Men's Basketball Returns to Liacouras To Face Rice

Game Info: Saturday, January 20, 2024 - 2:00 p.m. EST
Location: Liacouras Center - Philadelphia, Pa.
TV: ESPN+ | Listen: 1210 WPHT | Live Stats: Owlsports.com | International Feed | Tickets

Social Media
Twitter/X: @TUMBBHoops | Instagram: @tumbbhoops
Tweet #Team128

Promotions

$1 Hot Dogs
Baby Race at halftime
Parent/Child Layups on the court postgame (Kids sixth grade and under)

Opening Tip
The Temple University men's basketball team returns home for a pair of conference games, starting with a contest against Rice on Saturday, January 20. Tipoff from the Liacouras Center is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+.

Last Time Out - Men's Basketball Delivers Valiant Effort at SMU
In one of the most entertaining games of the season, the Temple University men's basketball team twice battled back to take the lead, but the Owls were dealt a 77-64 setback against the SMU Mustangs on Tuesday night.

BY THE NUMBERS

Jahlil White led Temple with 14 points and nine rebounds. He added two blocks and a steal.
Shane Dezonie dropped a career-high 14 in the game and matched a personal best with three assists.
The Owls got a big lift from their reserves in the contest. Matteo Picarelli tallied 10, connecting on three treys. Zion Stanford and Taj Thweatt both played important minutes in the first half with Stanford scoring four and Thweatt pulling in a trio of boards.

Birds Of A Feather
Saturday is one of the rarer mascot matchups as two teams with the nickname "Owls" face each other. Only four teams in NCAA Division I have that moniker with three of them – Temple, Rice and Florida Atlantic – in the American. Kennesaw State of the Atlantic Sun is the other.

Lead At The Break
It's now 18-for-18 that the team that leads at halftime goes on to win the game. By trailing 30-28 after the first 20 minutes against SMU, Temple is now 8-0 when leading at intermission and 0-10 when trailing at the break.

Crashing The Glass
TU pulled down 40 rebounds against the Mustangs on Tuesday, its fourth game this season with 40+ caroms. Its 19 offensive boards were the most in a non-overtime game since February 13, 2019, also against SMU.

You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two
The Owls have done their best impression of the Artful Dodger this season. With eight takeaways at SMU,. Temple is averaging 7.8 steals per game. The pace would be the highest total since 2018-19 when TU came away with 8.6 an outing. It is nearly three steals a contest more than last season when Temple took the ball off opponents 5.0 times. Individually, Steve Settle III and Hysier Miller are both in the top-20 in the AAC at 1.8 and 1.4 swipes per night, respectively. Both players have recorded their personal, single-game career-high in steals this season with Settle taking away six against Wichita State and Miller grabbing five at Navy.

Scouting Report
Rice is 6-11 overall and 0-4 in the AAC following an 81-79 overtime loss to Charlotte on Tuesday. The Owls have lost five in a row with their last win coming on December 20 against Prairie View. They were picked 11th in the American preseason poll.

Leading the offense for Rice is Second Team Preseason-All AAC pick Max Fiedler, who contributes in all aspects on the floor. He is second in the conference in both rebounds per game (9.4) and assists a contest (5.0). The 6'11" forward from Indialantic, Fla. is also third on the squad in scoring at 9.9 points per game. A pair of players are in double figure scoring for the Owls with Travis Evee netting 16.9 a night and Mekhi Mason at 13.2 an outing.

One thing Rice does well is keep opponents off the free throw line. It is 31st in NCAA Division I in fewest fouls at 14.6 infractions a contest with teams taking just 16.6 attempts from the stripe a game. It has also distributed the ball well, ranking third in the AAC at 14.6 assists an outing.

Defending opponents shots has been an issue at times for the Owls, who are in the bottom-75 nationally and rank last in the AAC in field goal percentage allowed at 45.1. They are also 322nd in three-point defense at 36.5 percent.

Scott Pera is in his seventh season as the head coach at Rice with a record of 91-117. His best mark came last season when the Owls posted a 19-16 record. Prior to that, he spent time as an assistant coach at Penn, Arizona State and Southern Cal.

All-Time Series
Saturday is the fourth meeting all-time between Temple and Rice with TU winning all three previous matchups.

Last Time Against Rice
Scootie Randall and Anthony Lee each posted double-doubles as Temple topped Rice 77-63 at the Liacouras Center on November 17, 2012.

Prior Experience
Despite not having played Rice since 2012, one player on Temple has faced the school previously with some success. Sam Hofman averaged 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games against Rice while playing for Houston Christian including an 18 point, nine rebound performance on November 21, 2022.

Up Next
Temple plays its second consecutive game at home, taking on South Florida on Wednesday, January 24. Tipoff from the Liacouras Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The game is presented by Army ROTC.