Men’s Hoops Opens C-USA Bonus Play at UTEP

HOUSTON — For the second straight year, Rice will begin C-USA Bonus Play by traveling to El Paso, Texas to face UTEP this Saturday, Feb. 22. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be livestreamed by CUSAtv.

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Saturday night's Bonus Play opener with a 13-14 record, including 5-9 in Conference USA. The Owls have won four of their last five games, defeating Charlotte last Saturday, 70-54.
• Sophomore Trey Murphy III leads the Owls with 13.3 points per game and is second with 5.6 rebounds and third with 36.5% three-point field goal percentage. He is also fifth in the league in three-pointers made per game (2.5).
• Senior Ako Adams is second on the team with 11.5 points per game and 2.5 assists per game while leading the team with a 39.3% three-point field goal percentage, which is fifth in Conference USA. He also leads the league in free throw percentage (89.8%) and is fourth in three-pointers made per game (2.7).
• Senior Robert Martin is third on the team with 11.5 points per game and s third with 5.6 rebounds per game.
• Sophomore Drew Peterson is fourth on the team in scoring (10.1) and leads the team and is ninth in C-USA with 6.5 rebounds per game. He is also eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.3) and ninth in assists (3.3).
• Redshirt junior Josh Parrish is averaging 7.8 points on the year, but 11.2 points per game in conference play. He also leads the league in field goal percentage during conference play, connecting on 69.9% from the field.
• Rice is averaging 74.2 points while allowing 74.9.
• The Owls are connecting on 43.7% from the floor and 34.3% from three while allowing their opponents to connect on 45.7% from the field but just 32.3% from three.
• Rice's opponents are outrebounding the Owls, 36.4-to-35.7 but the Owls lead the conference and are 13th in the country in three-pointers made per game (9.9).
• The Owls are also third in Conference USA in assists with 14.3 per game.
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his third season leading the Rice men's basketball program, where he holds a record of 33-57.

Scouting UTEP
• UTEP enters its C-USA Bonus Play opener with a 13-14 record, including 4-10 in Conference USA. The Miners are looking to snap a five-game losing streak after falling to Marshall last Saturday, 71-61.
• Redshirt forward Bryson Williams leads UTEP and is third in the league in scoring, averaging 18.6 points per game. He is also tied for sixth in the league in rebounds (7.1), tied for eighth in blocks (0.9) and 10th in free throw percentage (83.7%).
• Redshirt sophomore guard Souley Boum is second on the team with 12.5 points per game. He is also third in Conference USA in free throw percentage, connecting on 87.6% from the charity stripe.
• Graduate transfer guard Daryl Edwards is third on the team with 10.6 points per game.
• UTEP is scoring 66.6 points per game while allowing just 66.1.
• The Miners are connecting on 42.5% from the floor but just 27.8% from three. Their opponents are being held to just 42.0% from the field and 30.7% from three, which is second in C-USA.
• UTEP is being outrebounded by its opponents, 34.8-to-34.3 and is third in the league in free throw percentage, connecting on 75.5%.
• Head coach Rodney Terry is in his second season at the helm of the UTEP men's basketball program where he owns a 21-35 (.375) record. In nine seasons as a head coach, Terry is 147-143 (.507).

Rice-UTEP Series History
• Rice and UTEP will meet for 39th time overall.
• UTEP holds a 25-13 record in the series 15-4 in games played in El Paso.
• The Miners have won 11 of the last 13 meetings but the teams have split two of the last four.
• Earlier this year, Rice fell to UTEP in Houston, 72-64, on Jan. 23.
• Last year, the teams also met in the opening game of Bonus Play, with Rice coming back from a 20-point deficit to defeat UTEP, 85-81, in double overtime.
• From 1997-2006, the teams met as members of the Western Athletic Conference. Both teams have been a part of Conference USA since 2005.

Next Up
• Rice will have a week off before hosting Middle Tennessee next Sunday, Mar. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will livestreamed at CUSAtv.

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