2018–19 Rice Owls men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Rice Owls men's basketball team represented Rice University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by second-year head coach Scott Pera, played their home games at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston, Texas as members of Conference USA.

2018–19 Rice Owls men's basketball
Conference	Conference USA
Record	13–19 (8–10 C-USA)
Head coach	Scott Pera (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Chris Kreider Mark Linebaugh Van Green
Home arena	Tudor Fieldhouse

2018–19 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Old Dominion †	13	–	5		.722			26	–	9		.743
Western Kentucky	11	–	7		.611			20	–	14		.588
Southern Miss	11	–	7		.611			20	–	13		.606
UTSA	11	–	7		.611			17	–	15		.531
UAB	10	–	8		.556			20	–	15		.571
Marshall	11	–	7		.611			23	–	14		.622
FIU	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
Louisiana Tech	9	–	9		.500			20	–	13		.606
Florida Atlantic	8	–	10		.444			17	–	16		.515
North Texas	8	–	10		.444			21	–	12		.636
Rice	8	–	10		.444			13	–	19		.406
Middle Tennessee	8	–	10		.444			11	–	21		.344
Charlotte	5	–	13		.278			8	–	21		.276
UTEP	3	–	15		.167			8	–	21		.276
† 2019 C-USA tournament winner

Previous season

The Owls finished the 2017–18 season 7–24, 4–14 in C-USA play to finish in 13th place and failed to qualify for the C-USA tournament.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Connor Cashaw	0	G	6'5"	205	Junior	Lincolnshire, IL	Graduate transferred to Creighton
A. J. Lapray	2	G	6'5"	190	RS Senior	Salem, OR	Graduated
Miles Lester	11	G	6'0"	170	Freshman	Wichita, KS	Transferred to Wake Forest
Malik Osbourne	13	F	6'8"	200	Freshman	Matteson, IL	Transferred to Florida State
Bishop Mency	15	G	6'5"	215	Senior	Chino Hills, CA	Graduated
Grant Youngkin	20	G	6'3"	190	Sophomore	Washington, D.C.	Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
J. T. Trauber	24	G	5'10"	165	Senior	Houston, TX	Walk-on; graduated
Austin Meyer	30	F	6'9"	235	Sophomore	Pflugerville, TX	Transferred to Oklahoma State

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jack Williams	32	F	6'8"	220	RS Senior	Porter Ranch, CA	Transferred from Pacific. Will be eligible to play immediately since Williams graduated from Pacific.

2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Chris Mullins #55 SG	Mansfield, TX	Timberview High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A	Aug 23, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 3
Trey Murphy III SG	Cary, NC	Cary Academy	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Nov 8, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Quentin Millora-Brown PF	Lorton, VA	Bishop O'Connell High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Nov 8, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Payton Moore SG	Los Angeles, CA	Windward School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Nov 8, 2017
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 0
Drew Peterson SF	Libertyville, IL	Libertyville High Scoool	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Apr 10, 2018
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 0
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.

2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2019)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Max Fiedler C	Melbourne, FL	Melbourne High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	Sep 16, 2018
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Zach Crisler PF	Glenside, PA	La Salle College High School	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sep 14, 2018
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Quincy Olivari PG	Atlanta, GA	Westlake High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Sep 17, 2018
	Star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals:   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 24, 2018.

