasons as a head coach, Pasternack is 100-80 (.556).

Rice-UC Santa Barbara Series History
• Rice and UC Santa Barbara will meet for the second straight year and just the fourth time overall.
• Rice is looking for its first win in the series as the Gauchos have won the previous three meetings.
• Last year, UCSB held off the Owls, 99-89, in overtime.
• Rice fell in the only other meeting in Santa Barbara, an 83-80 setback on Dec. 29, 1973.

Rice vs. the Big West Conference
• When the Owls face UC Santa Barbara, it will be the 16th meeting against the Big West Conference.
• Rice is 6-9 all-time against the Big West.
• Rice is 2-4 when facing current members of the Big West Conference.

Next Up
• Rice returns home next Tuesday, Nov. 19 when it hosts crosstown rival Houston. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be livestreamed by CBS Sports Network on Facebook.

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