Dec. 5, 2008

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San Marcos, Texas - TIPPING OFF
The Texas State men's basketball team will look to win its first road game of the season when the Bobcats travel to Houston, Texas and play the Rice Owls in a non-conference game this Saturday, Dec. 6 at 3:00 p.m. in Tudor Field House on the Rice campus.

Texas State enters the game with a 3-3 record after defeating Southwest Assemblies of God University 110-65 last Wednesday night. The win came after the Bobcats lost their first two road games this season at Wyoming and Northern Colorado. Texas State was edged 97-96 at Wyoming on Nov. 26 and suffered a 105-93 loss at Northern Colorado on Nov. 29.

Rice enters Saturday's contest with a 2-5 record after suffering a 78-75 loss against UTSA in the inaugural game played at Tudor Field House last Thursday night. The Owls are looking for their first win at home this season after a 78-74 loss against Portland State on Nov. 15 and a 61-53 setback against Lamar on Nov. 25.

The Owls posted victories against Cal-Poly (81-76 on Nov. 20) and North Florida (68-46 on Nov. 22) in the Basketball Travelers Invitational at Provo, Utah. The other two losses came at BYU in the second round of the Travelers Invitational and at Texas on Nov. 30.

SCOUTING TEXAS STATE
Texas State won its second home game of the season last Wednesday night when the Bobcats ran past Southwest Assemblies of God 110-65. Texas State had four players score in double figures and all 12 players scored at least six points against the Lions. The victory came after Texas State had suffered a 97-96 loss at Wyoming on Nov. 26 and a 105-93 loss at Northern Colorado on Nov. 29. Texas State's other home victory came against Huston-Tillotson on Nov. 19. The Bobcats began the year splitting their first two games of the season at the Verizon Wireless Tip-Off Classic in Honolulu.

The Bobcats are led by senior guards Brent Benson and Brandon Bush. Benson leads the Bobcats with 19.7 points per game and is shooting 57.4 percent from the field and 59.2 percent beyond the three-point line. Bush averages 12.8 points per game and leads the Bobcats in rebounding for the third straight year with a 6.2 average. Junior college transfer Emmanuel Bidias A' Moute is averaging 8.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest, while junior transfer John Rybak chips in with 8.0 points 4.0 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Cameron Johnson averages 7.7 points and 3.5 rebounds, while sophomore center Ty Gough adds 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per contest.

THE SERIES
This marks the second straight year and the 12th time overall that Texas State will play a basketball game against Rice. Last season, the Owls won an 88-81 decision on Dec. 5, 2007. That was the first time the two schools played against each other since Dec. 7, 1991 when the Owls won 93-63 in Houston. The Owls enter the game with a four-game winning streak against the Bobcats after winning 79-53 in Houston on Dec. 3, 1981 and 78-69 in San Marcos on Dec. 22, 1990. Texas State had a 3-6 record in games played at the old Autry Court, including three contests during the 1919-20 season when the Owls won all three meetings.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
Rice has a new coach in 2008-09 as former California mentor Ben Braun is in his 32nd season as a collegiate head coach with a career record of 554-393. The Owls are led by junior guard Cory Pflieger who is averaging 11.3 points per game after scoring 21 points against UTSA. Senior guard Rodney Foster is averaging 8.6 points per contest after he scored 10 points against the Roadrunners. Alex Perka leads Rice in rebounding with an average of 6.3 rebounds per game. Freshman guards Lucas Kuipers and Conner Frizzelle chip in with averages of 8.4 points per game.

UP NEXT
Following the Rice game, Texas State travels to Texas on Dec. 13 in a regionally-televised game on Fox Sports Southwest before the Bobcats return home to begin a six-game home stand against New Orleans on Dec. 15.