Rice (8-6, 0-1) vs. Western Kentucky (8-5, 1-0)
E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky; Saturday, 5 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: CUSA foes meet as Rice battles Western Kentucky. Both teams last saw action on Thursday. Western Kentucky beat North Texas by nine points at home, while Rice fell 89-69 at Marshall.
SAVVY VETERANS: Each of these teams has relied heavily on their seniors this year. Charles Bassey, Carson Williams, Camron Justice and Jared Savage have collectively accounted for 60 percent of Western Kentucky's scoring this year and 54 percent of the team's points over its last five games. For Rice, Drew Peterson, Robert Martin and Ako Adams have combined to account for 44 percent of the team's total scoring.DOMINANT DREW: Peterson has connected on 39.6 percent of the 53 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 9 of 20 over his last five games. He's also made 80.6 percent of his foul shots this season.
WINNING WHEN: Rice is a perfect 6-0 when its defense holds opponents to a field goal percentage of 42.6 percent or less. The Owls are 2-6 when allowing opponents to shoot any better than that.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Owls have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Hilltoppers. Western Kentucky has an assist on 25 of 79 field goals (31.6 percent) across its previous three contests while Rice has assists on 43 of 80 field goals (53.8 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Western Kentucky is rated second among CUSA teams with an average of 79.9 points per game.