Roster

2018–19 Rice Owls men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Payton Moore 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Santa Monica High School Los Angeles, California G 1 Josh Parrish 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS So Seguin High School TCU Arlington, Texas G 2 Trey Murphy III 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Cary Academy Durham, North Carolina G 3 Ako Adams 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Bishop Denis J. O'Connell High School Washington, D.C. F 4 Dylan Jones 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr The Village School Penn Houston, Texas G 5 Addison Owen (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr The Paideia School Atlanta, Georgia F 10 Robert Martin 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Tilton School Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania G/F 23 Drew Peterson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Libertyville High School Libertyville, Illinois G 24 Chris Mullins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Mansfield Timberview High School Grand Prairie, Texas G 30 Oliver Xu (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Sr Hong Kong International School Hong Kong F 32 Jack Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Sr Chaminade Pacific Porter Ranch, California F 35 Tim Harrison 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Francis W. Parker School San Diego, California F 42 Quentin Millora-Brown 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr South County High School Lorton, Virginia	Head coach Scott Pera (Penn State) Assistant coach(es) Chris Kreider (Lebanon Valley) Mark Linebaugh (Colgate) Van Green (Rice) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 1, 2018* 7:00 pm		St. Thomas (TX)	W 90–76		Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
Non-conference regular season
Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm		Saint Leo	W 80–64	1–0	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,368) Houston, TX
Nov 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN		at Penn	L 76–92	1–1	Palestra (2,256) Philadelphia, PA
Nov 12, 2018* 7:00 pm, CUSA.tv		Alabama A&M Men Against Breast Cancer Cup	W 73–59	2–1	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,103) Houston, TX
Nov 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Houston Men Against Breast Cancer Cup	L 68–79	2–2	H&PE Arena (3,952) Houston, TX
Nov 17, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN3		Northwestern State Men Against Breast Cancer Cup	W 102–74	3–2	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,220) Houston, TX
Nov 21, 2018* 8:00 pm, BYUtv		at BYU Men Against Breast Cancer Cup	L 78–105	3–3	Marriott Center (11,631) Provo, UT
Nov 25, 2018* 2:00 pm, Cox YurView/ESPN3		at Wichita State	L 61–90	3–4	Charles Koch Arena (10,089) Wichita, KS
Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN		at Texas State	L 60–74	3–5	Strahan Coliseum (1,897) San Marcos, TX
Dec 1, 2018* 4:30 pm		Lamar	L 68–75	3–6	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,926) Houston, TX
Dec 13, 2018* 11:15 am		St. Edward's	W 78–73	4–6	Tudor Fieldhouse (4,786) Houston, TX
Dec 15, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN		UC Santa Barbara	L 89–99 OT	4–7	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,000) Houston, TX
Dec 18, 2018* 7:00 pm		at Texas–Rio Grande Valley	W 75–67	5–7	UTRGV Fieldhouse (418) Edinburg, TX
Dec 21, 2018* 7:00 pm		Omaha	L 66–83	5–8	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,276) Houston, TX
Conference USA regular season
Dec 29, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN		North Texas	L 87–103	5–9 (0–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,735) Houston, TX
Jan 3, 2019 3:00 pm		Southern Miss	W 73–65	6-9 (1-1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,108) Houston, TX
Jan 5, 2019 2:00 pm		Louisiana Tech	W 78–66	7–9 (2–1)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,430) Houston, TX
Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN		at UTSA	L 79–95	7–10 (2–2)	Convocation Center (530) San Antonio, TX
Jan 12, 2019 8:00 pm		at UTEP	L 64–65	7–11 (2–3)	Don Haskins Center (4,345) El Paso, TX
Jan 19, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN		at North Texas	L 75–76	7–12 (2–4)	The Super Pit (3,728) Denton, TX
Jan 24, 2019 7:00 pm		Middle Tennessee	W 79–68	8–12 (3–4)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,375) Houston, TX
Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN		UAB	L 86–89	8–13 (3–5)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,731) Houston, TX
Jan 31, 2019 6:00 pm		at Charlotte	W 65–61	9–13 (4–5)	Dale F. Halton Arena (3,837) Charlotte, NC
Feb 2, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN		at Old Dominion	L 76–80	9–14 (4–6)	Ted Constant Convocation Center (7,805) Norfolk, VA
Feb 7, 2019 8:00 pm, CBSSN		Western Kentucky	L 85–92 2OT	9–15 (4–7)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,757) Houston, TX
Feb 9, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN		Marshall	W 74–69	10–15 (5–7)	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,910) Houston, TX
Feb 14, 2019 6:00 pm		at FIU	L 65–86	10–16 (5–8)	Ocean Bank Convocation Center (785) Miami, FL
Feb 16, 2019 1:00 pm		at Florida Atlantic	L 41–60	10–17 (5–9)	FAU Arena (1,389) Boca Raton, FL
Feb 23, 2019 8:00 pm		UTEP	W 85-81 2OT	11–17 (6–9)	Don Haskins Center (5,071) El Paso, TX
Mar 3, 2019 2:00 pm		Middle Tennessee	W 67–61	12–17 (7–9)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,478) Houston, TX
Mar 6, 2019 6:00 pm		at Charlotte	W 79–70	13–17 (8–9)	Dale F. Halton Arena (2,513) Charlotte, NC
Mar 9, 2019 7:00 pm		Charlotte	L 70–78	13–18 (8–10)	Tudor Fieldhouse (1,884) Houston, TX
Conference USA tournament
Mar 13, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPN	(11)	vs. (6) Marshall First round	L 65–82	13–19	Ford Center at The Star (2,704) Frisco, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source

See also

• 2018–19 Rice Owls women's basketball team