Men’s Basketball to Host Crosstown Foe Houston Baptist

HOUSTON — Rice will host crosstown rival Houston Baptist in the second game of a home-and-home series this Tuesday, December 15. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed at CUSAtv.

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Tuesday's game with a 4-1 record after dropping its first game of the season on Sunday, 72-61, to New Mexico.
• Sophomore Quincy Olivari leads the Owls with 15.6 points per game while connecting on a team-best 53.1% from three, which is third in Conference USA. He also leads the league in three-pointers made per game (3.4) and is third in field goal percentage (52.9%).
• Sophomore guard Travis Evee is second on the team with 13.6 points per game. He is fourth in C-USA in three-pointers made per game (2.8) and is ninth in three-point field goal percentage (35.0%).
• Sophomore forward Max Fiedler is averaging nearly a double-double, scoring 10.8 points per game while pulling down 8.8 rebounds per game, good for second in the conference. He also leads the team in field goal percentage (59.0%) and assists per game (3.2).
• Junior guard Chris Mullins is scoring 10.2 points per game while graduate forward Tre Clark is adding 6.8 rebounds per game.
• Rice is averaging 82.4 points per game while allowing 65.4.
• The Owls are connecting on 45.5% from the floor and 34.2% from three while holding their opponents to 41.0% from the field and just 28.0% from three.
• Rice is also outrebounding its opponents, 42.0-to-37.4 while leading Conference USA with 16/6 assists per game.
• Head coach Scott Pera begins his fourth season leading the Rice men's basketball program. He holds a record of 39-61.

Scouting Houston Baptist
• Houston Baptist enters Tuesday's contest with a 1-4 record. The Huskies won their first game of the season on Friday, 93-60, over Champion Christian.
• Freshman guard Za-Ontay Boothman leads the Huskies with 11.0 points per game while connecting on 44.4% from three.
• Junior forward Pedro Castro is second on the team with 10.4 points per game and while leading the team with 6.4 rebounds per game.
• Senior guard/forward Ty Dalton is scoring 8.2 points per game while junior guard Hunter Janacek and sophomore center Zach Iyeyemi are averaging 7.8 points per game.
• Houston Baptist is averaging 70.8 points per game while allowing 83.4.
• The Huskies are connecting on 43.4% from the field and 39.8% from three. Their opponents are making 46.6% from the floor and 36.5% from behind the arc.
• HBU is being outrebounded 38.0-to-34.2. Houston Baptist is second in the Southland Conference in free throw percentage (73.1%) and blocks (3.8 bpg) and third in assists (16.2 apg).
• Head coach Ron Cottrell is in his 28th season leading the Houston Baptist men's basketball program, where he holds a 476-393 (.548) record.

Rice-Houston Baptist Series History
• Rice and Houston Baptist will meet for the second time in two weeks and the 14th time overall.
• The Owls lead the series 10-3 and have won the last three meetings.
• Nine of the 12 games have been at Tudor Fieldhouse, where Rice holds an 8-1 record.
• Earlier this year on Dec. 5, the Owls defeated HBU, 86-64, at Sharp Gym.

Rice vs. the Southland Conference
• When the Owls face Houston Baptist, it will be the 77th meeting against the Southland Conference.
• Rice is 42-34 all-time against the Southland.
• This will be the third of five meetings against the Southland Conference this year. Rice defeated Incarnate Word in its season opener and will also host the Cardinals on Dec. 21. It also defeated Houston Baptist on Dec. 15. Rice will also travel to Sam Houston State on Dec. 19.
• This is the eighth straight season that Rice will face at least one team from the Southland Conference and the 14th in the past 15 seasons. Rice is 17-15 against the Southland in the past 12 seasons.

Next Up
• Rice plays its final non-conference road game this Saturday, Dec. 19 when it travels to Huntsville to face Sam Houston State. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game will be livestreamed by the Bearkat Sports Network.

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