Men’s Basketball Takes to the Road to Face No. 2 Texas

HOUSTON — The Rice men's basketball team will put its five-game winning streak on the line this Monday, Dec. 12, when it travels to Austin to face second-ranked Texas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be televised by the Longhorn Network.

Game 9
What: Rice (6-2, 0-1) at No. 2 Texas (7-1, 0-0)
When: Monday, December 12 at 7 p.m.
Where: Austin, Texas
Stadium: Moody Center (10,000)
Watch: Longhorn Network
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Texas leads 138-59 (74-20 in Austin)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Monday night's game with a 6-2 record. The Owls are looking for their sixth straight victory after defeating Texas State last Sunday.
• Junior guard Travis Evee leads the team and is fifth in the league with 16.9 points per game. He's also fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.9) and three-point field goal percentage (.390), sixth in free throw percentage (.800), and eighth in field goal percentage (.424).
• Junior guard and Preseason All-Conference USA honoree Quincy Olivari is sixth in C-USA with 16.3 points per game. He's also second on the team in rebounds per game (5.5) while placing sixth in the league in three-pointers made per game (2.5), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.339), and ninth in field goal percentage (.417) and free throw percentage (.769).
• Freshman guard Mekhi Mason is third on team with 10.1 points per game and fourth with 3.4 rebounds per game and junior guard Alem Huseinovic is averaging 7.48.0 points per game.
• Junior forward Max Fiedler leads the team and is fourth in the conference with 7.1 rebounds per game. He is also second in the league with 5.4 assists per game. Fiedler is averaging 8.3 points per game while connecting on 68.2% from the field.
• Rice is scoring 76.4 points per game while allowing 74.3.
• The Owls are connecting on 47.4% from the field and 34.6% from three. Their opponents are hitting 48.5% from the floor and 39.1% from behind the arc.
• Rice is also outrebounding its opponents, 33.1-to-32.0.
• Rice is fourth in the conference in assists per game with 16.3
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his sixth season leading the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting Texas
• Texas enters Monday's game with a 7-1 record after defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday, 88-43.
• Sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter leads the team and is ninth in the Big 12 Conference with 14.1 points per game. He's also fourth in the league in field goal percentage (.512) while averaging 3.8 rebounds.
• Graduate transfer guard Marcus Carr is second on the team with 13.9 points per game while placing fourth in the conference with 4.4 assists per game and 2.1 steals per game, ninth in free throw percentage (.750), and 10th in three-pointers made per game (1.8).
• Senior forward Timmy Allen leads the team and is fourth in the Big 12 with 6.8 rebounds per game while scoring 7.9 points per game.
• Texas is second in the conference in scoring, averaging 81.1 points per game while allowing a league-low 57.4.
• The Longhorns are connecting on 49.7% from the floor, good for third in the league but just 30.6% from three while its opponents are hitting 37.1% from the field, but just 26.8% from behind the arc.
• UT is outrebounding its opponents, 39.4-to-36.1.
• Head coach Chris Beard is in his second season at the helm of the Texas men's basketball program where he owns a 29-13 record. In 13 years as a head coach, Beard is 281-116.

Rice-Texas Series History
• Rice and Texas will meet for the first time since 2014 and the 198th time overall, the most games played against an opponent in school history, snapping a tie with SMU.
• The Longhorns hold a 59-138 advantage in the series, but UT has won the last 10 meetings.
• Rice is looking for its first victory over the Longhorns since 1996.
• When played in Austin, Rice is 20-74.
• This will be just the 10th meeting as non-conference foes, as the teams were a part of the Southwest Conference until 1996. Texas has won the previous nine meetings.
• It is also the 13th time that Rice will face a ranked Texas team. Rice is 2-10 in those games, having won in 1949 (65-49) and 1982 (80-49).

Next Up
• Rice begins a stretch of three games in five days when it hosts North American this Thursday, Dec. 15, in its annual School House Mania game. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. and the game will be streamed by CUSAtv.

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