The Rice Owls and the Texas Longhorns meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Moody Center. Rice enters this one at 1-1 so far. The Owls took a loss to Harvard in their last appearance. As for Texas, they’re 2-0 on the season following a win over Delaware State back on Friday. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Rice Owls
The Owls had a pretty routine opener matchup versus St. Thomas TX last Tuesday, jumping out to a 47-25 lead at the break during an eventual blowout win 101-57. Rice shot 53.5 percent from the field in that one with a 45.2 percent rate from 3-point range (14-of-31). The Owls also bagged 45 rebounds, 23 team assists and just five turnovers in a great overall effort.
Game two versus Harvard didn’t go quite so well for the Owls. Rice took a 43-33 deficit into the locker room and didn’t get closer in an eventual loss 89-76. Mekhi Mason led the way on his 20 points and five assists, while Anthony Selden added 18 points. Max Fielder nearly doubled up on 13 points and nine rebounds.
Texas Longhorns
Over on the Texas side, it’s been two pretty easy wins so far this year. The Longhorns destroyed Incarnate Word in their first outing, jumping out to a 48-17 halftime lead in an 88-56 win. Texas shot 50.8 percent from the field in the victory with 45 rebounds and 20 team assists. The Longhorns held the Cardinals to 29.7 percent shooting on the other side as well.
Game two was another blowout victory for Texas. This time it was against Delaware State, as the Longhorns turned a nine-point halftime edge into an 86-59 blowout win. Max Abmas was the top team scorer with his 19 points and five assists, and Ithiel Horton added 18 points. Dillon Mitchell hit a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to stay with Texas. The Longhorns haven’t had much difficulty over their first two games, but to be fair they’ve taken on a pair of overmatched teams so far. Texas shot a nice 52.8 percent from the field with 54.5 percent (12-of-22) from 3-point range and 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) from the line in their last game versus Delaware State. The Longhorns were a little careless with turnovers (20) and had just one block however, so there’s plenty of room for improvement.
As for Rice, they were out-rebounded 38-33 by a tricky Harvard team and shot just 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) from the line in their 13-point loss on Friday. The Owls had four different players in double-figures during that matchup however; they’ve shot pretty well through two games so far. This one’s going to be the toughest matchup for Rice until Houston in December however, and I don’t think they’ll stay close for long.
