Rice University’s men’s basketball team will play its final regular season road game against North Texas on Wednesday, March 4, at The Super Pit in Denton, Texas. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. CT and will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
The Owls come into the matchup with a 12-17 overall record and are 6-10 in the American Athletic Conference. They recently secured an 80-74 win over Temple. Graduate guard Trae Broadnax leads Rice in scoring with an average of 15.9 points per game, ranking ninth in the conference, and also contributes 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He has made nearly 80% of his free throws this season.
Senior guard/forward Nick Anderson follows closely with an average of 15.5 points per game and is recognized for his three-point shooting accuracy—second-best in the league at 39.3%. Redshirt senior guard Jalen Smith averages just under 12 points per contest and is also among conference leaders in three-pointers made.
On the defensive end, junior forward Jimmy Oladokun Jr. averages five rebounds while redshirt senior center Stephen Giwa collects 4.6 rebounds and ranks tenth in blocks within the league.
As a team, Rice averages 74.4 points but allows opponents to score slightly more at 75.1 points per game. The Owls have been effective from beyond the arc, connecting on over a third of their attempts—a mark that ranks second in the conference—and are among national leaders with an average of 13.4 offensive rebounds per contest.
Rob Lanier is currently serving his second year as head coach for Rice men’s basketball.
North Texas enters Wednesday’s contest with a record of 17-13 overall and an 8-9 mark in conference play after a recent victory over UAB by a score of 62-58.
Sophomore guard Je’Shawn Stevenson leads North Texas offensively with an average of 17.1 points per game—fifth best in the league—and stands out defensively as well with two steals per contest (second in conference). Junior guard David Terrell Jr., who averages just over thirteen points, is ranked third among all players in assists (4.7) and tied for fifth in steals (1.6).
Senior forward Dylan Arnett leads North Texas on the boards with six rebounds per outing.
The Mean Green allow only 66.9 points to opponents each night—the lowest figure among conference teams—and lead all teams with an average of nine steals per game.
Daniyal Robinson is guiding North Texas through his first season as head coach; he holds a career record of 82-55 across four seasons as a collegiate head coach.
Wednesday’s meeting marks the second between Rice and North Texas this season and their thirty-seventh overall encounter; North Texas holds a series lead of twenty-six wins to ten losses, including twelve victories out of fourteen games played at home in Denton.
Earlier this season on February 4th, Rice defeated North Texas in Houston by a score of eighty-six to eighty-three after double overtime.
Following this road trip, Rice will conclude its regular season schedule at home against UTSA on Sunday, March 8th.
