Tuesday, November 5
Fayetteville, AR
7 p.m.
Rice University
at
Arkansas
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Men’s Basketball Opens 2019-20 Season at Arkansas
11/4/2019 9:31:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HOUSTON — Rice opens the 2019-20 regular season when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., to face former Southwest Conference foe Arkansas this Tuesday, Nov. 5. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be livestreamed by SEC Network+.
Scouting Rice
• Rice returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last year's squad that finished 13-19 overall and 8-10 in Conference USA.
• Rice returns its top three scorers and seven of its top nine, led by forward Robert Martin with 12.2 points. He is the team's leading returning rebounder, grabbing 6.2 boards per game, which was 12th in the league. He was also third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 42.6%.
• Guard Chris Mullins was second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points per game. He also led the squad in assists (2.7 apg) and steals (1.3 spg).
• Guard Ako Adams averaged 11.2 points per game and 2.7 assists. He led the team with 72 three-pointers made and led the conference in free throw percentage (90.5%).
• Guard Trey Murphy III averaged 8.8 points per game and connected on 42.1% from behind the arc.
• This year's squad features a total of seven newcomers, including five freshmen and two transfers. The five freshmen include guards Quincy Olivari (Atlanta, Ga.) and Reed Myers (Phoenix, Ariz.) and forwards Zach Crisler (North Wales, Pa.), Max Fiedler (Indialantic, Fla.) and Ben Moffat (Wichita Falls, Texas). The transfers consist of graduate student Tommy McCarthy (Harvard) and junior forward Malik Ondigo (Texas Tech).
• Head coach Scott Pera begins his third season leading the Rice men's basketball program. He holds a record of 20-43.
Scouting Arkansas
• Arkansas begins the season after finishing 18-16 last year and 8-10 in the SEC and making the second round of the NIT.
• UA welcomes back eight letterwinners from last year's squad, including four starters. Arkansas also welcomes three newcomers
• The Razorbacks return six of its top seven scorers, led by Second Team Preseason All-SEC selection, sophomore guard Isaiah Joe. Joe was second on the team with 13.9 points per game and led the team with 113 three-pointers and 1.5 steals per game.
• Junior guard Mason Jones was third on the team with 13.6 points per game and was second on the squad with 2.8 assists per game.
• Junior guard Jalen Harris led Arkansas with 5.6 assists per game while scoring 7.6 points per game.
• Head coach Eric Musselman begins his first season leading the Arkansas men's basketball program. He holds a record of 110-34 in four seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Series History
• Rice and Arkansas have met 143 times, the sixth most times in Rice's 106-year basketball history.
• The series dates back to 1923-24 when they played twice, both at Rice with each team winning a game.
• The next year, the teams played a pair of games in Fayetteville, with each team again winning a game.
• Arkansas owns a 102-41 advantage, including a 54-11 mark in Fayetteville.
• In fact, the teams met every year from 1924 until 1991 as members of the Southwest Conference.
• However, they have only met once since Arkansas left the Southwest Conference for the Southeastern Conference prior to the 1991-92 season, with the Razorbacks taking an 80-61 decision on Dec. 17, 2005 in Fayetteville.
• Arkansas has won 15 straight games in the series and 40 of the last 43.
Rice vs. the Southeastern Conference
• When the Owls face Arkansas, it will be the 101st meeting against the Southeastern Conference.
• Rice is 48-52 all-time against the SEC.
• This is the first meeting against the SEC since the 2017-18 season.
• The Owls are looking for their first victory over the SEC since a 74-68 win over LSU in 2010-11.
• Rice has lost four straight road games against the SEC, having last earned a victory over Vanderbilt in 1995.
Rice in Season Openers
• Rice is 59-46 all-time in season openers.
• Rice will be opening on the road for the 35th time and the first time since the 2016-17 season. When opening on the road, Rice is 8-27.
• This is the eighth time that Rice has opened the season against the Southeastern Conference but the first since 1979. Rice has also opened against Vanderbilt (three times), Georgia Tech (twice), Auburn (once) and Tulane (once). The Owls are 2-5 when opening the season against the SEC.
