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2021-2022 Rice Basketball Season Preview

November 7, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

The 2021-2022 Rice basketball team returns to South Main with high expectations and plenty of confidence. Can the Owls soar even higher?

Perhaps it’s the infectious smile of starting guard Quincy Olivari or the multiple wins in the conference tournament last season under their belts, but the 2021-2022 Rice Basketball team enters the season with a renewed level of confidence, a swagger they didn’t possess at this point last year.

By head coach Scott Pera’s own admission. expectations have been raised. “We’ve put a lot of time and energy and effort into building this program into the words I’ve used: sustainable and winning,” he said in his remarks to the media before the season officially gets underway Tuesday night. “If there are never expectations put on you, that means you’re never any good. And so we’ve talked about embracing expectations, relishing the fact that now people have a respect for us and expect us to be better.”

Better means building off a strong returning core, integrating in a pair of grad transfers and climbing the conference standings. “We want to win and we believe we can win,” Olivari said. “Before it was just (to) not finish last or just make the conference tournament, (now) it’s make the conference tournament and compete for a championship. That’s the whole, overall message.”

Aiming higher than they ever have before, Rice basketball is looking forward to what promises to be an exciting year. And while the offense will get most of the accolades, it’s not the only thing this team has worked to amplify during the offseason.

To a man, Pera and several team leaders identified defense as the top priority. Pera called it “the number one emphasis,” because that phase of the game was “the area we need to improve the most.” If Rice can add an efficient defense to their high-fly scoring attack that was fourth in the conference last year with 73.9 points per game scored, this team could be dangerous.

The Coach – Scott Pera

Pera was given a contract extension this summer, keeping him at Rice through 2024, ane he earned it. Not only did Pera rebuild the roster on the fly, but he also increased the Owls’ winning percentage for the third consecutive season with players like future first-round NBA draft pick Trey Murphy to help him along the way.

As a part of his focus on making the program appealing to recruits and those outside the hedges, he also engineered the #GreenLightU mantra. “We let our guys play,” he said, alluding to the freedom he gives his players to take shots on the court.

Last Season Snapshot

With the roster gutted by transfers, things were up and down for Rice basketball last season. Non-conference play featured a handful of wins over lesser-know programs, but conference action saw Rice win four of their first five including a win over UTEP in El Paso.

The team would teeter-totter between short losing streaks and winning streaks for the remainder of the year before closing out the season with a memorable run in the conference tournament. Rice beat Southern Miss and Marshall in the conference tournament, setting the stage for what many around the program hope will be a deeper run in the season to come.

Key Question

Entering last season, Rice returned a meager 26.4 percent of their scoring from the season prior. This time around, Rice brings back 86.3 percent of it’s scoring. The continuity is not something lost on Pera, who called consistency something “that has become increasingly difficult” it today’s age of college basketball.

With several of the same faces back, the question moves from who will produce to this, in Pera’s own words: “How mentally tough are we? How are we going to deal with adversity?” Whether or not Rice is able to be resilient and respond under pressure will be a major factor in determining how high the ceiling can be for this team.

Rice Basketball Schedule | Key Games/Dates

Nov. 9, 2021 – Season opener vs Pepperdine at Tudor Fieldhouse
Nov. 12, 2021 – Owls visit Houston at the Fertitta Center
Nov. 22-24, 2021 – Gulf Coast Showcase Tournament
Dec. 22, 2021 – Non-conference finale at Texas
Jan. 1, 2021 – Conference USA first road game vs North Texas
Jan. 6, 2021 – Conference USA home opener vs Middle Tennessee
Mar. 8, 2021 – Conference USA Tournament

You can find the complete 2021-2022 Rice basketball schedule here.

Key Returners

Chris Mullins, Guard (Jr.)

Prior to the arrival of two grad transfers, Mullins was the old soul on this roster. He’s the only player on the roster than started at least 20 games for Rice in three consecutive seasons. Mullins is an aggressive defender with the speed to take the ball and finish at the rim. His experience in this system and productivity on both sides of the court will pay dividends for Rice.

Quincy Olivari, Guard (So.)

Olivari broke out in a big way last season, making the jump from a role player to one of the most lethal distance shooters in Conference USA. A preseason all-conference honoree, Olivari will be looking to build on his 16.3 points per game and 40.6 percentage from three he compiled last season. He’s quickly become one of the most vocal members of this team.

