Men’s Hoops Closes Road Trip at North Texas

HOUSTON — Rice closes its three-game road swing this Monday, Jan. 20, when it travels to Denton to face North Texas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the ESPN+.

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Monday night's contest with a 9-10 record, including 1-5 in Conference USA. The Owls are looking for their first road conference victory after falling at Southern Miss, 81-68, Saturday afternoon.
• Sophomore Trey Murphy III leads the Owls with 14.1 points per game, 1.0 steals per game and a 37.6% three-point field goal percentage, while placing third in rebounds (5.3). He is also third in the league in three-pointers made per game (2.8).
• Senior Robert Martin is second on the team with 11.5 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game.
• Senior Ako Adams is tied for third on the team with 10.0 points per game and is second with 2.3 assists per game. He is also second in Conference USA in free throw percentage (89.1%) and ninth in three-pointers made per game (2.2).
• Sophomore Drew Peterson is tied for third on the team in scoring (10.0) and leads the team and is seventh in C-USA with 6.7 rebounds per game. He is also ninth in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3) and 10th in assists (3.2).
• Redshirt junior Josh Parrish is averaging 6.0 points on the year, but 10.0 points per game in conference play. He also leads the league in conference play in field goal percentage, connecting on 73.5% from the field.
• Rice is averaging 73.3 points while allowing 74.9.
• The Owls are connecting on 42.3% from the floor and 32.7% from three while allowing their opponents to connect on 45.3% from the field but just 30.7% from three.
• Rice's opponents are outrebounding the Owls, 38.4-to-36.6 but the Owls are third in the conference in three-pointers made per game (9.5).
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his third season leading the Rice men's basketball program. He holds a record of 29-53.

Scouting North Texas
• North Texas enters tonight's contest with a 12-6 record, including 5-1 in Conference USA. The Mean Green have won five straight games and seven of their last eight after defeating Louisiana Tech, 51-50.
• Redshirt sophomore guard Umoja Gibson leads North Texas and is 10th in the league in scoring, averaging 14.2 points per game. He is also second in the league in three-pointers made per game (2.8) and fifth in three-point percentage (45.1%).
• Redshirt junior guard Javion Hamlet is second on the team with 11.6 points per game. He is second in C-USA in assists (4.6), fourth in free throw percentage (87.1%) and fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6).
• Graduate transfer forward Deng Geu is third on the team with 8.4 points per game and leads the team and is ninth in the conference with 6.2 rebounds per game.
• Redshirt senior guard DJ Draper leads Conference USA in three-point percentage (54.4%) and junior forward Zachary Simmons is third in the league in field goal percentage (63.1%).
• North Texas is scoring 69.6 points per game while allowing just 61.6, which is second in the conference.
• The Mean Green is second in the league in field goal percentage, connecting on 47.1% from the floor and leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (38.3%). Their opponents are connecting on 40.5% and 31.5% from three.
• UNT is pulling down 33.7 rebounds per game while holding its opponents to a league-low 29.6s.
• Head coach Grant McCasland is in his third season at the helm of the North Texas men's basketball program where he owns a 52-38 (.578) record. In four seasons as a head coach, McCasland is 72-50 (.590).

Rice-North Texas Series History
• Rice and North Texas will meet for the first of two times this year and the 24th time overall.
• North Texas holds a 16-7 record in the series, including the last four meetings.
• The Owls are just 1-8 in Denton with the only win coming on Feb. 4, 2017, a 95-80 victory.
• Last year, the Mean Green swept the season series, winning 103-87 in Houston and 76-75 in Denton.
• The teams will meet again on Feb. 1 in Houston.

Next Up
• Rice returns home for three games beginning next Thursday, Jan. 23, when it hosts UTEP. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by the ESPN+.

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