Next Up
• Rice opens its home schedule this Saturday, Nov. 9, when it hosts Penn. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be livestreamed by CUSAtv.
Scouting Rice
• Rice returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last year's squad that finished 13-19 overall and 8-10 in Conference USA.
• Rice returns its top three scorers and seven of its top nine, led by forward Robert Martin with 12.2 points. He is the team's leading returning rebounder, grabbing 6.2 boards per game, which was 12th in the league. He was also third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 42.6%.
• Guard Chris Mullins was second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.0 points per game. He also led the squad in assists (2.7 apg) and steals (1.3 spg).
• Guard Ako Adams averaged 11.2 points per game and 2.7 assists. He led the team with 72 three-pointers made and led the conference in free throw percentage (90.5%).
• Guard Trey Murphy III averaged 8.8 points per game and connected on 42.1% from behind the arc.
• This year's squad features a total of seven newcomers, including five freshmen and two transfers. The five freshmen include guards Quincy Olivari (Atlanta, Ga.) and Reed Myers (Phoenix, Ariz.) and forwards Zach Crisler (North Wales, Pa.), Max Fiedler (Indialantic, Fla.) and Ben Moffat (Wichita Falls, Texas). The transfers consist of graduate student Tommy McCarthy (Harvard) and junior forward Malik Ondigo (Texas Tech).
• Head coach Scott Pera begins his third season leading the Rice men's basketball program. He holds a record of 20-43.
Scouting Arkansas
• Arkansas begins the season after finishing 18-16 last year and 8-10 in the SEC and making the second round of the NIT.
• UA welcomes back eight letterwinners from last year's squad, including four starters. Arkansas also welcomes three newcomers
• The Razorbacks return six of its top seven scorers, led by Second Team Preseason All-SEC selection, sophomore guard Isaiah Joe. Joe was second on the team with 13.9 points per game and led the team with 113 three-pointers and 1.5 steals per game.
• Junior guard Mason Jones was third on the team with 13.6 points per game and was second on the squad with 2.8 assists per game.
• Junior guard Jalen Harris led Arkansas with 5.6 assists per game while scoring 7.6 points per game.
• Head coach Eric Musselman begins his first season leading the Arkansas men's basketball program. He holds a record of 110-34 in four seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Series History
• Rice and Arkansas have met 143 times, the sixth most times in Rice's 106-year basketball history.
• The series dates back to 1923-24 when they played twice, both at Rice with each team winning a game.
• The next year, the teams played a pair of games in Fayetteville, with each team again winning a game.
• Arkansas owns a 102-41 advantage, including a 54-11 mark in Fayetteville.
• In fact, the teams met every year from 1924 until 1991 as members of the Southwest Conference.
• However, they have only met once since Arkansas left the Southwest Conference for the Southeastern Conference prior to the 1991-92 season, with the Razorbacks taking an 80-61 decision on Dec. 17, 2005 in Fayetteville.
• Arkansas has won 15 straight games in the series and 40 of the last 43.
Rice vs. the Southeastern Conference
• When the Owls face Arkansas, it will be the 101st meeting against the Southeastern Conference.
• Rice is 48-52 all-time against the SEC.
• This is the first meeting against the SEC since the 2017-18 season.
• The Owls are looking for their first victory over the SEC since a 74-68 win over LSU in 2010-11.
• Rice has lost four straight road games against the SEC, having last earned a victory over Vanderbilt in 1995.
Rice in Season Openers
• Rice is 59-46 all-time in season openers.
• Rice will be opening on the road for the 35th time and the first time since the 2016-17 season. When opening on the road, Rice is 8-27.
• This is the eighth time that Rice has opened the season against the Southeastern Conference but the first since 1979. Rice has also opened against Vanderbilt (three times), Georgia Tech (twice), Auburn (once) and Tulane (once). The Owls are 2-5 when opening the season against the SEC.
Next Up
• Rice opens its home schedule this Saturday, Nov. 9, when it hosts Penn. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be livestreamed by CUSAtv.
Players Mentioned
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