Game 15
What: Rice (6-8, 0-1) vs. Memphis (6-7, 1-0)
When: Saturday, January 3 at 2 p.m. CT
Where: Houston, Texas
Stadium: Tudor Fieldhouse (5,204)
Tickets: RiceOwls.com
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: RiceOwls.com
Live Stats: RiceOwls.com
Series Information: Memphis leads 11-2 (Memphis leads 6-1 in Houston)Scouting Rice
• Rice enters Saturday’s game with a 6-8 record. The Owls have lost two straight after dropping their American Conference opener at Tulsa on Wednesday.
• Senior guard/forward Nick Anderson leads the team with 13.9 points per game while adding 3.5 rebounds. He leads the league in free throw percentage (91.8%) and is sixth in three-pointers per game (2.4), while placing second on the team in three-point field goal percentage (39.3%).
• Graduate guard Trae Broadnax is second on the team with 13.5 points and is pulling down a team-high 5.4 rebounds. He’s also second with 2.6 assists, and is connecting on 83.0% from the free throw line, good for seventh in the conference, and 36.2% from three.
• Redshirt senior guard Jalen Smith is scoring 11.9 points per game and leads the team with 2.9 assists. He is also connecting on 40.8% from three, tops on the team, and is 10th in the conference with 2.2 three-pointers per game.
• Junior forward Jimmy Oladokun, Jr., is second on the team with 5.1 rebounds, and senior forward Andrew Akuchie is pulling down 4.2 boards.
• Rice is averaging 74.1 points per game while allowing 74.0.
• The Owls are connecting on 41.5% from the field and 36.0% from beyond the arc. Their opponents are connecting on 44.1% from the floor and 34.9% from three.
• Rice is outrebounding its opponents, 38.4-to-37.1.
• The Owls are also fourth in the conference in three-pointers per game (8.7).
• Head coach Rob Lanier is in his second season at the helm of the Rice men’s basketball program.
Scouting Memphis
• Memphis enters Saturday’s game with a 6-7 record. The Tigers, though, have won two straight after earning a 57-48 victory over North Texas in their American Conference opener.
• Senior guard Dug McDaniel is the only Tiger averaging double-figures, scoring 14.2 points per game. He also leads the team and is second in the American in steals per game (2.2), while placing third in both assists (5.1) and free throw percentage (.897).
• Sophomore guard Curtis Givens III is second on the team with 9.8 points, and senior guard Sincere Parker is adding 9.0 points.
• Sophomore guard Julius Thedford is scoring 7.9 points and is grabbing a team-high 5.6 rebounds.
• Junior guard Miles Rigsby is scoring 10.0 points. He’s also fifth in the league in steals (1.8) and sixth in free throw percentage (87.0%).
• Memphis is scoring 74.0 points per game, while allowing just 73.5.
• The Tigers are connecting on 42.8% from the floor and 31.8% from three. Their opponents are connecting on just 41.0% from the floor, the second lowest percentage in the league, and 30.7% from three.
• UM is outrebounding the opposition, 37.9-to-36.5.
• The Tigers are third in the conference in steals per game (9.1) and turnovers forced (13.7).
• Head coach Penny Hardaway is in his eighth season at the helm of the Memphis men’s basketball program, where he has a 161-75 record.
Rice-Memphis Series History
• Rice and Memphis will meet for the only time this year and the 14th time overall.
• The Tigers have won 11 of the previous 13 meetings, and are 6-1 in Houston.
• Rice’s only win in Houston came in 2011, a 67-52 decision.
• Last year, the Owls dropped both meetings, 86-83 in Houston and 84-72 in Memphis.
• The first two meetings were non-conference games while the next eight meetings came as members of Conference USA (2006-13).
Next Up
• Rice goes back on the road next Wednesday, Jan. 7, when it travels to Wichita, Kan., to face Wichita State. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be streamed by ESPN+.