Max Fiedler, Forward (So.)

Fiedler also elevated his play significantly last season, doubling his playing time (12 minutes per game to 28 minutes), rebounds (4.1 per game to 8.8) and almost quintupling his scoring (2.7 points per game to 11.2). He’s more than just a big body in the middle. Fiedler has good feet and a keen eye. He’ll be a key facilitator, setting up the Owls’ outside shooters as defenses sag to stop him at the rim.

Travis Evee, Guard (So.)

Evee was cleared to play for Rice right before last season began, taking advantage of a waiver from the NCAA and becoming Olvari’s partner in crime from three-point land. Evee was named the C-USA Newcomer of the year, leading the team in steals (1.2 per game) while finishing second in scoring (13.7 per game). Another year of experience playing within this system with these teammates will only add to his impact on the court.

Cameron Sheffield, Forward (Fr.)

Sheffield is one of the most versatile players on the Rice roster, and although he might not be one of the five starters on any given day, he’ll certainly be one of the first off the bench. Pera identified him as one of the guys most likely to make a jump this year, saying “he’s a guy that just keeps getting better.” One of four Owls to play in all 28 games last year, Sheffield will be the ideal sixth man for this squad in 2021-2022.

Mylyjael Poteat,  Forward (Fr.)

Poteat might not be a household name yet, but he was the other player Pera identified as an up-and-coming producer. Poteat got his feet wet last year as a freshman, playing in 13 games, playing more than 15 minutes just once, a 17-minute outing against Southern Miss. He’s learned a lot this offseason and is someone Pera described as “a guy that has a huge ceiling.”

Riley Abercrombie, Forward (So.)

Riley Abercrombie is the only other returning player that played a meaningful role for this team on a game-to-game basis. He averaged 7.5 points per game, drawing 15 starts over the course of the season. He projects to be a reserve this year, but one that can shoot the three ball well (34 percent last season) and can rebound.


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Key Additions

Carl Pierre, Guard (Gr.) – Pierre trasfered from UMass where he was second all-time in career three-point field goals made. A high school teammate of Olivari, Pierre will join him in the starting five this season. He looked comfortable with the ball in his hands during the Owls’ exhibition against St. Edwards and figures to be a mainstay on the court this year.

Terrance McBride, Guard (Gr.) – McBride joins Rice after transferring from Cornell. Along with Pierre, McBride’s experience will be a boost to this team. Quincy Olivari cited McBride as someone that’s already made a difference with his leadership. Pera indicated he expects McBride to get upwards of 20 or so minutes off the bench on a regular basis.

More Names to Know

Jake Lieppert saw playing time off the bench last season, averaging 10.7 minutes per game in the 15 contests in which he checked into the lineup. Ben Moffat and Reed Myers are the only other returners that saw the court. They’ll each be rotation candidates this coming season, but minutes are going to be hard to come by.

Noah Hutchins was with the team last year, but injuries kept him off the court. Pera hopes to have him available at some point soon, possible as early as next week. Damion McDowell, Jaden Geron and Jackson Peakes are the newest freshmen signees from the most recent class. With so much depth and experience in place above them, they’ll have to fight for time in the rotation, but McDowell and Geron in particular stand out guys who could contribute down the road.

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Filed Under: Archive, Basketball, Football Tagged With: Ben Moffat, Cameron Sheffield, Carl Pierre, Chris Mullins, Damion McDowell, Jackson Peakes, Jaden Geron, Jake Lieppert, Max Fiedler, Mylyjael Poteat, Quincy Olivari, Reed Myers, Rice basketball, Riley Abercrombie, Scott Pera, Terrance McBride, Travis Evee

Rice Basketball: Owls get past St. Edwards in opening exhibition

November 4, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice basketball started fast and led wire-to-wire in their victory over St. Edwards in the Owls’ lone exhibition contest before the 2021-2022 season.

Unlike the beginning of the prior season in which Rice basketball experienced a turnover of nearly its entire starting lineup and several other key members of the roster, the Owls enter the 2021-2022 season with largely the same faces on the hardwood of Tudor Fieldhouse. On Thursday night in front of their first home crowd since 2019, the team showcased their renewed depth and two new additions who are expected to become mainstays in the core rotation: Terrance McBride and Carl Pierre.

