No. 19 Tigers Head to Houston for Sunday Tilt with Rice

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The No. 19 Memphis Tigers wrap up the first half of their conference slate Sunday with a trip to Houston, Texas to face the Rice Owls in an American Hoops Showcase Game. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on ESPN+ inside Tudor Fieldhouse.

It will be the first trip to Rice as AAC opponents for Memphis. The Tigers last visited the Owls on Jan. 16, 2013 as Conference USA members.

Memphis moved to 17-4 overall and 7-1 in league play with its 4th-straight win Thursday night in New Orleans over Tulane. It's their best start to a season and to conference play since 2012-13.

The Tigers defeated the Green Wave 68-56 behind Dain Dainja's double-double (19 pts, 10 reb) and four 3-pointers each from PJ Carter and Colby Rogers.

Defensively, Memphis held Tulane to just 36.2 percent (21-58) overall and 16.7 percent (4-24) from beyond the arc.

The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Owls, 9-2, and are 4-1 against them in Houston.

Rice enters Sunday's game with an 11-10 record, including 2-6 in the AAC. The Owls are looking to snap a six-game losing streak after falling at South Florida on Tuesday, 69-64.

Head coach Rob Lanier is in his first season at the helm of the Rice men's basketball program after spending the previous two years at SMU.

Graduate guard Trae Broadnax is the only Owl averaging double figures on the year. He is scoring 12.8 points per game and dished 4.2 assists each time out, the fourth best mark in the American. He also is second on the team with 5.7 rebounds.

GAME DETAILS
#19/16 Memphis Tigers (17-4, 7-1 AAC) at Rice (11-10, 2-6 AAC)
Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025 | 2 p.m.
Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208); Houston, Texas
Television: ESPN+ (Matt Pedersen, pxp; Austyn Iven, analysis; Maria Trivelpiece, sideline)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Matt Dillon, analysis)

BY THE NUMBERS

1st: Memphis owns the top field goal percentage (49.6) and field goal percentage defense (39.2) in the AAC in league play. The Tigers have held five of their seven AAC opponents to under 40-percent.
7-1: Record this season when Colby Rogers scores at least 12 points in a game; the only loss came against No. 4 Auburn in Maui. The Tigers are 4-0 when he hits at least 16 in a game and 10-2 when he reached double figures.
7th: Memphis enters Sunday at No. 7 in the country in 3-point percentage with a 39.5% clip (166-of-420). Bradley leads the nation at 40.6%.
14.0: Scoring average for PJ Carter the last two games off the bench in just 19.5 minutes. He's shooting 55.6 percent overall (10-18) and 46.2 percent from deep (6-13) in that span.
20-9: Over the last two games, since going back into the starting lineup, Dain Dainja is averaging 20.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. The senior big man has also shot 78.3 percent from the floor (18-23) with four assists in that span. He picked up his third double-double of the year at Tulane on Thursday.
33-19: Memphis' record in the month of January under head coach Penny Hardaway. Following Thursday's win at Tulane, Hardaway just finished off a 7-1 record in January – his best mark in seven seasons in the month.
42-24: Assists to turnovers for the Tigers over the last two games, resulting in their two best assists/turnover ratios of the season (1.9 vs UAB; 1.6 vs Tulane). They posted two of their top three assist totals of the season (UAB – 24, Tulane 18).
65.7: Field goal average by Dain Dainja in AAC play, which ranks 4th in the league. The big man is 46-of-70 from the floor and has shot 50% or higher in seven of the eight conference contests.
90.1: Percentage of possible minutes played for PJ Haggerty this season, according to KenPom.com, which ranks No. 20 in the country. He's averaging 36.3 minutes per game, and has played at least 34 minutes in all but two games.

SCOUTING RICE

The Owls started AAC play with back-to-back wins at Tulsa (70-64) and at home over Charlotte (68-55), but have since dropped six-straight contests.
The Owls are scoring 70.0 points per game while allowing just 68.7, good for third in the American.
Rice is connecting on 41.7% from the field and 32.4% from three. It is second in the league in field goal percentage defense (40.7%), while allowing just 31.0% from three, good for third in the AAC.
The Owls are pulling down 39.2 rebounds per game while the opposition is grabbing 34.9, which are second and fourth in the conference, respectively.
Junior Denver Anglin is second on the team with 9.7 points. He is connecting on 40.4% from three, good for eighth in the conference, while hitting 82.4% from the free throw line.
Junior forward Caden Powell is scoring 9.4 points per game while grabbing a team-high 7.0 rebounds, good for 10th in the AAC. He's also fourth in the league in field goal percentage, connecting on 63.0% from the floor, and is ninth with 1.1 blocks per game.
Graduate student guard/forward Kellen Amos is averaging 8.5 points and 2.8 assists, while grabbing 3.4 rebounds per game.

UP NEXT
The Tigers return home for two games this next week to jump start the back half of the conference schedule. They will welcome Tulsa on Wednesday at 7 p.m., before a rematch with Temple on Sunday at 1 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For complete information on Memphis Tiger Men's Basketball, visit www.GoTigersGo.com and follow the team's social media channels on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

No. 19 Tigers Head to Houston for Sunday Tilt with Rice

Next Event

Players Mentioned

PJ Carter

Dain Dainja

PJ Haggerty

Colby Rogers

University of Memphis Athletics

No. 19 Tigers Head to Houston for Sunday Tilt with Rice

Next Event

Players Mentioned

PJ Carter

Dain Dainja

PJ Haggerty

Colby Rogers

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