Men’s Basketball Welcomes North Texas for Saturday Night Clash

HOUSTON — Rice returns home for a single game this Saturday, Feb. 4, when it hosts in-state rival North Texas. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and it will be streamed by ESPN+.

Game 23
What: Rice (15-7, 6-5) vs. North Texas (18-5, 9-3)
When: Thursday, February 2 at 6 p.m.
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208)
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: North Texas leads 22-9 (8-6 in Houston)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Saturday's game with a 15-7 record and 6-5 in Conference USA. The Owls are coming off an 80-72 defeat at Louisiana Tech on Thursday.
• Junior guard and Preseason All-Conference USA honoree Quincy Olivari is second in C-USA with 19.2 points per game. He's also third on the team in rebounds per game (5.5) while placing second in the league in three-pointers made per game (2.7), third in three-point field goal percentage (.369), sixth in field goal percentage (.435), and seventh in free throw percentage (.809).
• Junior guard Travis Evee is sixth in the league with 15.4 points per game. He's also third in free throw percentage (.841) and sixth in three-pointers made per game (2.4), while connecting on 35.6% from three.
• Junior forward Max Fiedler is scoring 11.3 points per game while leading the league in field goal percentage, connecting on 72.9% from the field, which is third in the nation. He's also leading C-USA with 8.4 rebounds per game and 5.2 assists per game, is second with six double-doubles, and seventh in blocks per game (1.1).
• Freshman guard Mekhi Mason is fourth on team with 9.7 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game.
• Sophomore guard Cameron Sheffield is scoring 7.8 points per game while placing second on the team and seventh in C-USA with 6.6 rebounds per game. He's also connecting on 42.2% from three.
• Rice is scoring 79.0 points per game, which is second in Conference USA and 29th in the country, while allowing 73.0.
• The Owls are connecting on a league-leading 48.0% from the field, which is also 28th in the nation, including 35.9% from three. Their opponents are hitting 45.0% from the floor and 34.4% from behind the arc.
• Rice is also outrebounding its opponents, 36.7-to-33.2.
• Rice leads the conference in assists per game (16.5), which is also 19th in the country, and is third in free throw percentage (.739) and three-pointers made per game (8.8).
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his sixth season leading the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting North Texas
• North Texas enters Saturday's game with an 18-5 record and 9-3 in Conference USA. The Mean Green have won eight of their last 10 games after defeating UTEP last Saturday, 52-42.
• Senior guard Tylor Perry leads the Mean Green in scoring, averaging 17.5 points, good for fourth in the league. He leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.466) and three-pointers made per game (3.2), is fourth in field goal percentage (.459), and fifth in free throw percentage (.832).
• Senior guard Kai Huntsberry is second on the team with 11.4 points per game and leads with 2.9 assists.
• Junior forward Abou Ousmane is third on the team with 10.7 points. He's also fifth in C-USA in blocks per game (1.3) and 10th in rebounds per game (6.1).
• North Texas is scoring just 61.8 points per game but are allowing a league-low 54.7
• The Mean Green are connecting on 41.5% from the field and 34.3% from three. Their opponents are hitting just 39.9% from the floor and 30.0% from behind the arc, which both lead the league.
• UNT is outrebounding its opponents, 33.5-to-29.5.
• Head coach Grant McCasland is in his sixth season at the helm of the North Texas men's basketball program where he owns a 122-63 record. In nine seasons as a head coach, McCasland is 198-87.

Rice-North Texas Series History
• Rice and North Texas will meet for the second time this year and the 32nd time overall.
• North Texas holds a 22-9 record in the series, but is just 8-6 in Houston.
• Rice won the first meeting on Jan. 19, defeating UNT in Denton, 72-60.
• This is the last meeting as Conference USA foes and the schools will move to the American Athletic Conference next year.

Next Up
• Rice will head to Florida for a pair of games beginning next Thursday, Feb. 9, when it travels to Boca Raton to face league-leader, No. 19 Florida Atlantic. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed at ESPN+.

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