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Pierre drew the start and scored 10 points with five rebounds in 26 minutes of action. McBride came off the bench and added four points of his own in 17 minutes. Both were part of a constant stream of faces of the Owls’ bench.

The number of players head coach Scott Pera opts to utilize going forward will likely be a much smaller circle, but for Thursday’s exhibition, getting a good feel for all of his guys in live-action was the goal. “I was more concerned with minutes than I was with anything else,” Pera said.

“It’s a long season, a lot of games” Pierre echoed, “There’s a lot of wear and tear that comes with it. To be able to go deep into our bench and have good depth is going to be huge.”

Rice opened things up with a quick basket from Max Fiedler, who grabbed a feed inside from Pierre and laid it up for an easy two points. In the first five minutes, Rice would stretch that two-point lead to a 12-4 advantage, extending their edge to 21 points in the first half behind a balanced distribution of touches and scoring.

St. Edwards would chip away in the second half, cutting the sizable difference down to as few as six points during the early stages. Rice responded by going to the glass, pushing their lead back to 14 with a pair of dunks, three layups and a Quincy Olivari free throw. Rice would later close on a 10-0 run to secure the exhibition win.

Stat Corner | 49.2 percent

Given the free-flowing style of offense Rice basketball likes to play, the Owls’ aren’t going to concern themselves too much with field goal percentage on any given night. Rice averaged a 44.0 percent clip from the field last season, finishing at 50 percent or better in six of their 28 games.

Rice converted on 49.2 percent of their shots against St. Edwards, a game in which they played far more players than they will in the regular season. Combing high-value shots with high-value efficiency will be crucial if this team wants to hit its ceiling. This was a very positive start.

“I think we really stalled (in the second half) we didn’t shoot it great tonight,” Pera remarked afterwards. “I think if you check back, the nights we shot under under 30 percent from three. I don’t think we ever shot close to 50 (percent) from the floor and that’s been the difference in this team the whole preseason. The days in practice we haven’t shot well from three we’ve still shot close to 50 percent from the floor, because we’ve been better around the basket finishing and that’s going to be really, really important.”

Up Next | Full Schedule

Rice basketball officially opens its season next week at Tudor Fieldhouse with a game against Pepperdine on Tuesday, Nov. 9. That will be their only remaining tuneup before a trip across town to take on Houston, which opens the season ranked No. 15 in the AP Poll. Rice and Houston did not meet last season.

Photo credit Maria Lysaker
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Filed Under: Archive, Basketball Tagged With: Carl Pierre, game recap, Rice basketball, Scott Pera

Rice Basketball: Owls land commitment from UMass transfer Carl Pierre

April 1, 2021 By Matthew Bartlett

Rice basketball has added another impactful scoring threat, picking up a commitment from UMass grad transfer Carl Pierre.

The Transfer Portal was not kind to Rice basketball last spring. No sooner had the regular season ended than was head coach Scott Pera abruptly met with an exodus of outgoing players. Pera and Co. reloaded, taking the Owls further into the Conference USA Tournament than ever before under his watch.

Set on making a return trip and going further into March, Rice hopes to add the “finishing touch” to a strong corps. To this point, only graduate Payton Moore has elected to not return to South Main next season. He’ll look to play his final year of eligibility elsewhere. His absence opens up a roster spot that Rice will move to fill quickly with former UMass guard Carl Pierre.

Pierre is a former high school teammate of current Rice Owl, Travis Evee. Although the two went their separate ways for college, they both retained the propensity for scoring. Evee finished second (to teammate Quincy Olivari) in three-point field goal percentage among all C-USA shooters. Pierre shot 33.3 percent from three last season, a mark that would have put him fifth among all C-USA players last year. He’s 38.4 percent shooter from three in his career.

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Pierre leaves UMass second all-time in career three-point field goals made. He started 99 straight games for the Minutemen and should slide right into a starting spot at Rice. Given his track record and the opportunities presented by the Rice offense, the Owls very well boast three of the best distance shooters in the entire league next season.

As things currently stand, Pierre would join a starting rotation that includes Olivari, Evee, Max Fielder and Quincy Olivari. If you like scoring, you’re in luck. There won’t be a more potent offense in Conference USA. The season can’t get here soon enough.

Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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Filed Under: Basketball, Archive, Featured Tagged With: Carl Pierre, Rice basketball

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