Rice Hoops Preview: Rice vs. Belmont

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this season to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA sports coverage. Today, our new Rice Correspondent Bob Schlanger previews the basketball game between Rice and Belmont.

OWLS TRAVEL TO CALI TO CLOSE ‘06

Morris Almond, the top scorer in the nation, leads the Rice Owls to the West Coast this weekend as Rice participates in the Shamrock Office Solutions Classic hosted by St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Rice (5-4) opens the tournament on Thursday night (5:00. p.m. PST) against Belmont (7-4). The Owls will face either Western Carolina (5-6) or host St. Mary’s (6-8) on Friday night.

Almond continues on his hot streak after scoring 28 points in limited action against Prairie View last week. His 29.9 scoring average leads all Division I players for the third week in a row. The C-USA preseason Player of the Year has posted four 30-point games and had a season high of 42 against Utah on November 25th. He leads all C-USA guards in field goal percentage and made a school record 18 of 20 free throws earlier this year against Colorado State.

LAST TIME OUT: Rice returned from a two week layoff for final exams with an impressive 82-65 win against Prairie View A&M on December 20 th. The victory was the Owls’ third in a row.

Rice shot a blistering 71% from the field (27 of 38) for the game.

The Prairie View game featured the return of Lorenzo Williams, last year’s starting point guard and second leading scorer. Williams had been nursing a nagging foot injury during the early part of the season and was rusty early on in this game, but showed flashes of last year’s brilliance as the game progressed. Freshman point guard Chris Hagan started the game for the Owls and coach Willis Wilson will have both Williams and Hagan available and at full speed for the first time this year when Rice faces Belmont on Thursday night.

NEXT UP: After Friday’s second game in the St. Mary’s tournament, Rice returns to Autry Court on January 2, 2007, to host SEC foe Vanderbilt in the final non-conference home game of the season.

Rice travels to Princeton on Saturday, January 6th for the final non-conference game of the season.