Men’s Basketball Hosts East Carolina on ESPNU

HOUSTON — Rice returns home for a pair of games, beginning this Saturday, February 24, when it hosts East Carolina. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and the game will be nationally-televised by ESPNU.

Game 27
What: Rice (10-16, 4-9) vs. East Carolina (14-12, 7-6)
When: Saturday, February 24 at 1 p.m. CT
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208)
Tickets: RiceOwls.com
Television: ESPNU
Stream: ESPN3
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: East Carolina leads 9-6 (4-3 in Houston)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Saturday afternoon's game with a 10-16 record and 4-9 in the American Athletic Conference. The Owls are looking for their second straight win after earning a 94-71 victory at UAB on Wednesday.
• Rice is led by fifth-year senior guard Travis Evee, who is scoring 15.8 points per game, good for seventh in the American. He's adding 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals while connecting on 81.4% from the free throw line.
• Sophomore guard Mekhi Mason is second on the team with 14.2 points, and 2.9 assists while placing third with 4.0 rebounds. In conference play, he is eighth in the AAC with 16.0 points per game, fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.439), and eighth in three-pointers made per game (2.2).
• Fifth-year senior forward Max Fiedler is averaging 9.5 points while leading the league with 4.0 offensive rebounds, which is also sixth in the nation. He's second in the league in rebounds (9.4), assists (5.2), and field goal percentage (.663) and is sixth with seven double-doubles.
• Senior guard Alem Huseinovic is recording 8.3 points per game and is connecting on 45.6% from the field and 42.0% from three, good for fourth in the AAC.
• Forward Keanu Dawes is scoring 6.7 points and is second on the team with 4.3 rebounds and graduate student guard Anthony Selden is adding 6.3 points.
• The Owls are scoring 74.0 points per game while allowing 76.5.
• Rice is connecting on 44.6% from the field and 34.2% from three. Its opponents are connecting on 45.1% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc.
• The Owls are outrebounding their opponents, 36.1-to-35.7.
• Head coach Scott Pera is in his seventh season leading the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting East Carolina
• East Carolina enters Saturday's contest with a 14-12 record and 7-6 in the American Athletic Conference. The Pirates have won three straight games after defeating Tulane last Sunday, 81-67.
• Junior guard RJ Felton leads the team and is sixth in the AAC with 16.6 points per game. He's also sixth in steals with 1.9 per game and second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game.
• Redshirt junior forward Brandon Johnson is second on the team with 14.0 points per game and leads the squad with 8.5 rebounds, good for third in the league. He's also 10th with 2.1 three-pointers per game.
• Sophomore forward Ezra Ausar is averaging 12.2 points and 4.7 rebounds while placing ninth in the conference in field goal percentage, connecting on 53.0%.
• Junior guard Bobby Pettiford is scoring 8.1 points and is eighth in the AAC with 3.6 assists.
• East Carolina is scoring 68.8 points per game while allowing just 67.7.
• The Pirates are connecting on 42.2% from the field and 31.1% from three. Their opponents are hitting 43.2% from the field but just 30.5% from three, good for second in the conference.
• ECU is outrebounding its opponents, 35.3-to-34.6.
• East Carolina is second in the AAC in steals per game with 8.3.
• Head coach Michael Schwartz is in his second season leading the East Carolina men's basketball program, where he holds a 30-29 record.

Rice-East Carolina Series History
• Rice and East Carolina will meet for the 16th time and the first since 2019.
• East Carolina holds a 9-6 meeting in the series and 4-3 in Houston.
• ECU has won six of the last seven, but Rice is trying for its second straight victory.
• The Owls took the last meeting, 77-69, in the third-place game of the 2019 Islands of the Bahamas Showcase.
• This will be the 15th meeting as conference opponents. The teams met 14 times from 2006-14 as members of Conference USA.

Traffic Advisory
• Due to ongoing repairs to a section of a water pipe near the intersection of Main and University, which will result in the closure of sections of University, all fans attending upcoming home games are strongly encouraged to avoid this intersection and approach the Rice campus from the west side of campus, using Kirby or Greenbriar.

Next Up
• Rice will go for the series sweep against Temple next Wednesday, February 28. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results