The North Texas men's basketball team returns to action at Rice Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.

DENTON -- The North Texas men’s basketball team heads to Houston for a conference matchup on the road at Rice on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. inside the Tudor Fieldhouse.

The Mean Green are coming off a tough two-game road trip last weekend at Middle Tennessee (L, 86-64) and at UAB (L, 78-57). North Texas sits at 7-13 overall and is 2-5 in league play entering a key matchup against the last-place Owls.

Sophomore Jeremy Combs continues to put up superb numbers with six-straight double-doubles after scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds at UAB. Combs leads the team with 15.1 points per game and leads in rebounding at 10.6 per game. He is second in the C-USA in total rebounds and rebounds per game. Combs also is ranked No. 14 in the nation in total rebounds and rebounds per game.

Junior J-Mychal Reese is second on the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game after only scoring nine points at UAB. Reese leads the team in assists at 4.1 per game (82 total). Classmate Deckie Johnson is third at 14.3 points per game and has hit a team best 41 made three pointers.

As a team, North Texas is 55th in the nation in field goal percentage (46.6), 16th in free throw attempts (538) and 118th in free throws made (323).

The Mean Green return home for a pair of TV games on the American Sports Network starting with Southern Mississippi on Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m.

About the Opponent: Rice
• This will be the 19th meeting between the two teams and the second meeting this season after North Texas came away with a 85-74 win at the Super Pit on Jan. 9.

• In the last meeting, the Mean Green improved to 2-1 in C-USA play with a 85-74 victory about 20 days earlier. North Texas had four players in double figures, including 22 points and 12 rebounds from Jeremy Combs. Senior Eric Katenda scored a career high 18 points and had multiple highlight reel dunks. Reese added 19 and freshman Ja’Michael Brown had 12 points.

• Rice is 2-8 in its last 10 games holding a 6-14 overall record and is in last place in the C-USA at 1-6. The Owls only conference win was a home victory against Western Kentucky (W, 83-73) on Jan. 14.

• Rice is led by C-USA freshman of the year candidate Marcus Evans who is leading the team at 19.5 points per game and has hit a team best 108 made free throws. Egor Koulechov is second on the team at 16.6 points per game and leads the team with 49 made three pointers. Freshman Marquez Letcher-Ellis has been on fire of late scoring 53 points in his last three games (17.6 per game).

more headlines