Rice hosts North Texas after Edwards' 32-point game

Published Mar. 9, 2024 3:42 a.m. ET

Associated Press

North Texas Mean Green (16-13, 9-8 AAC) at Rice Owls (11-19, 5-12 AAC)

Houston; Saturday, 8 p.m. EST

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Mean Green -5.5; over/under is 130

BOTTOM LINE: North Texas takes on Rice after Jason Edwards scored 32 points in North Texas' 80-76 loss to the Florida Atlantic Owls.

The Owls are 6-9 on their home court. Rice ranks ninth in the AAC with 23.6 defensive rebounds per game led by Max Fiedler averaging 5.5.

The Mean Green are 9-8 in AAC play. North Texas has a 2-6 record in one-possession games.

Rice makes 44.3% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.5 percentage points higher than North Texas has allowed to its opponents (40.8%). North Texas averages 8.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 fewer makes per game than Rice gives up.

The matchup Saturday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Fiedler is averaging 9.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and five assists for the Owls. Travis Evee is averaging 16.3 points over the past 10 games.

C.J. Noland is averaging 9.8 points for the Mean Green.

LAST 10 GAMES: Owls: 4-6, averaging 70.7 points, 33.4 rebounds, 12.7 assists, 4.5 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 74.8 points per game.

Mean Green: 4-6, averaging 71.0 points, 31.7 rebounds, 10.8 assists, 7.2 steals and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.4 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.