Men’s Basketball Begins New Year against Louisiana Tech

HOUSTON — Rice begins the new year with a three-game homestand, beginning this Thursday, Jan. 5, when it hosts Louisiana Tech. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and it will be streamed by ESPN+.

Game 15
What: Rice (11-3, 2-1) vs. Louisiana Tech (8-6, 1-2)
When: Thursday, January 5 at 7 p.m.
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208)
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Louisiana Tech leads 20-7 (8-4 in Houston)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Thursday's game with an 11-3 record and 2-1 in Conference USA. The Owls have won five straight games and 10 of their last 11 after defeating UTEP on Saturday, 72-67, in overtime.
• Junior guard and Preseason All-Conference USA honoree Quincy Olivari leads the team and is third in C-USA with 18.1 points per game. He's also third on the team in rebounds per game (4.9) while placing fourth in the league in three-pointers made per game (2.6), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.359) and free throw percentage (.808), and eighth in field goal percentage (.418).
• Junior guard Travis Evee is seventh in the league with 15.2 points per game. He's also fourth in free throw percentage (.8430), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.380), and sixth in three-pointers made per game (2.5).
• Junior forward Max Fiedler is scoring 10.5 points per game while leading the conference with 8.2 rebounds per game, and 4.9 assists per game and four double-doubles.
• Freshman guard Mekhi Mason is fourth on team with 10.1 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game and is third with 2.6 assists per game.
• Sophomore guard Cameron Sheffield is scoring 8.1 points per game while placing second on the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.
• Rice is scoring 82.6 points per game, which is second in Conference USA and 19th in the country, while allowing 72.6.
• The Owls are connecting on a league-best 48.9% from the field and 35.6% from three. Their opponents are hitting 44.4% from the floor and 33.0% from behind the arc.
• Rice is also outrebounding its opponents, 38.3-to-32.9.
• Rice leads the conference in assists per game (18.1), which is also 13th in the country, and is second in three-pointers made per game (9.3).
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his sixth season leading the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting Louisiana Tech
• Louisiana Tech enters Thursday night's contest with an 8-6 record and 1-2 in Conference USA. The Bulldogs have lost four of six games after falling at Charlotte on Saturday, 68-66.
• Junior guard Cobe Williams is fourth in the conference in scoring with 18.0 points. He also leads the league in steals (2.7), is fifth in field goal percentage (.468), eighth in assists (4.1) and 10th in free throw percentage (.726).
• Junior forward Isaiah Crawford is second on the team and ninth in C-USA with 13.0 points per game while leading the team with 5.3 rebounds per game. He's also second in the league in steals with 2.5 per game.
• Junior guard Keaston Willis is averaging 11.9 points and freshman guard Jordan Crawford is second in Conference USA with 4.7 assists per game.
• Louisiana Tech is scoring 77.7 points per game while allowing just 68.2.
• The Bulldogs are connecting on 46.1% from the field and 35.0% from three. Their opponents are hitting just 43.4% from the floor and 35.7% from behind the arc.
• La Tech is also outrebounding its opponents, 35.6-to-31.3.
• Louisiana Tech is also second in the league in steals with 9.2 and third in three-pointers made per game (9.3).
• Head coach Talvin Hester is in his first season at the helm of the Louisiana Tech men's basketball program where he owns an 8-6 record.

Rice-Louisiana Tech Series History
• Rice and Louisiana Tech will meet for 28th time overall.
• La Tech holds a 20-7 record in the series.
• Rice is 4-8 in games played in Houston but has won two of the last three.
• The Bulldogs have won five straight in the series and 13 of the last 15.
• Twenty-one of the 25 games have come as conference opponents. From 2002-05, the teams met eight times as members of the Western Athletic Conference. The teams have met 12 times since 2014 as members of Conference USA.
• This will be the first of two meetings this year. The teams will face off on Feb. 2 in Ruston.

Next Up
• Rice continues its homestand next Wednesday, January 11, when it hosts Middle Tennessee. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

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