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Rice (0-1) Vs. Cal Poly (0-1)
GAME NOTES: The 2008 Basketball Travelers Invitational tips off this evening at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah as the Rice Owls and Cal Poly Mustangs meet up in a non-conference affair. Both teams are gunning for their first win of the season after the Owls bowed to Portland State on Saturday in a 78-74 setback and the Mustangs came up short versus Arkansas-Little Rock last Friday, 67-40. Both teams will be right back here tomorrow after this first- ever meeting, with the Owls taking on host BYU and the Mustangs getting a shot at North Florida.
The Owls shot 52.1 percent from the field in the opener and 41.7 percent behind the three-point line, turned the ball over a mere six times and that still wasn't enough for the team to get by Portland State at home. Cory Pflieger accounted for 17 points and four assists, Aleks Perka 15 points and nine rebounds and Trey Stanton 14 points in the losing effort. Perhaps most discouraging for the team was that it allowed PSU to shoot 62.5 percent from the field and 7-of-11 beyond the arc in the second half, all while watching the visitors convert a mere 8-of-15 at the free-throw line in the frame. Last season the Owls were a dismal 3-27, one of the worst records in all of college basketball, losing all 16 Conference USA matchups. Most of the team's offense from 2007-08 has moved on and Pflieger saw action in just five games, but he showed potential with his 8.0 ppg. New head coach Ben Braun brings an impressive resume' to the sidelines for Rice, but even someone of his caliber is going to have trouble keeping this group from falling down too many times in 2008-09.
The Mustangs opener the new season with an abysmal effort against Arkansas- Little Rock last week, coming up with a mere 40 points in 40 minutes of action at Mott Gym. Titus Shelton accounted for 15 points and Wes Dipprey another nine on 4-of-10 shooting from the field. However, the other three starters combined for a total of just five points as Trae Clark and Lorenzo Keeler missed on all 11 of their field goal tries and were held scoreless. The team as a whole shot a woeful 25.9 percent from the floor, 18.8 percent beyond the arc and 52.9 percent at the charity stripe. Last season, when the Mustangs finished up 12-18 and 7-9 against the rest of the Big West Conference, Clark and Keeler were the top two scorers with 10.3 ppg apiece oddly enough. However, as was the case in the opener, Clark struggled from the field at just 39.3 percent and 25.4 percent behind the three-point line. The team was one of the worst in the nation from beyond the arc, converting a mere 29.0 percent and yet they insisted on hoisting up more than 21 three-pointers per game anyway.
Neither one of these teams is going to set the world on fire, but at least the Owls showed that they can score points when given enough chances.
Predicted OutcomeRice 67, Cal Poly 60Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.
