HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 10, 2009) Rice begins the second half of league play Wednesday when the Owls play host to Southern Miss in Tudor Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally in Houston on ESPN 97.5 The Ticket.
Following last Saturday’s 72-65 loss at Houston, the Owls will be playing for their second straight home-court victory. Rice defeated East Carolina 76-70 last time in Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Owls are 7-15 and 2-6 in Conference USA play.
Against ECU, Aleks Perka registered a career-high 21-point, 11-rebound game. At Houston last week fellow big man Trey Stanton picked up his first double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. It was the first time since prior to conference play last year Rice had players record double-doubles in back-to-back games.
For Stanton, the Houston game marked the second straight game he had registered a career, rebounding high. He had 10 boards against ECU a week prior to the Houston game.
Rice senior guard Rodney Foster is averaging 10.7 points a game and is coming off a 20-point night at Houston.
Southern Miss, 13-9 and 3-5, will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak this week. Two of the Golden Eagles’ last three losses have been by double figures, including a 66-49 setback at home against UAB last Saturday.
USM has four players scoring in double figures led by junior Jeremy Wise’s 15.8 scoring average and senior guard Courtney Beasley’s 15.6 points a game and team-leading 6.9 rebounds an outing. Wise is also averaging 4.91 assists per game (108 total) which ranks fourth in the league and his .849 free throw percentage ranks third behind Rice’s Connor Frizzelle and Foster.
Rice has had recent success taking care of the basketball and will look for that success to continue against a Southern Miss team which has a +3.09 turnover margin, which ranks third in the league. Last week at Houston, Rice turned the ball over just nine times. It was the second straight game Rice had single-figure turnovers.
Even though the Owls forced 12 UH turnovers in the game, Houston remains the league leader with a +5.71 turnover margin.
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