Memphis Rumbles With Rice In Houston
The #19 Memphis Tigers hit the road to Houston, to rumble with the Rice Owls. Despite a lopsided series history, the Tigers {17-4, 7-1 AAC} make their first trip to Tudor Fieldhouse as American Athletic Conference opponents. The Owls {10-11, 2-6 AAC} will host the Tigers looking to end a six-game losing skid in a massive home game on Sunday afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 2 pm on ESPN+.
We will briefly look at the Tigers entering the game, some series history, who the Owls are, and three keys to success for Memphis.
Tigers Looking To Carb Up
Yes, the title of this section is a carbohydrate joke. Now that we have moved on from that, let’s look at who the Tigers are in recent games. Memphis looks to extend their 4-game winning streak following the exercising win over Tulane, 68-56, on Thursday night in New Orleans. With this, the Tigers are currently in first place in the American and looking to continue to, as Penny Hardaway stated, “Separate” from the rest of the league. The above-mentioned record of 17-4 is the best since the 2012-13 season yet the program has zero margin for error within conference play.
The Tigers are as effective as any team in the nation when multiple players are shooting well. To further this point, when Tigers guard, Colby Rogers, scores at least 12 points, the team is 7-1 on the season. When Rogers scores 16 the Tigers are 4-0 and are 10-2 when Rogers reaches double figures. In addition to Rogers, Memphis has been led by big man Dain Dainja. The Illinois transfer, since being re-inserted into the starting lineup, has been practically unstoppable from an offensive perspective.
Dainja is averaging 20.9 points along with 9 rebounds over the last two contests. In the Tulane win, the senior would pick up his third double-double as he now has a 78.3 {18-23} shooting percentage from the field and 4 assists in this current run of offensive prowess.
Now that we have shed some light on who the Tigers have been recently, let’s analyze this series with the Owls.
Series History
In a series that began in 1966, on December 8th, with a Memphis win 63-54, in Houston, these programs do not have a deep history against each other. With this, the Sunday meeting will be the 12th all time. In these games, Memphis holds the advantage, 9-2 overall, which includes a 4-1 record in Houston. The lone loss, 67-52, came on February 19, 2011.
In recent games, the Tigers had a two-game winning streak entering last season’s contest in Memphis. That game will not want to be remembered by fans or the team as Rice would win 74-71. In what has been a one-sided series the Tigers must remember the sting of last season to make sure they slip up in Houston.
Who Are The Owls?
Rice enters the game with a new head man, Rob Lanier, previously of SMU. Lanier has assembled quite the roster with the portal and the talent is shining through. Despite the current losing streak, the Owls still present difficulties for Memphis.
Leading the team in scoring is Trae Broadnax, a transfer from USC Upstate, with 12.8 points per game. In addition to points, Broadnax leads the Owls, with 4.6 per contest, in assists. The 6/4 guard is the catalyst for the engine offensively yet he is not alone. Another transfer, from Wyoming, has made a major impact in Houston. Caden Powell, a 6/10 forward, leads Rice with 7 rebounds a game for a team that averages 39 per game.
When watching the Owls, it is quite clear they are built on defense. Thus far in 2024, the Owls allow an average of 68.7 points per game which is third in conference. In addition, Rice has stifled 12 of their opponents to 70 points or less this season. In 2024, Rice is allowing their opponents to make 40.7% from the field and has held opponents lower than 40% in 11 contests. Not to be outdone, the defense also limits the deep ball as they average a 31% rate from their opponents. The field goal percentage notches this stout defense second while the three-point percentage sits third.
The Owls also are effective at getting to the foul line. In 2024, Rice attempted 24.7 free throws, a game, which sits 14th best in the nation. Owl guard, Jacob Dar, has been lights out from behind the arc as of late. After starting the first five games 0-8 from deep, the junior has connected on 16-43 or 37.2% over the last 14 games.
We mentioned on our pregame show that Memphis fans cannot take this team lightly and if they do they could see a repeat of last season. Rice has a record of 7-39 when hosting ranked teams and is 9-104 overall all-time.
We now give three keys to success to Memphis on the road.
Three Keys To Success
We now look at three ways that Hardaway and the Tigers can take advantage of the Owls.
Smart Shot Selection
The Tigers own the top field goal percentage, with 49.6, in the American. With players such as Rogers, PJ Haggerty, PJ Carter, and others this will be key not just on Sunday, but remaining season. For Carter, his play off the bench has been vital as he has averaged 14 points per game in the last two. He is accomplishing this is 19.5 minutes of play while shooting 55.6 {10-18} and 46.2 {6-13} percent from deep in that span
The Tigers must continue to make smart shots from beyond the arc as well for success. Memphis enters Sunday shooting 39.5 {166-422} percent, the 7th best percentage in the country. This was just what Memphis needed as they finished the month of January with a 7-1 record which is the best under Hardway in his seven seasons at the helm.
Be Big In Paint
Since the loss to Temple, Hardaway has been vocal about how he wants this team to operate. As we mentioned on air, we are not sure why now, but nonetheless it has been effective. With this, for the Tigers to have a greater chance at success they must control the paint. When we say “control” we mean it more than just offensively.
Rice enters the game as a program that relentlessly rebounds the basketball. At times this season, Memphis has slipped into a lull when it comes to this. Sunday does not need to be another case as Dainja, Nick Jordain, Moussa Cisse, and others, like Cater, need to make a concentrated effort to grab all available boards. With this, Memphis can open up the offense mentioned above. We need to see this be a focus in the contest.
Keep Your Foot On The Gas Defensively
Memphis has been stifling teams as of late defensively. This will need to continue as they ramp up the pressure. This was another perspective Hardaway spoke with us in the preseason about “Sacrificing talent for defense” and thus far this has held true. For the Tigers to escape Houston with a win, they will need to clip the wings of the Owls on defense from the tip.
In closing, we will have more on this contest in postgame. In addition, make sure to check out the preview episode of ‘Tigers Den’ on the podcast tab.
