Men’s Basketball Begins Road Trip at Memphis

HOUSTON — Rice goes on the road for a pair of games this week, beginning this Wednesday, January 31, when it travels to Memphis. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

Game 21
What: Rice (7-13, 1-6) at RV Memphis (15-5, 4-3)
When: Wednesday, January 31 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Memphis, Tenn.
Stadium: FedExForum (18,400)
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Memphis leads 9-1 (4-0 in Memphis)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Saturday night's game with a 7-13 record, and 1-6 in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls are coming off an 85-83 defeat to Tulsa last Saturday.
• Rice is led by fifth-year senior guard Travis Evee, who is scoring 15.7 points per game, good for eighth in the American. He's adding 3.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals while placing third in the league in free throw percentage (.855).
• Sophomore guard Mekhi Mason is second on the team with 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. In conference play, he is eighth in the AAC with 16.4 points per game, fifth in steals (1.9), and 10th in assists (3.6).
• Fifth-year senior forward Max Fiedler is averaging 9.8 points while leading the conference with 9.9 rebounds. He's also second with 5.4 assists and fourth in field goal percentage, connecting on 64.7% from the floor. Fiedler also leads the league and is second in the nation with 4.4 offensive rebounds per game.
• Senior guard Alem Huseinovic is recording 7.7 points per game and is connecting on 46.0% from the field and 41.6% from three and freshman Keanu Dawes is scoring 6.2 points per game and is third on the team with 4.1 rebounds.
• The Owls are scoring 73.1 points per game while allowing 75.7.
• Rice is connecting on 43.5% from the field and 32.3% from three. Its opponents are connecting on 45.2% from the field and 36.7% from beyond the arc.
• The Owls are outrebounding their opponents, 36.8-to-35.6.
• Rice averaging 15.1 assists per game, good for third in the American.
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his seventh season leading the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting Memphis
• Memphis enters Wednesday's game with a 15-5 record and 4-3 in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers are looking to snap a three-game losing streak after falling at UAB on Sunday, 97-88.
• UM is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls.
• Senior forward David Jones leads the AAC with 21.8 points per game and is 10th in rebounding with 7.0 per game. He is also third in the league in three-pointers made per game (2.4), fourth in steals (2.0) and, eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.381).
• Fifth-year senior guard Jahvon Quinerly is second on the team with 13.9 points per game. He leads the team and is fourth in the conference in assists (4.7) and eighth in free throw percentage (.823).
• Senior guard Jaykwon Walton is averaging 9.3 points and graduate forward Malcolm Dandridge is averaging 7.8 points and is fourth in the American in blocks (1.6) and fifth in field goal percentage (.626).
• Memphis is third in the league in scoring with 81.5 points per game while allowing 75.8.
• The Tigers are connecting on 46.6% from the field, which is third in the AAC, and 35.8% from three. Their opponents are hitting 41.7% from the field and 33.5% from three.
• UM is outrebounding its opponents, 37.1-to-36.9.
• Memphis also leads the American with 5.1 blocks per game and is second in steals with 8.6 steals per game.
• Head coach Penny Hardaway is in his sixth season leading the Memphis men's basketball program, where he holds a 122-57 record.

Rice-Memphis Series History
• Rice and Memphis will meet for the 10th time, but the first time since 2013.
• The Tigers have won nine of the previous 10 meetings, including all four in Memphis.
• Rice' only victory came in 2011, a 67-52 victory decision in Houston.
• The first two meetings were non-conference games while the next eight meetings came as members of Conference USA (2006-13).

Next Up
• Rice ends its road trip this Saturday, Feb. 3, when it travels to San Antonio to face UTSA. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

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