North Texas travels to Rice for conference matchup

North Texas Mean Green (17-4, 10-1 C-USA) at Rice Owls (14-9, 6-5 C-USA)

Houston; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST

LINE: Rice -5.5; over/under is 131.5

BOTTOM LINE: Carl Pierre and the Rice Owls host Tylor Perry and the North Texas Mean Green in C-USA action Saturday.

The Owls have gone 9-3 in home games. Rice is 0-3 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Mean Green are 10-1 in conference matchups. North Texas averages 66.5 points while outscoring opponents by 10.5 points per game.

The teams meet for the 10th time in conference play this season. The Mean Green won 75-43 in the last matchup on Jan. 1. Perry led the Mean Green with 18 points, and Quincy Olivari led the Owls with eight points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Pierre is averaging 15.3 points for the Owls. Travis Evee is averaging 11 points and 3.1 assists over the last 10 games for Rice.

Perry is averaging 13.6 points for the Mean Green. Mardrez McBride is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for North Texas.

LAST 10 GAMES: Owls: 6-4, averaging 74.4 points, 33.0 rebounds, 15.6 assists, 4.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.6 points per game.

Mean Green: 9-1, averaging 66.2 points, 28.1 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 6.9 steals and 3.5 blocks per game while shooting 48.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.3 points.

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