Memphis Rings In New Year With Road Test at Rice

Saturday, January 3

Houston, Texas

2:00 PM

University of Memphis

Rice

Jan 02, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Watch Live Stats Listen Memphis Game Notes (PDF)Rice Game Notes (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis welcomes the New Year on the road Saturday afternoon, heading to Houston for its American Conference road opener against Rice at Tudor Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. CT, with the game streaming on ESPN+.

Saturday marks just the second visit for the Tigers to Rice as conference foes. Prior to last season, Memphis last played in Houston on Jan. 16, 2013, when both programs competed in Conference USA.

The Tigers enter the weekend riding momentum after opening league play with a 57-48 win over North Texas on Wednesday night at FedExForum. Memphis improved to 6-7 overall and 1-0 in the American behind Zach Davis' 12 points and six rebounds and 10 points from Sincere Parker.

Defense set the tone in the conference opener, as Memphis limited the Mean Green to 37.5 percent shooting (21-of-56) and just 1-of-18 from three-point range.

Historically, Memphis has controlled the series with Rice, holding an 11-2 all-time advantage and a 5-1 record in games played in Houston.

Rice enters Saturday's contest at 6-8 overall and 0-1 in league play after a 97-48 loss at Tulsa in its conference opener. Despite the setback, the Owls have been strong at home this season, posting a 5-2 record at Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Owls are led by head coach Rob Lanier, now in his second season at Rice after spending two years at SMU. Offensively, Rice features three players averaging double figures, paced by Nick Anderson (13.9 points per game) and Trae Broadnax (13.5). Broadnax also leads the team on the glass, pulling down 5.4 rebounds per game.

GAME DETAILS
Memphis Tigers (6-7, 1-0 American) at Rice Owls (6-8, 0-1 American)
Saturday Jan. 3, 2026 | 2 p.m. CT
Tudor Fieldhouse (5,208); Houston, Texas
Television: ESPN+ (Matt Pedersen, pxp; Nate Griffin, analyst; Alexis Pedraza, sideline)
Radio: 98.9 THE ROAR OF MEMPHIS (Dave Woloshin, pxp; Ken Moody, analyst)
Live Stats: www.Memphis.StatBroadcast.com

BY THE NUMBERS

2: Memphis guard Dug McDaniel is one of just two Division I players to rank top three in their conference in APG (5.2; 2nd), SPG (2.2; 1st) and FT% (89.7, 3rd). The other is SMU's Boopie Miller.
3: The number of Division I teams with zero returning players on the roster this season. Memphis is joined by Baylor and Miami. Only Memphis and Southern Miss have 14 or more transfers in D-I.
4: Memphis has committed 15+ turnovers in four straight games, its longest such stretch since 2021-22. Under Penny Hardaway, the Tigers have recorded only four longer streaks of 15+ turnover games than the current 5-game run.
11: Memphis enters the contest against Rice riding the 3rd-longest active streak (11 games) in Division I with pulling down 35+ rebounds against conference opponents. Only Arkansas State (14) and Bryant (13) have longer streaks.
27: Memphis has grabbed at least nine offensive rebounds in 27-straight games, one game behind St. John's for the longest active streak in Division I (28). It marks the Tigers' longest run since a 29-game streak that concluded in November 2007.
30: Memphis has limited opponents to under 30.0% shooting from 3-point range in eight games this season, the 2nd-most such performances among American Conference teams. North Texas leads the way with 10.
30-1: Dug McDaniel has logged 30+ minutes and at least one steal in all 13 games this season. He is one of only two Division I players to accomplish the feat in every team game in 2025-26, alongside Delaware's Christian Bliss.
48: Memphis limited North Texas to 48 points, the fewest allowed by the Tigers in more than three seasons since Nov. 27, 2022 (48 vs. Stanford).

SCOUTING THE OWLS

Senior 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 3-point field goal percentage (39.3%).
Graduate 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.
Redshirt senior 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.
Rice is averaging 74.1 points per game while allowing 74.0 and is outrebounding its opponents 38.4 to 37.1.
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.
The Owls are also fourth in the conference in three-pointers per game (8.7).

UP NEXT
Memphis gets a brief break before returning to the road for a trip to Boca Raton to face Florida Atlantic on Jan. 11 at noon central.

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.