Men’s Basketball Opens AAC Tournament Against Charlotte

HOUSTON — The 12th seeded Rice Men's Basketball team begins play at the 2025 AAC Tournament against 13th seed Charlotte in the first round this Wednesday, Mar. 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

Game 32
What: Rice (13-18) vs. Charlotte (10-21)
When: Wednesday, March 12 at 12 p.m. CT
Where: Denton, Texas
Stadium: The Super Pit (10,500)
Stream: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Rice leads 11-10 (Series tied 1-1 on Neutral Court)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters its AAC Tournament opener with a 13-18 record, including 4-14 in the AAC. The Owls closed their regular season falling to Wichita State, 63-59.
• Rice is led by graduate guard Trae Broadnax with 12.2 points per game and 4.2 assists, which is fourth in the American. He's also second on the team with 5.2 rebounds.
• Junior forward Caden Powell is second on the team with 10.3 points per game while grabbing a team-high 7.2 rebounds, good for sixth in the AAC. He's also sixth in the league in field goal percentage, connecting on 56.9% from the floor.
• Graduate student guard/forward Kellen Amos is averaging 9.0 points and 3.7 rebounds, while adding 2.5 assists per game.
• Junior Denver Anglin is averaging 8.6 points. He is connecting on a team-high 38.8% from three, good for ninth in the league, and 79.5% from the free throw line.
• Fifth-year senior guard Alem Huseinovic is scoring 7.9 points and connecting on 37.8% from three.
• Junior guard/forward Jacob Dar is averaging 7.4 points while connecting on 38.3% from three. In conference play, he was third on the team with 10.4 points, and was fifth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (41.3%).
• The Owls are scoring 70.6 points per game while allowing just 70.5, good for third in the American.
• Rice is connecting on 42.1% from the field and 33.5% from three. It is allowing just 42.0% from the field and 32.6% from three, which are third and fourth in the conference respectively.
• The Owls are pulling down 38.3 rebounds per game, good for third in the league, while the opposition is grabbing 35.1.
• In conference play, Rice was fourth in the league in three-pointers, connecting on 7.7 per game.
• Head coach Rob Lanier is in his first season at the helm of the Rice men's basketball program. In nine years as a head coach, Lanier is 154-153.

Scouting Charlotte
• Charlotte enters the AAC Tournament with a 10-21 record, including a 3-14 mark in the American. The 49ers have lost four straight games after falling to UTSA in their regular season finale, 83-80.
• Junior guard Nik Graves leads the team and is fourth in the AAC with 17.6 points per game. He's also second on the squad with 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
• Graduate student forward Giancarlo Rosado is scoring 11.4 points per game while leading the team with 5.9 rebounds and 3.4 rebounds.
• Graduate student forward Robert Braswell IV is averaging 11.0 points. He's also connecting on 83.8% from the free throw line, good for sixth in the conference.
• Junior guard Jaehshon Thomas is averaging 9.9 points per game and leads the team in three-point field goal percentage, connecting on 39.2%.
• Charlotte is averaging 71.1 points per game and is allowing 75.3.
• The 49ers are connecting on 42.4% from the floor and 31.4% from three. Their opponents are hitting 48.3% from the field and 33.9% from three.
• Charlotte is being outrebounded by the opposition, 34.6-to-31.4.
• Head coach Aaron Fearne is in his second season at the helm of the Charlotte men's basketball program, where he has a 29-33 record.

Rice-Charlotte Series History
• Rice and Charlotte will meet for the third time this year and the 22nd time overall.
• Rice holds an 11-10 advantage in the series.
• On neutral courts, the series is tied at one.
• The teams split the season series. Rice defeated Charlotte in Houston, 68-55, before the 49ers earned a 78-75 win in Charlotte.
• This will be the third meeting in conference tournament play, with both coming in the first round. Charlotte won the first meeting in the 2016 Conference USA Tournament, 79-69. Rice got its revenge in the 2022 C-USA Tournament with a 73-61 victory.
• All meetings have come as conference members. The first 17 came as members of Conference USA (2014-23), and the last three as members of the American Athletic Conference (2024-present).

Rice Conference Tournament Notes
• Rice will play Charlotte in the first round of the 2025 American Athletic Conference Tournament. It will be the third meeting between the teams in tournament play.
• Rice is 22-44 all-time in conference tournament play.
• Prior to joining the American Athletic Conference, the Owls participated in the Southwest Conference, Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA tournaments.
• Rice has made the semifinals of the conference tournament eight times.
• However, Rice is looking for its first ever appearance in the finals of the conference tournament.
• Rice is looking to win at least one game in the conference tournament for the fourth time in the last five years.
• It defeated Southern Miss and Marshall in 2021, Charlotte in 2022 and UTSA in 2023.

Next Up
• With a win, Rice will face fifth-seed Florida Atlantic at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPNU.

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