Men’s Basketball Hosts Incarnate Word in Annual School House Mania Game

HOUSTON — Rice begins its final non-conference homestand this Thursday, Dec. 16, when it hosts Incarnate Word in its annual School House Mania game. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. and will be streamed at CUSAtv.

Game 11
What: Rice vs. Incarnate Word
When: Thursday, December 16 at 11:15 a.m.
Where: Houston, Texas
Arena: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208)
Watch: CUSAtv
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Rice leads 2-1 (Incarnate Word leads 1-0 in Houston)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Thursday morning's contest with a 6-4 record after defeating Houston Baptist, 88-73, last Saturday.
• Guard Carl Pierre leads the team and is ninth in Conference USA with 15.3 points per game while pulling down 3.2 rebounds per game. He leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (45.1%) and three-pointers made per game (3.2), is third in field goal percentage (50.5%) and 10th in minutes played (32.5).
• Guard Travis Evee is second on the team with 14.2 points per game while adding 3.1 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game. Evee is second in C-USA in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 44.9% from three and third in three-pointers made per game (3.1). He's also connecting on 49.0% from the field.
• Guard Chris Mullins is scoring 10.7 points per game while placing second on the team with 3.0 assists per game.
• Forward Max Fiedler is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.6 points per game and 9.5 boards per game, which is second C-USA. He leads the team in field goal percentage, connecting on 63.1% from the field and assists per game (4.0). He's also second in the conference with four double-doubles and ninth in blocks (1.4).
• Rice is scoring 80.5 points per game while allowing 76.2.
• The Owls are connecting on 47.4% from the field and 40.4% from three, which leads Conference USA. They are allowing 44.4% from the floor and 33.2% from beyond the arc.
• Rice is outrebounding the opposition, 36.2-to-33.4.
• Rice leads the league in assists with 17.2 and three-pointers per game with 11.3, which is also ninth in the country.
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his fifth season leading the Rice men's basketball program. He holds a record of 56-77.

Scouting Incarnate Word
• Incarnate Word enters Thursday morning's contest with a 2-8 record. The Cardinals defeated Grambling State, 72-62, last Saturday.
• Guard Josh Morgan is leading the team with 16.6 points while connecting on 51.7% from three despite playing in just five games.
• Guard RJ Glasper is second on the team and fifth in the Southland Conference with 13.8 points per game. He's also fourth in assists (3.5), seventh in field goal percentage (.402), and eighth in three-pointers made per game (1.7)
• Forward Johnny Hughes III is seventh in the league in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game. He's also fourth in rebounding (7.2) and free throw percentage (81.8%) and fifth in blocks (0.8).
• Guard Drew Lutz is scoring 12.3 points per game while leading the Southland in assists (4.1) and free throw percentage (85.7%).
• Forward/center Benjamin Griscti is averaging 10.2 points per game and is second in the league in three-pointers made per game with 2.4.
• Incarnate Word is averaging just 69.5 points per game while allowing 79.3.
• The Cardinals are connecting on 45.4% from the field while hitting 36.4% from three, which leads the Southland Conference. They are allowing 50.2% from the floor and 40.1% from beyond the arc.
• UIW is being outrebounded by the opposition, 33.2-to-30.2 while leading the league in free throw percentage, connecting on 73.6% from the charity stripe.
• Head coach Dr. Carson Cunningham is in his fourth season at the helm of the Incarnate Word men's basketball program where he owns a 25-69 record. In eight seasons as a head coach, Cunningham is 132-119.

School House Mania
• This is the eighth installment of Rice's School House Mania game.
• Rice has won the previous seven School House Mania games.
• This will be the first time that Incarnate Word will be the opponent.
• Rice won the previous seven School House Mania games by an average of 15.6 points.

Rice-Incarnate Word Series History
• This will be just the fourth meeting between Rice and Incarnate Word.
• Rice leads the series, 2-1.
• However, Incarnate Word won the only meeting in Houston, 82-76, on Dec. 29, 2015.
• Rice has won the last two meetings, including a 68-53 decision last year in San Antonio.
• The teams were also scheduled to play in Houston last year, but the game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rice vs. the Southland Conference
• When the Owls face Incarnate Word, it will be the 82nd meeting against the Southland Conference.
• Rice is 46-35 all-time against the Southland.
• This will be the third of three meetings against the Southland Conference this year. Rice defeated New Orleans, 83-78, on Nov. 19, and Houston Baptist, 88-73, on Dec. 11.
• This is the ninth straight season that Rice will face at least one team from the Southland Conference and the 15th in the past 16 seasons. Rice is 21-16 against the Southland in the past 12 seasons.

Next Up
• Rice will play its last home non-conference game this Sunday, Dec. 19, when it hosts St. Thomas. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by CUSAtv.

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