Men’s Basketball Goes for Season Sweep of East Carolina

HOUSTON — Rice closes its homestand when it goes for the series sweep against East Carolina this Saturday, Feb. 14. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

Game 26
What: Rice (11-14, 5-7) vs. East Carolina (8-16, 3-8)
When: Saturday, February 14 at 1 p.m. CT
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208)
Tickets: RiceOwls.com
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Series tied 9-9 (Series tied 4-4 in Houston)

Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Saturday's game with an 11-14 record and is 5-7 in the American. The Owls are coming off an 81-73 victory over Florida Atlantic on Wednesday.
• Graduate guard Trae Broadnax leads the team with 15.8 points (9th in American), 5.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists (10th in American), and 1.3 steals. He's also connecting on 78.6% from the free throw line and 33.0% from three.
• Senior guard/forward Nick Anderson is second on the team with 15.2 points per game while adding 4.0 rebounds. He is fourth in the league in both three-point percentage (41.2%) and three-pointers made per game (2.7), and ninth in free throw percentage (82.4%).
• Redshirt senior guard Jalen Smith is scoring 12.2 points per game and is third on the team with 2.2 assists. He is also ninth in the league in three-point field goal percentage (38.5%) and sixth with 2.4 three-pointers per game.
• Junior forward Jimmy Oladokun, Jr., is second on the team with 5.3 rebounds, and redshirt senior center Stephen Giwa is pulling down 4.7 boards.
• Rice is averaging 74.7 points per game while allowing 74.5.
• The Owls are connecting on 42.3% from the field and 35.7% from beyond the arc, which is second in the conference. Their opponents are connecting on 43.8% from the floor and 33.3% from three.
• Rice is outrebounding its opponents, 38.3-to-36.8.
• The Owls are third in the league in three-pointers, making 9.0 per game, while placing 12th in the nation with 14.1 offensive rebounds per game.
• Head coach Rob Lanier is in his second season at the helm of the Rice men's basketball program.

Scouting East Carolina
• East Carolina enters Wednesday's game with an 8-16 record and are 3-8 in the American. The Pirates are coming off an 88-72 win over UTSA on Wednesday.
• Senior guard Jordan Riley leads the league with 23.1 points, which is also fourth in the nation, while adding 5.6 rebounds. He also leads the team and is eighth in the league in steals with 1.6 per game.
• Senior center Giovanni Emejuru is second on the team with 13.3 points while leading the team and placing second in the league with 9.7 rebounds. He's also second in the conference in field goal percentage (58.1%) and third in blocks (2.0)
• Junior guard Corey Caulkner leads the team and is eighth in the American with 3.7 assists per game.
• East Carolina is scoring 67.9 points while allowing 76.4.
• The Pirates are connecting on just 41.0% from the field and 27.3% from three. Their opponents are connecting on 44.7% from the floor 35.5% from three.
• ECU is pulling down 36.3 rebounds per game while allowing 36.3.
• Head coach Michael Schwartz is in his fourth season at the helm of the East Carolina men's basketball program, where he has a 58-65 record.

Rice-East Carolina Series History
• Rice and East Carolina will meet for the second time this year and the 19th time overall.
• The series is tied at nine, and tied at four when played in Houston.
• ECU had won six straight, but Rice is vying for its fifth straight win.
• The Owls defeated ECU, 83-77, in Greenville on Jan. 28.
• This will be the 17th meeting as conference opponents. The teams met 14 times from 2006-14 as members of Conference USA.
• The only meeting as non-conference opponents came in the third place game of the 2019 Islands of the Bahamas Showcase, a 77-69 Rice victory.

Next Up
• Rice takes a week off before traveling to New Orleans, La., next Sunday, Feb. 22, to face Tulane. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.

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