Men’s Basketball Welcomes Northwestern State to Tudor Fieldhouse

HOUSTON — Rice continues its homestand this Saturday, Dec. 17, when it hosts Northwestern State. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and it will be streamed by CUSAtv.

Game 11
What: Rice (7-3, 0-1) vs. Northwestern State (8-2, 0-0)
When: Saturday, December 17 at 2 p.m.
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208)
Stream: CUSAtv
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Rice leads 9-0 (7-0 in Houston)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Saturday's game with a 7-3 record. The Owls have won six of their last seven games after defeating North American on Thursday, 92-54.
• Junior guard and Preseason All-Conference USA honoree Quincy Olivari leads the team and is third in C-USA with 18.0 points per game. He's also third on the team in rebounds per game (5.2) while placing fourth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (.378) and three-pointers made per game (2.8), sixth in free throw percentage (.800), and seventh in field goal percentage (.434).
• Junior guard Travis Evee is sixth in the league with 15.6 points per game. He's also fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.5) and three-point field goal percentage (.352), and eighth in field goal percentage (.411) and free throw percentage (.784).
• Freshman guard Mekhi Mason is third on team with 9.3 points per game and fourth with 3.5 rebounds per game and junior guard Alem Huseinovic is averaging 7.7 points per game.
• Junior forward Max Fiedler leads the team and is fourth in the conference with 7.2 rebounds per game. He leads the league with 5.4 assists per game. Fiedler is averaging 8.6 points per game while connecting on 71.4% from the field.
• Sophomore guard Cameron Sheffield is scoring 7.1 points per game while placing second on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game.
• Rice is scoring 78.4 points per game, which is third in Conference USA, while allowing 73.5.
• The Owls are connecting on 47.6% from the field and 33.8% from three. Their opponents are hitting 47.5% from the floor and 35.2% from behind the arc.
• Rice is also outrebounding its opponents, 35.6-to-32.1.
• Rice is second in the conference in assists per game (17.4) and fourth in three-pointers made per game (8.9).
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his sixth season leading the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting Northwestern State
• Northwestern State enters Saturday's game with an 8-2 record. The Demons are on a seven-game winning streak after defeating Louisiana-Monroe last Saturday, 91-73.
• Senior guard DeMarcus Sharp leads the team and is second in the Southland Conference with 16.1 points per game. He's also second in the league in assists (4.1), third in free throw percentage (.842) and 10th in steals (1.6).
• Senior guard Ja'Monte Black is second on the team and 10th in the SLC with 14.3 points per game. He leads the league in three-pointers per game (3.4) and is fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.378).
• Sophomore guard Isaac Haney is averaging 13.8 points and 4.6 rebounds. He's also tied for second in the conference with 2.1 steals per game.
• Junior forward Dayne Prim is averaging 11.0 points per game and freshman guard Jalen Hampton leads the team with 6.8 rebounds per game, which is fifth in the Southland.
• Northwestern State is scoring 74.9 points per game while allowing 72.3.
• The Demons are connecting on 41.7% from the field and 38.2% from three, which is second in the league. Their opponents are hitting 45.4% from the floor and 34.2% from behind the arc.
• NSU is also being outrebounding by its opponents, 38.0-to-34.8.
• Head coach Corey Gipson is in his first season at the helm of the Northwestern State men's basketball program.

Rice-Northwestern State Series History
• Rice and Northwestern State will meet for the first time since 2019 and just the 10th time overall.
• Rice has won the previous nine meetings.
• This will be the eighth meeting in Houston.
• Rice's 9-0 mark against the Demons is its longest active unbeaten streak without a loss against a Division I opponent.

Next Up
• Rice closes its non-conference schedule this Monday, December 19, when it hosts Jarvis Christian. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed by CUSAtv.

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