Rice Basketball is in the midst of conference play. The men are 0-1 while the women are 1-0. Both take on WKU on Saturday with the women at home. Here’s a preview of both games.
Time: 4:00 p.m. CT
Venue: E.A. Diddle Arena
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
TV: ESPN3
WKU 8-5 (1-0), Last 5 (2-3)
- 76-74 (L) at Wright State
- 86-79 OT (W) vs Arkansas
- 86-82 OT (L) at Rhode Island
- 76-62 (L) vs Belmont
- 93-84 (W) vs North Texas
Rice 8-6 (0-0), Last 5 (2-3)
- 73-60 (L) at Lamar
- 96-84 (W) vs HBU
- 103-70 (W) vs St. Thomas
- 75-61 (L) vs Sam Houston St
- 89-69 (L) at Marshall
WKU players to watch
Earlier this season Western Kentucky picked up a huge win over SEC power Arkansas, but it came at a tremendous cost. Star center Charles Bassey suffered a leg injury in that game that will force him to miss the entire season. A different man has led the Tops in scoring in each of their next three games, but Carson Williams has filled the void admirably. He’s averaging 17.3 points and seven rebounds per game without Bassey.
Rice keys to victory
Rice basketball has lived and died by the three this season. When the Owls aren’t making their outside shots, they’ve struggled to finish games. Rice is 2-4 when making less than 30 percent of their threes and 6-2 when shooting better than mark, including a season-high 52 percent against UC Santa Barbara. WKU has allowed 102 threes against them in 13 games.
Time: 2:00 p.m. CT
Venue: Tudor Field House
Radio: Stretch Internet Portal
TV: ESPN+ (If you don’t have ESPN+ you can access a free trial or subscribe here.)
WKU 8-4 (0-0), Last 5 (3-2)
- 74-63 (W) vs Oklahoma
- 91-86 OT (W) at Ball St
- 88-84 (W) at Samford
- 67-50 (L) at Purdue
- 61-54 (L) at North Texas
Rice 6-6 (0-0), Last 5 (2-3)
- 63-56 (L) at Texas Southern
- 77-55 (W) vs Prairie View A&M
- 54-45 (L) vs Virginia Tech
- 54-52 (L) vs Georgia Tech
- 81-43 (W) vs Marshall
WKU players to watch
WKU will rely on a three-way attack, spearheaded by junior forward Raneem Elgedawy. She leads the team in scoring and rebounds. Dee Givens provides an outside presence, knocking down a team-best 26 threes. Whitney Creech is the distributor, averaging 4.3 assists per game while also forcing 1.9 steals.
Rice keys to victory
Whatever adjustments Rice made between nonconference play and their C-USA opener against Marshall, they need to keep. The Owls looked transformed, playing their best defense of the season. That will be important against WKU, who enters the weekend as the No. 2 scoring offense in Conference USA.
