Men’s Hoops Hosts a Pair of Games to Open Home Schedule

HOUSTON — Rice begins its 2019-20 home schedule with a pair of games this weekend. The Owls will host Penn on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 3:30 p.m., before hosting Wayland Baptist on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. Both games will be livestreamed by CUSAtv.

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters this weekend with a 0-1 record after dropping its season opener at Arkansas.
• 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 is in his third season leading the Rice men's basketball program. He holds a record of 20-44.

Scouting Penn
• Penn enters the game with a 1-0 record after defeating Alabama in its season opener, 81-80.
• Freshman guard Jordan Dingle led the Quakers with 24 points. Senior forward AJ Brodeur recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
• Penn, who was picked to finish second in the Preseason Ivy League poll, welcomes back nine letterwinners from last year's squad, including three starters.
• The Quakers return four of its top five scorers from last year's team that went 19-12, led by First Team All-Ivy selection Brodeur. Brodeur led the team with 17.6 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 3.6 assists per game and 1.3 blocks per game.
• Senior guard Devon Goodman was second on the team with 13.9 points per game and led the squad with 1.7 steals per game.
• Head coach Steve Donahue is in his fifth season at the helm the Penn men's basketball program where he holds a record of 68-53 (.562). In 20 seasons as a head coach, Donahue is 268-267 (.501).

Rice-Penn Series History
• This will be just the fourth meeting between Rice and Penn.
• Penn leads the series, 2-1.
• Rice won the initial meeting, 70-63, on Jan. 4, 1997 in Houston.
• Penn has won the last two meetings, including last year's game, a 92-76 decision in Philadelphia.

Rice vs. the Ivy League
• When the Owls face Penn, it will be the 20th meeting against the Ivy League.
• Rice is 9-10 when facing the Ivy League.
• The Owls are looking for their first victory over the Ivy League since a 67-63 win over Harvard in 2008-09, having lost their last five games.

Scouting Wayland Baptist
• Wayland Baptist, ranked third in the NAIA national poll, enters Sunday's game with a 3-0 record after defeating the University of the Southwest, 64-56, on Nov. 5.
• Senior guard J.J. Culver leads the Sooner Athletic Conference, averaging 35.0 points and 3.0 steals per game. He is also second on the team with 5.7 rebounds per game.
• Junior guard Tre Fillmore is tied for eighth in the SAC in scoring with 16.0 points per game. He is also fourth in the league in three-pointers made per game (3.7) while connecting on a team-high 47.8% from three.
• Senior guard CJ Obinwa is third on the team in scoring 12.3 points per game. He's also second on the team and 10th in the league in assists (3.7 apg).
• Freshman guard Payton Havens leads the Sooner Athletic Conference in assists, dishing out 6.7 per game and is fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.0). He's also pulling down 5.0 rebounds per game.
• Junior center Deng Bol Yol leads the Pioneers with 6.3 rebounds per game.
• Wayland Baptist is averaging 83.0 points per game while allowing just 57.0, good for second in the SAC.
• WBU is connecting on 45.4% from the floor and 39.7% from three while holding its opponents to just 36.0% from the floor and 33.8% from beyond the arc.
• The Pioneers are also outrebounding their opponents, 43.7-to-39.0.
• Head coach Ty Harrelson is in his fifth season at the helm the Wayland Baptist men's basketball program where he holds a record of 91-43 (.679).

Rice-Wayland Baptist Series History
• Rice and Wayland Baptist have met three previous times in the regular season with Rice holding a 3-0 advantage.
• All three games were played at Rice.
• This is the first regular season meeting between the schools since 1978.
• Rice opened the season with the Pioneers in the 1974-75 and 1976-77 seasons, winning both games by a score of 81-62.
• The teams also met in an exhibition game before the 2017-18 season, with Rice earning a 79-72 victory.

Rice in Home Openers
• Rice is 73-31 all-time in season openers.
• The Owls will be looking to win their second straight home opener, having defeated Saint Leo, 80-64, last year.
• However, Rice has lost three of its last four home openers.

Next Up
• Rice goes back on the road this Tuesday, Nov. 12 when it travels to Natchitoches, La., to face Northwestern State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be livestreamed by DemonTV.

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