Men’s Basketball Begins Inaugural AAC Season at Tulane

HOUSTON — Rice will play its inaugural American Athletic Conference game this Wednesday, Jan. 3, when it travels to New Orleans, La., to face Tulane. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT and the game will be nationally-televised by ESPNU.

Game 14
What: Rice (6-7, 0-0) at Tulane (9-3, 0-0)
When: Wednesday, January 3 at 8 p.m. CT
Where: New Orleans, La.
Stadium: Avron B. Fogelman Arena (4,000)
Television: ESPNU
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Tulane leads 27-26 (19-8 in New Orleans)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters American Athletic Conference play with a 6-7 record. The Owls have won three of its last four games despite falling to Louisiana in its non-conference finale on Dec. 22.
• The Owls are led by fifth-year senior guard Travis Evee, who is scoring 16.5 points per game, good for sixth in the American Athletic Conference. He's adding 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals while placing sixth in the league in free throw percentage, connecting on 84.8% from the charity stripe.
• Sophomore guard Mekhi Mason is second on the team with 12.5 points and 2.4 assists and third with 4.2 rebounds.
• Fifth-year senior forward Max Fiedler is averaging 10.1 points while leading the team with 8.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists, which are second and fourth in the AAC, respectively. He's also connecting on 65.9% from the floor, good for fourth in the conference. Fiedler is also second in the American in offensive rebounds with 3.6 per game.
• Graduate student guard Anthony Selden is recording 6.7 points per game and 2.9 rebounds and is connecting on 45.5% from the field and freshman Keanu Dawes is scoring 6.4 points per game and is second on the team with 4.9 rebounds.
• The Owls are scoring 73.9 points pe game while allowing 73.8.
• Rice is connecting on 44.4% from the field and 31.0% from three. Its opponents are connecting on 44.4% from the field and 34.8% from beyond the arc.
• The Owls are outrebounding their opponents, 37.3-to-35.8.
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his seventh season leading the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting Tulane
• Tulane enters AAC play with a 9-3 record. The Green Wave have won three of their last four games after defeating Dillard last Saturday, 94-64.
• Senior forward Kevin Cross leads the team and is fourth in the American with 16.9 points per game. He is also second in the conference in assists (5.2), and fifth in rebounding (8.1) and field goal percentage (.602).
• Sophomore guard Kolby King is second on the team and ninth in the league with 15.8 points per game. He is also fifth in the league with 2.1 steals per game and is connecting on 54.8% from the field.
• Senior guard Jaylen Forbes is averaging 15.1 points and is second in the AAC with 2.6 three-pointers per game and is 10th in free throw percentage (.820) and steals per game (1.8).
• Junior guard Sion James is scoring 15.0 points per game. He's also fifth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (.413) and 10th in field goal percentage (.552).
• Junior forward Collin Holloway is averaging 12.1 points per game and is ninth in the conference with 1.3 blocks per game.
• Tulane leads the American in scoring with 89.8 points per game but is allowing 79.8.
• The Green Wave leads the conference in field goal percentage with 51.1% from the field and is connecting on 34.6% from three. Their opponents are hitting 43.5% from the field and 34.3% from three.
• Tulane is being outrebounded by the opposition, 38.2-to-33.1.
• The Green Wave also leads the league with 10.4 steals per game and is second with 15.5 assists per game.
• Head coach Ron Hunter is in his fifth season leading the Tulane men's basketball program, where he holds a 61-59 record. In 30 years as a head coach, Hunter is 506-373.

Rice-Tulane Series History
• Rice and Tulane will meet for the 54th time overall and the first time since 2014.
• Tulane leads the series, 27-26.
• When played in New Orleans, the Green Wave leads, 19-8.
• As conference opponents, Tulane holds a 12-5 advantage.
• This is the first meeting between the teams since Jan. 18, 2014.
• Rice is looking for its first victory over the Green Wave since Jan. 28, 2012, an 88-74 victory.
• Tulane has won the last three meetings and 11 of the last 14 dating back to 2007.

Next Up
• Rice will play its inaugural American Athletic Conference home game this Saturday, Jan. 6, when it hosts UTSA. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

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